Washington Business Hall of Fame founders, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and Washingtonian today announced the 2017 Hall of Fame laureates. The Washington Business Hall of Fame, founded in 1988, recognizes the professional and philanthropic contributions of outstanding business leaders in our region who have made Greater Washington the city that it is today. The annual gala benefits Junior Achievement® and its innovative financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship K-12 programs that inspire the next generation of leaders to navigate their path to the American Dream.

Aa part of our Learn about the Laureates e-series, we had a chance to ask 2017 Laureate, Chris Nassetta a few questions so you could get to know him better before the big event in November. Here's what he had to say. 

As part of our Learn about the Laureates e-series, we had a chance to ask 2017 Laureate, Gracia C. Martore a few questions so you could get to know her better before the big event in November. Here's what she had to say. 

As part of our Learn about the Laureates e-series, we had a chance to ask 2017 Laureate, Michael N. Harreld a few questions so you could get to know him better before the big event in November. Here's what he had to say. 

As part of our Learn about the Laureates e-series, we had a chance to ask 2017 Laureate, Phil de Picciotto a few questions so you could get to know him better before the big event in November. Here's what he had to say. 

According to the 2016 Fairfax Youth Survey Report, over 60,000 Fairfax County students face depressive symptoms every year, and over one-third of the students reported experiencing a high level of stress in the past month.

When the five students participating in Junior Achievement of Greater Washington’s 2017 JA Company Program came across this statistic, they knew they had found the issue they wanted to address.

For Robinson Secondary School senior Kurien Thomas, signing up for JA Company Program was about achieving a lifelong goal: to be a part of a startup project at an early age.

“The [JA] Company Program was advertised as an experience that would teach me leadership, marketing, sales, financial management, and supply chain management. However, it has done much more than that,” said Kurien. “It has taught me how to be an active community member and a self-made individual with a philanthropic mindset.”

April is National Financial Literacy Month, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Consumers are feeling more pinched each week with rapidly increasing gas and food prices and sluggish economic growth.  According to a recent survey by Career Builder, 77 percent of American consumers are living paycheck to paycheck.

When did you start saving for retirement? Were you ever given information to help explain your options?  According to Junior Achievement’s 2017 Teens & Personal Finance Survey, a large disconnect exists between young people and a basic understanding of 401Ks. Although thirty percent of teens know that a 401K is a retirement plan where the employee contributes a certain amount and the employer matches, the majority (70%) of teens don’t know what a 401K is based on anything that they have read or heard. The survey of 1,000 U.S. teens between the ages of 13 and 17 was conducted March 17-21, 2017 by Junior Achievement USA and ORC International.