My time working for JA is the reason that I believe in the mission of what Junior Achievement does for students.  I have had the privilege of meeting alumni of JA programs as far back as 1945 in the greater Cleveland area.  These people have told me amazing stories that would make your jaw drop. 

I meet a woman who was in JA in 1945, who was so inspired by the program that she wanted to start her own business.  Her parents would not help her go to college so on her own she moved to California to work her way through college, because it was the cheapest college option at the time.  She came back to Cleveland and started her own business, and had over 200 people working for her at one point.  She ended up going back to John Carroll to get her master’s degree where she met her husband, and in retirement got a third degree at Case Western Reserve University because she loved education so much.  She credited her JA class in high school as the spark that lit the fire in her to achieve these amazing feats.

From a first generation college student who started his own financial practice, to a serial entrepreneur that decided to own his own business because of his JA class in school, I have seen amazing stories of inspiration, and achievement.  That is why I am passionate about Junior Achievement, and why I am going above and beyond my job to participate in the Bowl-A-Thon fundraising campaign to raise money in support of JA programs.