JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, INC.
To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
42% of employers rated the overall preparation of high school graduates for entry-level jobs as deficient.
In the United States, close to 30,000 youth ages 16-24 are neither in school nor employed.
1/4 of all jobs in the United States require a high-level STEM knowledge.
28% of Americans have nothing in their savings accounts.
95% of high school students have never been exposed to a workplace setting.
57% of children live in poverty or a low income household with an income less than $46,000 for a family of four.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
JA Be Entrepreneurial®
JA Be Entrepreneurial is a reimagined, modular program that teaches students about the mindset and the skills needed for success by aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators who add value to any organization. In JA Creative Problem Solving, students learn and apply design thinking, an innovative process for problem-solving used by entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) to brainstorm customer-centric ideas. (Grades 9-12). Northern California
JA Career Success®
JA Career Success equips students with the knowledge required to get and keep a job in high-growth industries. Students will explore the crucial workplace skills employers seek but often find lacking in young employees. Students also will learn about valuable tools to find that perfect job, including resumes, cover letters, and interviewing techniques. (Grades 9-12)
JA Company Program®
JA Company Program empowers high school students to fill a need or solve a problem in their community and teaches them practical skills required to conceptualize, capitalize, and manage their own business venture. (Grades 9-12). Northern California
JA Excellence through Ethics®
Through JA Excellence through Ethics, students will learn the importance of ethics and ethical decision-making and how ethical and unethical choices affect everyone in a community. (Grades 6-12) JA Excellence through Ethics is a 60- to 90-minute learning experience with additional optional activities. Northern California
JA Economics®
JA Economics reinforces concepts of micro-and macro-economics by having students explore the basic characteristics of the U.S. economic system and how economic principles influence business decisions. It also introduces students to consumer issues, such as saving, investing, and taxation. (Grades 11-12). Northern California
JA Finance Park® Virtual
JA Finance Park Virtual includes a virtual culminating experience for students who have completed the educator-led curriculum. Students put into practice what they've learned by developing and committing to a personal budget. The JA Finance Park Virtual simulation has been fully redeveloped, with a brand-new experience that offers two implementation options: entry level for middle school students and advanced for high school students. (Grades 7-12). Northern California
JA It's My Job® (Soft Skills)
JA It's My Job (Soft Skills) will help students understand the value of professional communication and soft skills, making them more employable to future employers across multiple career clusters. (Grades 6-12) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Northern California
JA Social Innovation Camp
JA Social Innovation Camps equip students with the skills and experiences to run businesses, make discoveries, create solutions, and change our world for the better. Students learn and experience business fundamentals and the art and hard work of entrepreneurship as they work collaboratively to design solutions to issues related to sustainability, health and safety, STEM career development, high school graduation rates, and workforce readiness.es ( grades 6-8). Northern California
JA It's My Business!®
Through engaging activities, JA It’s My Business! This program provides middle school students an opportunity to experience the initial steps necessary to start a business. New program content provides an authentic entrepreneurial experience for students, with each session building up to a product-pitch competition. (Grades 6-8) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Northern California
JA It's My Future®
JA It’s My Future Blended Model offers middle school students practical information to help prepare them for the working world. Students will develop the personal branding and job-hunting skills needed to earn a job. (Grades 6-8) The program includes six 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Northern California
JA Job Shadow
JA Job Shadow prepares students to be entrepreneurial thinkers in their approach to work. In-class sessions prepare students for a visit to a professional work environment, where they will face a series of challenges administered by their workplace hosts. Students learn how to research career opportunities and the skills needed to land and keep their dream job. (Grades 9-12)
JA More Than Money®
JA More than Money introduces students to financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and to social studies learning objectives that include money-management skills, goods and services, and global markets. Through hands-on activities and a JA cast of characters serving as symbols for financial literacy and entrepreneurship concepts, students will learn a practical approach to starting a business and making smart decisions about managing money. (Grades 3-5) This volunteer-led, kit-based program can be implemented as a classroom-based, remote classroom, or after-school program. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Northern California
JA Our City®
JA Our City featuring Cha-Ching introduces students to financial literacy and learning objectives for third–grade social studies, including how people manage their money and the importance of economic exchange within a city. (Grade 3) This volunteer-led, kit-based program is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. Spanish translation is available for JA Our City. Northern California
JA Our Community®
JA Our Community uses posters and games to offer practical information about businesses and the many jobs those businesses offer in a community. Students explore production methods through a simulation game, and they learn about taxes, decision-making, and how money flows in an economy. (Grade 2) This volunteer-led, kit-based program is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Our Families®
JA Our Families explains how family members' jobs and businesses contribute to the well-being of the family and of the community. The program introduces the concept of needs and wants and explores the ways families plan for and acquire goods and services. Students analyze their own skills to determine ways they can support their families. (Grade 1) The program is volunteer-led and kit-based and is available in Classroom-Based and Remote Classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.)
JA Our Region®
JA Our Region introduces students to entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs use resources to produce goods and services in a region. Students operate a hypothetical hot dog stand to understand the fundamental tasks performed by a business owner and to track the revenue and expenses of a business. (Grade 4) This volunteer-led, it-based program is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout.
