I have been involved with JA for over 32 years.  My first introduction was in 1993 where I volunteered with one of my colleagues from Deloitte to teach a class at Mt. Tabor middle school, I continued my volunterism in the classroom for years at Riverside Elementary and other Portland schools, and I continue to volunteer in the classroom and will be at Peninsula Elementary on June 6th of this year.  I have been on the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of Oregon and SW Washington for the last 25 years giving my time, money, and energy to help teach young people about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workforce readiness.  

During the course of the past 100+ years, JA has evolved from an organization operating primarily in the Northeastern United States teaching teens how to start a business into a multinational organization reaching more than 10 million students in 100 countries with programs. JA empowers young people to own their future economic success by delivering volunteer-led, in-class programs to K-12 students in three critical areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. In the United States, JA reaches nearly 5 million students in grades K-12.

JA of Oregon & SW Washington has been serving students since 1950. For over 70 years, JA has been collaborating with volunteers from the business community and local schools to teach students how to have a successful future and understand how business works. Their impact reaches across the state of Oregon and Washington up to the Longview/Kelso area.  Please help me support this great cause.