TEAM OF JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT TEEN ENTREPRENEURS FROM THE HOUSTON AREA TAKES 2ND PLACE IN NATIONAL JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT COMPETITION
Teens Competed with Students from 14 other JA Student Companies
Houston, Texas —On June 23rd, the teen entrepreneurs of EVO (Elkins Very Own), a JA Student Company from the Houston area representing Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, were selected from among 15 JA student companies as the 2nd place awardee for JA Company of the Year while participating in Junior Achievement's (JA) 2022 National Student Leadership Summit (NSLS). The competition took place in Washington, D.C.
Evo created Let's Keep Talking, a card game and bracelet set to facilitate simple, easy, and comfortable conversations in daily life, and to deepen human bonding and connectivity.
The teens representing the first-place student company were each awarded a $3,000 JA Company of the Year Scholarship. To the five students representing the second-place team, all were awarded $1,500 scholarships, and $1,000 scholarships were awarded to each of the five students representing the third-place team. All scholarships were awarded by the Achievement Foundation.
Junior Achievement's National Student Leadership Summit is a contest of business skills, ingenuity, and innovation that focuses on the accomplishments of the U.S. JA Company Program ® students, ages 15-19, during the 2021-2022 academic year. JA Company Program students start and run a real business enterprise under the guidance of a volunteer from the local business community. They devise and market a product or service that fills an unmet consumer need and recruit investors for their company.
The student companies competing at the NSLS were assessed on both their business performance as well as the personal and professional development of individual team members. Scored elements of the competition include a self-produced annual report and commercial, a live virtual presentation to a panel of business leaders, and interviews with judges.
The 15 finalist teams that participated were:
- Amity – JA of Greater Washington (Washington, D.C., Area)
- Botl+ – JA of Northern New England (Boston, MA, Area)
- Brain Wave – JA of North Central Ohio (Canton, OH, Area)
- Charcute – JA of San Diego County (San Diego, CA, Area)
- Dulicious Co – JA of Southeast Texas (Houston, TX, Area)
- Ecossentials – JA of South Florida (Fort Lauderdale, FL, Area)
- EVO – JA of Southeast Texas (Houston, TX, Area)
- Embracelet – JA of Northern California (San Francisco, CA, Area)
- Gateway Clothing Co – JA of Greater St. Louis (Chesterfield, MO, Area)
- InnoVistics – JA of North Central Ohio (Canton, OH, Area)
- IRIS – JA of Greater Washington (Washington, D.C., Area)
- On The Money Magazine – JA of Chicago (Chicago, IL, Area)
- Relaxivibe – JA of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA, Area)
- Sababa – JA of North Central Ohio (Canton, OH, Area)
- TriSense – JA of Northern New England (Boston, MA, Area)
About Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas
Founded in 1945, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas has provided financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurial resources to students in grades K-12. Through a dedicated and diverse group of corporate, parent, and community volunteers, its programs continue to motivate, prepare and provide students with the knowledge and experience needed to kindle understanding and enthusiasm to succeed in a vastly growing global economy. Visit jahouston.org for more information.