On Saturday, March 5th, three Junior Achievement of Greater Washington staff members had the opportunity to lead workshops at the third annual Social Action Summit hosted by LearnServe International on the campus of American University. The Summit serves as an opportunity for over 100 young people to gather and develop the skills they will need to make their mark in their schools, communities, and in the world.
Fifteen workshops on a variety of different topics from Mental Health and Social Change to Mobile App Development and Social Media were available for students to participate in during the Summit. Click here to see a full list of the workshops that were available.
JA of Greater Washington staff members Jason Tenuta, Caitlin Hennessey and Gayle Robinson presented on the topics of “Team Building 101: Collaboration & Creativity,” “What’s My Advantage?,” and “JA® Personal Branding.” For two of these three workshops, JA® staff members were joined by local area high school students who assisted in leading the lessons. The JA® staff members drew from the JA Company Program® and the JA Career Success® programs when developing their workshops. Between the three JA led workshops, approximately 80 students participated.
“It was great for JA® to be able to participate in this summit that is helping to build the next generation of leaders,” said Jason Tenuta, D.C. Education Manager for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. “The ‘Team Building 101’ workshop that we led was one of the best attended workshops at the entire event, and I know the volunteers had a great time as well.”
Though all students are welcome to attend the Summit, LearnServe Fellows are especially encouraged to attend to refine their skills in preparation a business “pitch” that culminates their Fellowship. Each summer, LearnServe selects 75 fellows from more than 30 participating high schools across the DC area to participate in the fellowship program and learn how to bring sustainable social change to their communities.
Throughout the year the Fellows learn core business entrepreneurship skills, including budgeting, strategic planning, and team-building and they develop business plans for their own venture projects. These projects are created to address any particular problem they have identified. Some problems are global in scope, such as the crisis in Syria, while others are more local, such bullying at their school. At the end of the year Fellows “pitch” their ventures to a panel of business and community leaders and other professionals, with the opportunity to receive seed funding to get their ideas off the ground.
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington is proud to team up with LearnServe to help prepare our region’s youth for success in the future.
About LearnServe
LearnServe International equips high school students from diverse backgrounds with the entrepreneurial vision, tenacity, confidence, and leadership skills needed to tackle social challenges at home and abroad. The organization aims to build a new generation of global leaders and entrepreneurs that are poised and prepared to transform their communities.
