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Junior Achievement Partners with Embarc Collective to Deliver Entrepreneurship Opportunities to Students

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3 min read · Nov 10

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Embarc Collective

Tampa Bay startup hub leverages the nation’s largest organization dedicated to youth development to increase regional entrepreneurship opportunities for junior talent

Tampa, Florida Startup hub Embarc Collective is partnering with Junior Achievement to develop an entrepreneurship academy and lab within its 32,000 square foot hub that will open later in 2019. The JA Entrepreneurship Academy & Lab at Embarc Collective will deliver entrepreneurship opportunities to middle and high school students, educate and inspire young people to embrace entrepreneurial thinking, and drive innovation to strengthen our global economy.

Junior Achievement USA is the nation’s leader in developing experiential learning programs for students from kindergarten through 12th grade on work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills. The student-focused non-profit reaches nearly 4.9 million students per year in over 200,000 classrooms and after-school locations. JA USA programs are taught by volunteers in inner cities, suburbs, and rural areas throughout the United States. Junior Achievement’s Tampa Bay Chapter currently has nearly 10,000 business and education volunteers led by over 200 local community board members throughout the region.

The JA Entrepreneurship Academy & Lab at Embarc Collective will provide a physical space where students can connect with local entrepreneurs and develop entrepreneurial skills, which include accountability, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, decision-making, idea development, leadership, product evaluation, speaking, sales, self-assessment, evaluating information and teamwork. 

“We are absolutely delighted to partner with Embarc Collective to deliver this world-class education experience to the students of Tampa Bay. Our goal at JA Tampa Bay is to consistently offer support and provide kids with the essential tools they need to succeed in their future,” says Richard George, President is Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay, “with the new JA Entrepreneurship Academy & Lab at Embarc Collective, we can continue to invest in our students and inspire young people to create, innovate, and cultivate a learning environment in which to thrive. JA Tampa Bay’s devoted commitment to the future of our children is driven by the generous support of our donors, sponsors and volunteers.”

By 2022, Junior Achievement will engage 1000 high school students annually through the JA Entrepreneurship Academy & Lab by way of an entrepreneur experience known as JA Job Shadowing. This experience includes an integrated in-school curriculum focused on entrepreneurship, the opportunity to join a teenage-led startup, and guidance from entrepreneurial adult mentors. The Lab will also provide a stage to reward and recognize student entrepreneurs through local, national and international competitions to compete for scholarship awards.

“Given the outstanding track record of Junior Achievement USA in providing growth opportunities for youth across the country, Embarc Collective is thrilled to partner with an organization so skilled at training and inspiring students to aspire to change the world through entrepreneurship within our community of startup builders.” said Lakshmi Shenoy, CEO of Embarc Collective.

Junior Achievement’s partnership with Embarc Collective will provide opportunities and educational resources to develop the future pipeline of young entrepreneurs in Tampa Bay. The JA Entrepreneurship Academy & Lab will be one of the first landing zones in the region for students to learn about innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in close proximity to early-stage technology startups. 

To learn more about Embarc Collective, visit embarccollective.com/join.


About Embarc Collective:

Embarc Collective is a 501c3 nonprofit that helps Tampa Bay’s startup talent build bold, scalable, thriving companies and currently supports 40 early-stage technology startups. The support from Embarc Collective is hands-on and driven by the specific goals and needs of each startup being supported. Later in 2019, Embarc Collective will open its 32,000 square foot innovation hub in downtown Tampa.

About Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay:

Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay inspired 85,963 students with more than 1 million Instructional Contact Hours through the support of 7,521 volunteers in 2018-2019 in the twelve-county region.  Junior Achievement is a for impact, non-profit organization that delivers K-12 programming for entrepreneurship, financial literacy and career readiness including two capstone programs of JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. For more information on the organization, visit jatampabay.org.

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