Junior Achievement CEO Stephanie Gambone says nothing is more powerful than the kind of collaboration the Satell Institute inspires.
* * *
In an impactful and memorable keynote conversation at the Satell Institute’s Spring 2023 Private CEO Conference, former Florida governor Jeb Bush – now a respected, nonpartisan education-reform advocate — talked about the importance of education and workforce development in building a stronger America. Crucial to that effort, Governor Bush noted, was the input and support of the business community.
No one would echo that point more strongly than Stephanie Gambone, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southeastern PA (a longtime SI Nonprofit Affiliate). With 25 years of experience in youth education (she previously worked at the Philadelphia Youth Network), Gambone took on her current role in early 2022. She now leads an organization that serves eight counties, partners with more than 100 school districts, and offers an array of programming devoted to financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship.
Crucial to JA’s own success over its century-long existence: the deep relationships the organization has formed with its corporate partners.
In this conversation, Gambone talks about JA’s important mission, the critical contributions that partners like Bank of America make, and the unique role the Satell Institute plays in bringing businesses and nonprofits together for the greater good of the community.
* * *
JA’s global purpose…
…is to help prepare young people for a global economy. When we talked about our purpose statement locally, we really landed on equipping young people for economic mobility and the pursuit of their own ambitions. And both pieces of that are really important to us as an organization and to me personally: Young people can think about the future broadly, but also think about what they want to be. We’re giving them tangible skills like understanding finances, but also career readiness.
One great example of that…
…is a job shadowing day we did recently with our Satell sponsor, Bank of America. We have a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia that provides experiences to 10th, 11th and 12th graders. One of them is a shadowing day with corporations around the city and region, which lets kids get outside of the four walls of the classroom and actually be in a business. They heard from our board president, Bassam Awadalla, who’s a leader at Bank of America, and from Bank of America’s market president, Jim Dever. They got a tour of the branches. There were around banking. So it gave them great exposure.
Bank of America and JA…
…were one of the first corporate-nonprofit partnerships to join Satell. Both have been involved from the beginning. Bank of America is one of our larger supporters, and not just from a financial perspective — but in terms of overall commitment. Their employees volunteer quite a bit.
JA’s programming is built around…
…three different pathways: financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Financial literacy includes programs like “JA Biz Town,” which allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks and vote for mayor in a simulated town. “JA Career Success,” part of our work readiness pathway, introduces high school students to the workplace – they participate in realistic work experiences in different departments of a fictional company. And “JA Company Program,” part of the entrepreneurship pathway, teaches students how to plan, launch, and operate their own business venture. But those are just three examples. We offer more than dozen different programs for young people ages 5 to 25.
I grew up…
…in Southwest Philly. My parents were teen parents, and I’m a first-generation college student, so I had to navigate quite a bit myself as I embarked on my educational journey. Shortly after colIege I took a job at Olney High School supporting their summer jobs program, and the rest is history. Twenty-five years later, I’m still in this space. So even though JA is new to me, the education-workforce system is not.
Having done this work for 25 years…
…I’ve seen what opportunity and access can do for young people – just being able to open those doors and get young people to see what’s possible. I believe that if you can’t see it, it’s hard to be it.
But key to making it work are partnerships and collaboration. Corporate partners play their role. School partners play their role. We play our role. Together we can have a positive impact on the lives of young people in our region.
The corporate support we get through our board…
… is outstanding. They’re financially supportive and strategically supportive — and they volunteer.
Last week we did something at Janssen Pharmaceuticals through one of our board members. And we have a young professionals board, and many of them serve as volunteer coordinators at their companies. They’re ambassadors for Junior Achievement.
As JA looks to the future…
…we are prioritizing under-resourced communities within our region. We want to make sure we are connecting with young people who wouldn’t have access otherwise. And we’re thinking about what it’s really going to take for young people to be future-ready —even when we don’t know what some of that is going to look like.
The Satell Institute is invaluable because…
… first and foremost it brings together nonprofit and corporate leaders who care about the world and care about doing good. The ability to connect, have conversations, and hear from leaders is invaluable. To be able to create a space where you can bring all of those individuals together and think about, “What can we do better together?” has been really really important. I’m always taking away some nuggets to incorporate into my work.
The Satell Institute…
… is always thinking about how they can support both the corporate and the nonprofit sectors. And there’s really no other space like that in this region.