Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) Receives Top Junior Achievement Award
Organization Honored with Junior Achievement Entrepreneur Leader of the Year Award
Maplewood, MN —Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest announced that Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) has been honored with the organization’s Entrepreneur Leader of the Year Award.
The purpose of the Entrepreneur Leader of the Year Award is to recognize a Junior Achievement (JA) partner that has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the organization’s mission of inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a new partnership in 2017-2018, Junior Achievement and Meda leveraged each organization’s assets to develop young minority entrepreneurs toward the goal of alleviating economic inequalities and increasing the number of minority-owned businesses in our community. Meda provided financial support to implement the first cohort at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, and paired JA Meda Fellows students with Meda member entrepreneurs who volunteered to serve as role models and provide summer internships. “We’re grateful for our partnership with Meda,” said Gina Blayney, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest. “Together we’re building a formal pipeline for youth entrepreneurs from high school to post-secondary and finally, into the greater entrepreneurial
ecosystem. The students who participated in the inaugural program this year learned how to create and operate an actual business, explored careers, and received valuable mentorship from entrepreneurs of color.”
About Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest has been serving students in Minnesota, North Dakota and western Wisconsin since 1949. During the 2017-2018 school year we reached more than 165,500 students in grades K-12 with financial literacy, career and college readiness and entrepreneurship education. Our programs are implemented by more than 10,000 volunteers, mostly business professionals, who share their skills and experience to motivate and inspire students to succeed. Learn more at www.jaum.org.
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