Who we are
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington is the premier school system advisor and implementer of equitable, rigorous, scaled and sequenced future-readiness curricula and experiences. We partner with school systems to bring our unique programming to every student from middle school through high school. We engage global, national and local business leaders in meaningful and authentic interactions with students. And we recruit and train thousands of volunteer mentors from our community to provide consistent guidance, insights and support. Together, we inspire and impact over 51,000 students in the region every year.
Our Position
Changing the game for our region’s youth with relevant, experiential education for the real world.
Our visionary philosophy and innovative hands-on approach is shaped by a passionate collective of the nation’s educational thought leaders, business front-runners and civic leaders who come together as role models, partners and volunteer mentors to ensure that students are prepared to make informed decisions about their education, career choices and financial futures.
Our Mission
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy.
Our Vision
100% Inspired. 100% Prepared. 100% Employed.
We envision a world in which young people have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities.
Our Promise
Access = Opportunity
We provide every student equal access to relevant and experiential education, community mentors and global business leaders so that they can confidently pursue the real-world opportunities that matter most to them.
Our History
Founded nationally in 1919 and locally in 1965, Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, reaching more than 12 million students across the globe.
In Fall 2010, in partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington opened the doors to the first JA Finance Park® in the region on the grounds of Robert Frost Middle School in Fairfax, VA. JA Finance Park brings hands-on, experiential financial literacy education to 15,000 8th grade students each year. Then again in 2015, JA opened a second JA Finance Park facility, JA Finance Park Prince George’s County, which serves 9,000 students annually. A third facility, JA Finance Park Montgomery County, opened in October 2018 on the third floor of the Thomas Edison High School of Technology and transforms another 12,000 students annually into Finance Park graduates. In 2025, JA will open the JA Discovery Center in partnership with the City of Washington, DC to serve more than 9,000 middle and high school students.