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AT&T expand programme with Junior Achievement to help young people into work

AT&T expands its support of Junior Achievement’s entrepreneurship programmes – aims to reach over 2,000 students across 10 European countries in 2016.

AT&T and Junior Achievement (JA) Europe are working together to equip young people in ten countries with the skills they need to get a job or start a business. As part of AT&T Aspire, the company’s signature philanthropic initiative, AT&T is supporting entrepreneurship and employability programmes which focus on building competences that help participants move into the workforce with a clear competitive advantage.

Peter Daly, AT&T Vice President for Global Service Management, says it’s a significant step forward for AT&T Aspire in Europe: “Our company is committed to supporting young people’s education and career prospects, and our investment has grown to more than $345,000 to deliver these programmes alongside JA Europe in 2016.”

JA Europe and AT&T have increased their collaboration over the past two years, reaching seven European countries in 2015. During this period, 169 AT&T volunteers were able to mentor a total of 1,983 students through 51 employability and entrepreneurship programmes, with an additional 619 students participating in supplementary activities. 

Following this success, the programme’s scope and impact is being widened in 2016, growing the number of supported programmes to 55 and expanding geographically to reach over 2,000 students. To support the expansion, 180 AT&T volunteers will mentor the young participants, sharing their expertise and offering key insights.

Michal Janko, a JA student from Slovakia shared his experience, saying:  “The best part was when the AT&T advisor said that we were awesome. It was then that we realised all of our hard work made sense. Hours and hours of working on our product, presentation, marketing materials and certificates had paid off with just a few words of encouragement from a person who had already achieved a lot in her life.”

AT&T-supported activities include employability programmes that introduce students to the world-of-work through IT workshops, soft-skills development, and entrepreneurial programmes that give participants a 360-degree view on how to build a company. AT&T will furthermore handout the ‘AT&T Excellence in IT Award’ to one of the best student-run mini-companies during the 27th annual JA Europe Company of the Year Competition, held this year in Lucerne, Switzerland. 

Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe explains, “Working with companies like AT&T, we are able to connect the working world with the classroom, helping students to understand the relevance and value of what they learn in school. The involvement of AT&T volunteers is a big part of that learning. At JA we work hard to ensure that Europe’s youth are prepared with the skills and competences they need to move successfully into their future careers.”

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About JA Europe

JA Europe is Europe’s largest provider of education programmes for entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy, reaching 3.5 million students in 39 countries in 2015. It was founded in 2001 when Young Enterprise Europe and Junior Achievement International Europe merged. JA works with the education and business communities as well as governments to provide young people from primary school to university with experiences that build the skills and competences they will need to succeed in a global economy. JA’s activities have been endorsed as best practice by the European Commission. JA Europe is the European Regional Operating Centre for JA Worldwide®.

About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T 

AT&T Inc. is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its community initiatives, AT&T has a long history of investing in projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; or address community needs. AT&T Aspire is AT&T’s signature philanthropic initiative that drives innovation in education by bringing diverse resources to bear on the issue including funding, technology, employee volunteerism, and mentoring. Through Aspire, we’ve passed the $250 million mark on our plan to invest $350 million in education from 2008-2017

For more information, please contact:

Marie Hargitt
JA Europe Communications
marie@jaeurope.org
+32 2 893 4436