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JA Europe and Citi Foundation to celebrate 30 years of increasing youth entrepreneurship in Europe together

JA Europe and the Citi Foundation are working together across 19 European countries to equip secondary school students with entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills.

Together, JA Europe and the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative will impact more than 48,000 young people (15-18 years old) in the school year 2016-2017 through the JA Company Programme and the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass^TM (ESP).

JA Europe and the Citi Foundation celebrate 30 years of working together to foster entrepreneurship in Europe at secondary and post-secondary education levels. This is achieved through JA Europe’s successful Company Programme and is part of the Citi Foundation’s global commitment to developing youth entrepreneurship through the Pathways to Progress initiative. This flagship programme equips students with invaluable skills that are essential for successful transition into employment in today’s modern economy.

The New Skills Agenda for Europe recognises the importance of partnerships like JA Europe and the Citi Foundation and the positive impact this can have on society. JA Europe and the Citi Foundation’s pioneering relationship has spanned 30 years, and has benefited from significant growth and reach. In 2016, the JA Company Programme reached 300,000 students across Europe, a 14 % increase from the previous year.

In 2017, the Citi Foundation will both grow the scope of its activities and continue its tradition of engaging Citi employees as volunteers. This year it is estimated that more than 200 will give up their time to volunteer with JA Europe. Citi will also be the main sponsor of the European edition of the Company of the Year Competition 2017 and Entrepreneurship Education Summit taking place from 11-12 July in Brussels.

Head of Community Development, Citi EMEA, Rachael Barber said, “For over 30 years, our partnership with JA Europe has supported hundreds of thousands of young people to understand what it takes to start and run their own business. Through the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative we are focusing our efforts on preparing young people to be successful in today’s economy. We look forward to continuing our partnership with JA Europe as we jointly work towards growth and economic progress for young people across Europe.”

JA Europe and the Citi Foundation are keen to explore new areas of collaboration and have partnered on the EE-Hub project. This project will create a network of experts and educators and aims to encourage policy-makers and business leaders to advance entrepreneurship education both at EU and national levels.
 
“Youth unemployment is a major concern for Europe. It is therefore important to teach young people to develop entrepreneurial mind-sets to tackle this issue. By bringing businesses and education worlds together to support these programmes, JA Europe and the Citi Foundation are actively working to fight youth unemployment and the skills gap in Europe, and empowering young people with the skills they need to enter the workforce.” shared Caroline Jenner, CEO for JA Europe.

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About JA Europe
JA Europe (www.jaeurope.org) 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 Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

About Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's "More than Philanthropy" approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit www.citifoundation.com.

For press enquiries, please contact:
JA Europe Communications - media@jaeurope.org 
CITI Foundation - Rachel Barber - rachael.barber@citi.com