JA Ourselves®
JA Ourselves uses storybook characters in read-aloud and hands-on activities to introduce the role people play in an economy. Through engaging, volunteer-led activities, young students learn about individual choices, money, the importance of saving and giving, and the value of work. (Kindergarten) This volunteer-led, kit-based program is available for classroom-based or remote classroom implementation. It includes five 45-minute sessions, with additional extended learning activities and optional digital assets offered throughout. (
JA Personal Finance® 2.0
JA Personal Finance 2.0 allows students to experience the interrelationship between today’s financial decisions and future financial freedom. To achieve financial health and wellness, they learn about money-management strategies, including earning, employment and income, budgeting, savings, credit and debt, consumer protection, smart shopping, risk management, investing, credit card usage, debt management, and net worth. (Grades 9-12) The program consists of eight 45-minute sessions with 3 additional modular sessions.
JA Personal Finance
JA Personal Finance explores the fundamental elements of personal finances: earnings, saving and investing, budgeting, credit, risk management, and giving. Students apply these elements to a personal financial plan that allows them to set specific goals for their lifelong financial needs and desired quality of life. (Grades 9-12)
JA Titan®
JA Titan allows students to operate a virtual company through a Web-based simulation. The students' success depends on decisions about their product's price and their company's marketing, research and development, and business practices. Win or lose, students gain an understanding of how management decisions affect a company's bottom line. (Grades 9-12)
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of JA Volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
JA has over 3,000 registered business, parent, and community volunteers who participate throughout our in-school and after-school programs.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In past years, during distance learning, we switched to virtual programming, while connecting volunteers from all over with our students. With this method, more rural areas can benefit.
Number of students who learned meaningful information about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and/or work & career readiness.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In past years, during distance learning, we switched to virtual programming, while connecting volunteers from all over with our students. With this method, more rural areas can benefit.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Develop brand recognition, community engagement, and organizational growth through a metrics-driven approach.
2. Grow annual volunteer engagement to ensure impactful program service delivery to the students.
3. Shift program mix to more high-touch, high-impact programs such as Capstone, R&D, and High School programs, with in-person, virtual, and hybrid deliveries.
4. Increase board effectiveness and engagement to grow funding and volunteer partnerships, diversify revenue base, and establish donor pipeline.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
JA engages corporate partners to support programming and serve as volunteer mentors and teachers. The relationships between youth and adult business role models help young people navigate the complex issues and challenges they must address in order to succeed. JA's student-teacher-volunteer partnership provides innovative, experiential learning opportunities that benefit all partners:
- Students are fully prepared for business volunteer interactions; they learn how to identify and link job opportunities to career interests and skill set; they gain real-world experience, understand business behavior, and realize the link between school, work, and success.
- Corporate partners / business volunteers develop skills and learn more about themselves as they interact with inquisitive, innovative-thinking students. Volunteers feel satisfied knowing they've engaged in an activity that makes a meaningful difference; they've helped a young person discover their strengths and set themselves on a path to achieve their greatest potential.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since 1950, JA of Northern California has utilized corporate and community volunteer-led programming to educate thousands of K-12th grade students on the latest 21st Century skills. JA's unique approach allows volunteers from the community to deliver nationally researched/designed and customized curriculum while sharing their experiences with students. These real-world business volunteers transform the key concepts of financial literacy and economic empowerment - how to generate wealth and effectively manage it; how to create jobs which make their communities more robust; how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace - into a message that inspires and empowers students to believe in themselves and realize that they can make a difference in the world.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
JA of Northern California is currently working within a 5-year "refresh" strategic plan in order to better link priorities and strategies to guiding principles; incorporate a greater use of technology; promote blending learning models; weave entrepreneurial thinking and problem-solving in real-world learning; and ensure the most effective and satisfying volunteer experience for business partners that produces the highest impact on our student learners.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
All youth from Kindergarten to High School, educators and business volunteers.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, INC.
Board of directorsas of 02/10/2022
Mr. Adrian Demich
AT&T
Term: 2017 -
Adrian Dimech
AT&T
Cristene Burr
JA NorCal
Thomas Quinlan
Reed Smith, LLP
Kevin Coleman
KPMG, LLP
Matthew Davis
Aon Risk Solutions
Sean Crabtree
Accenture
Vinicius David
Hewlett Packard
Brad Holsworth
Burr, Pilger, Mayer Inc
Mark Linsky
Retired/Hewlett Pacard Company
Robert Muzio
Comerica Bank
Dean Nicolacakis
PwC
William Oldenburg
Retired/Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream
Bill Schlough
San Francisco Giants
Mark Secker
EY
Marc Singer
McKinsey & Company, Inc
Stephen Troy
AeroFund Financial, Inc
Alyson Griffin
State Farm Insurance
Norah Nicholls
Deloitte
Karthik Suri
Invitae
David Colby
Salesforce
Nghi Huynh
Armanino
Shakeya McDow
Kaiser Permanente
Dina Ting
Franklin Templeton
Hugo Yoshinga
Google Cloud
Chris Moulton
U.S. Bank
Jeff Salvesen
Charles Schwab & Co.
Blair Braud
Bank of the West
Carrie Ericson
A.T. Kearney
Eric Fusilero
Splunk
Jobina Fortson
ABC7
Kesh Subramanian
GE Digital
Moon Javaid
49ers
Shirley Stacy
Align Technology
Reena Bhatia
Salesforce
Ann Fleishell
Applied Materials
Marina Gracias
Varo Money
Sanjay Kacholiya
Citrix Systems
Lindi LaBine
LaBine Media
Perry Liu
CSAA Insurance
Brutus Lo
Marsh Risk & Insurance Services
Beth O'Rell
Clorox
Gary Pike
Pike & Company
Ted Seburn
E. & J. Gallo Winery
Dave Swanson
Amazon Web Services
David Bickham
Reed Smith LLP
Jeffrey Bray
Prologis
Diana Kapp
Craig Tatlonghari
RSM
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/10/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.