Junior Achievement of British Columbia (JABC)
Grant Program: Community Grants 2024
Funded by: Ian and Rosemary Mottershead Fund
About JABC: JA British Columbia (JABC) is a not-for-profit impact organization that delivers free hands-on, immersive education in work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship. Reaching thousands of young people each year through partnerships with educators, volunteers, and donors, JABC is one of the few organizations with the experience and passion to build a brighter future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. For over 68 years, JABC has served B.C. youth, including Indigenous communities, people of colour, and at-risk populations. JABC’s real-world training helps young people develop the skills to build successful careers, prepare for the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship, and learn to thrive financially. Through JA, young people are equipped with the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. JABC is a proud member of JA Canada and JA Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most impactful NGOs.
Currently there is a gap in the core provincial school curriculum around the topic of financial literacy. Basic financial literacy helps people become more self-sufficient and achieve financial stability for a higher quality standard of living. Financial education empowers people to ask questions that prevents fraud, and helps them seek out the best options for their future.
Program Accomplishments
JABC’s goal was to deliver 100 financial literacy programs on the North Shore to 2,600 youth. The end result was 192 programs in total were delivered to 5,368 youth. Of those 192 programs, 186 programs focused on financial literacy. The most popular program was Investment Strategies (ISP) where 43 programs were delivered to 1,261 students. Part of ISP is a Stock Market Challenge where students create and manage an online investment portfolio that is linked to live data from North American stock markets. ISP and other JA financial literacy programs help youth make smart financial choices, including learning about careers with high earning potential, and how to spend and save money, helping them to become self-sufficient adults.
As a result of developing community partnerships with Take A Hike Foundation and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation community, we were able to expand the delivery of our financial literacy programs to young people attending education and training programs beyond the School Districts of North and West Vancouver. For underserved youth who may not have connections to the business community, building connections with community volunteers helps inspire and motivate them to remain positive about their futures.
By the year 2027, JABC’s goal is to reach 100,000 B.C. youth, with a minimum of 5% being Indigenous youth, and an emphasis of expanding our programs to reach more youth at-risk. By identifying other NGOs and communities where socio-economic outcomes such as income, education, and employment fall below the provincial average, we can reach more young individuals that face barriers that often limit their ability to envision and and achieve a bright future. It is in these communities that our work can make the most profound difference. This school year, a total of 24 student from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation community and 20 at-risk youth from the Take A Hike Foundation attended a JA financial literacy program. JA financial literacy programs not only support the education and development of students and volunteers, but also cultivates a more economically vibrant, responsible and connected society. A lack of financial education where for example people are experiencing high credit card debt, can hold back entire communities from reaching their full potential.