5th November 2025, Brussels
JA Portugal has been honoured with the 2025 TJ Bata Quality Award, distinguishing itself among 15 JA Model Organisations for its outstanding leadership, innovation, and strategic impact across the JA Europe network.
The award was presented today at the JA Europe Annual General Assembly 2025 in Brussels, where JA Portugal was recognised as the top-performing JA Model Organisation of the year.
Since its inception in 2009, the TJ Bata Quality Award has celebrated JA Member Organisations that demonstrate sustained excellence, strong alignment with JA Europe’s strategic priorities, and a remarkable contribution to empowering young people across Europe.
The award jury included the following members: representing the Bata Shoe Foundation Elvira Eilert Pignal, Trustee of Bata Shoe Foundation; Riccardo Barberis, JA Europe Board Member and President of Northern Europe at ManpowerGroup; and Siobhan McDonagh, JA Europe Board Member and Head of Group People & Culture at UniCredit.
Elvira Eilert Pignal, Trustee of Bata Shoe Foundation, said: “The winner of the T.J. Bata Quality Award has been recognised for an outstanding track record over the years. The organisation has significantly expanded its impact and reach nationwide, while effectively collaborating with national education authorities to maximise its integration into students’ learning. Notably, it has pioneered the integration of artificial intelligence within their programmatic offer as a standalone competitive category. These achievements have been consistently demonstrated year after year, a testament to the organisation’s sustained excellence and unwavering commitment to quality and impact.”
In addition to JA Portugal, 15 other JA Europe Member Organisations were honoured with the JA Model Organisation Award, acknowledging their leadership, impact, and commitment to advancing entrepreneurship, employability, and financial education for youth over the past year.
Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe said: “Each year, the TJ Bata Quality Award reminds us what excellence looks like within our network. JA Portugal’s achievement this year reflects an unwavering commitment to empowering young people through innovation, collaboration, and strategic vision. Their success inspires all of us as we continue building toward our shared ambition, to equip 20 million young Europeans with the skills and confidence to shape their futures by 2050.”
Join us in celebrating the 2025 JA Model Organisations:
- Albania – Junior Achievement of Albania (JAA)
- Austria – Junior Achievement Austria (JA Austria)
- Bulgaria – Junior Achievement Bulgaria (JA Bulgaria)
- Cyprus – Junior Achievement Cyprus (JA Cyprus)
- Estonia – Junior Achievement Eesti (JA Eesti)
- Italy – Junior Achievement Italy (JA Italia)
- Latvia – Junior Achievement Latvia (JA Latvia)
- Lithuania – Lietuvos Junior Achievement (JA Lithuania)
- Malta – JA Malta Foundation (JA Malta)
- Norway – Ungt Entreprenørskap (UE Norge)
- Portugal – Junior Achievement Portugal (JA Portugal)
- Romania – Junior Achievement Romania (JA Romania)
- Spain – Fundación Junior Achievement España (JA Spain)
- Switzerland – Young Enterprise Switzerland (YES)
- Türkiye – Genç Basari Eğitim Vakfı (JA Türkiye)
- Ukraine – Junior Achievement Ukraine (JA Ukraine)
About Bata Shoe Foundation
The Bata Shoe Foundation is a philanthropic organization based in Switzerland, dedicated to fostering education, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development globally. As a shareholder in the Bata Shoe Organization, founded in 1894, the Foundation upholds the values and legacy of its founders by supporting initiatives that empower communities and contribute to social and economic progress. Through strategic partnerships and targeted grants, the Bata Shoe Foundation promotes skills development, innovation, and resilience, particularly among youth and underserved populations, to create lasting positive impact worldwide.
About JA Europe
JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network provided 7,5 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats.
