Junior Achievement of South Central PA

Who is Junior Achievement?

You may know us by one of our many hands-on programs—Fundamentals, JA BizTown, YES!, STEM Summit, REAL Life, or JA Inspire. Junior Achievement encompasses all these impactful initiatives and more!

At our core, Junior Achievement is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to empowering young people with critical skills for their futures. Through engaging programs, our volunteers ignite sparks in students, inspiring them to explore, dream, and plan for successful futures in work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship—the three pillars that shape our mission.

With deep roots in Lancaster County, Junior Achievement proudly provides all PreK-12 programs to schools free of charge, made possible through the support of community partners and transformative events like The ExtraGive.

When you contribute to Junior Achievement during ExtraGive, you’re supporting over 30,000 Lancaster County students. You’re opening doors to help them dream big, explore career pathways, and envision thriving futures in our community.

Junior Achievement’s vision is a world where students have the skillset and mindset to build successful lives and strong communities. For over 69 years in Lancaster County, our name has stood as a promise—one we’re honored to continue with your support.

Who We Are

Junior Achievement of South Central PA prepares young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.

After several years in which Junior Achievement of South Central PA has had major successes in the number of students reached plus the development of new one-day middle and high school financial literacy and career readiness programs — COVID-19 hit the United States and severe restrictions on schools' abilities to have Junior Achievement volunteers and programs in the school building has changed our need for funding in 2020-2021.

Like many other businesses and organizations, we've had to rethink our business model and adapt to the needs of our schools and students. Like the schools, we have had to put a flexible plan in place. Students still need financial literacy and career-readiness education. Probably more so. And, we'll continue to deliver.

We plan on being here for our students, but we desperately need your funding help. Even though we may not be in the classrooms physically at times throughout the 2020-2021 school year, we will be there digitally and remotely to give the students the limitless possibilities they deserve.