Community Partner Spotlight

Junior Achievement USA

Junior Achievement

 

Junior Achievement USA® (JA) is the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to providing youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to make wise academic choices and secure economic success in the future. The organization offers programs on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness to students in elementary, middle, and high school in classrooms and after school locations. Classes are taught to more than 4.8 million students per year by volunteers in inner cities, suburbs, and rural areas throughout the United States.

The South Dakota JA chapter has been offering programming in the area since 1968. During the first year of operation, JA of South Dakota reached 387 students, and that number has grown to nearly 55,000 youth from 35 communities reached annually. Over 2,300 volunteers are involved in presenting the hands-on JA curriculum throughout South Dakota. During their JA experiences, students are also educated on the career opportunities that are available in the state, and encouraged to consider South Dakota when planning for their future. 

Since 1988, Sammons Financial Group has supported JA of South Dakota through board service, monetary donations, and employee volunteers. Approximately 50 employees dedicate a total of nearly 500 hours to JA of Sioux Falls every year. In addition, Sammons Financial Group regularly contributes funds to the program. In 2017, the company was the lead sponsor of the South Dakota chapter with a donation of $25,000. Furthermore, Sammons Financial Group gave a gift of $125,000 in 2013 to grow Junior Achievement of South Dakota’s endowment fund to help ensure South Dakota students will have continued access to Junior Achievement programming in the future. 

Learn more about Junior Achievement® USA by visiting their website.

Visit our Community Partner Spotlight archive to read about other Sammons Financial Group community partners.