ACCRA, GH – 21 APRIL 2020
Junior Achievement (JA) Africa today announces its partnership with PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) to further amplify and sustain PMIEF’s global impact by integrating project management into programming for youth, ages 5 to 19. Through this strategic investments, PMIEF will help prepare young people to better pursue their academic and professional goals by equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary for 21st century success.
PMIEF executes its current youth-focused strategy through nonprofits around the world that engage young people in highly experiential, project-oriented activities. The foundation partners with organizations that serve young people in at least two countries to ensure youth acquire and apply skills in critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. In addition, the generosity of PMIEF’s donors and volunteers allows the foundation to deliver project management fundamentals training and a one-year mentored experience to its partners to strengthen their ability to embed project management into business and administrative functions.
“Nonprofits are increasingly expected to deliver societal value by readying youth to meet global demands,” said Jeannette Barr, Executive Director of PMIEF. “Our partnerships provide organizations fiscal support, educational resources and access to volunteer expert project managers so they can better prepare their program participants to lead happy, productive lives and more effectively deliver against their stated mission.”
Through this $1 million grant, JA Africa will integrate project management into the JA Company Program, an entrepreneurship program that empowers young people to either solve a problem or fulfill an unmet need in their community as they design, execute, manage, market and monitor their own microenterprise.
JA will integrate project management into the Company Program in 14 member nations through a phased scale-up. With training and coaching for headquarters and country staff beginning in 2020 and continuing through 2022, JA Africa will pilot the project management-enriched programming starting the 2020-21 academic year. It will reach an estimated 20,000 youth continent-wide through this partnership.
“One of our priorities as an organization is to ensure that the content we deliver to young people is continually reviewed and refreshed to make it more work-relevant. Therefore, incorporating the discipline of project management into our flagship program will enhance its impact as a program. We are proud of this partnership with PMIEF and we are looking forward to working together towards improving learning outcomes for young Africans,” said Elizabeth Elango Bintliff, CEO of JA Africa.
Media Contact:
Senanu Adiku
Tel: +233 577680373
Senanu.adiku@ja-africa.org
About Junior Achievement Africa
Junior Achievement Africa (JA Africa) is a member of JA Worldwide, one of the largest global non-profit organizations focused on the economic empowerment of youth. JA Africa prepares youth for the future of jobs through the delivery of financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship training. In collaboration with schools, technical/vocational centers and other partners, JA Africa works to augment the traditional training for both in-school and out-of-school youth, aged 5-35 years, with life skills, business training and mentorship, in order to encourage innovative thinking, develop positive financial attitudes and enhance career aspirations. JA’s flagship JA Company Program®, for example, provides introductory entrepreneurship education to high school students by giving them the opportunity to organize and operate an actual business from capitalization to liquidation. Over the course of the school year, students collaborate to start and run businesses: they develop a product or idea, sell shares, establish Boards of Directors, recruit and select management, create job descriptions, hire staff, create products, market products and, hopefully, make profits. In the last decade, over 220,000 young Africans have been reached through the Company Program.
Today, JA Africa engages over 3,000 volunteers annually to teach over 250,000 young people in 15 African countries. Learn more about us at www.ja-africa.org.
About PMI Educational Foundation
PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) is a 501(c)(3) supporting organization of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading not-for-profit professional membership association for those who consider project, program, or portfolio management their profession. Founded in 1990, PMIEF cultivates long-term relationships with nonprofits across the globe to help them integrate project management in their youth programs and to build their own project management capacity. The foundation achieves its mission to “enable youth to realize their potential and transform lives through project management” and its vision for “inspiring youth to achieve their goals, making dreams a reality” by investing in high-quality organizations that exemplify a commitment to preparing young people for 21st century success and an appreciation for both the societal application and value of project management. Visit the PMIEF Partner page on PMIEF.org for more information.
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About Project Management Institute
Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world’s leading association for those who consider project, program or portfolio management their profession. Through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research, we work to prepare more than three million professionals around the world for The Project Economy: the coming economy in which work, and individuals, are organized around projects, products, programs and value streams. Now 50 years in the making, we work in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, improve organizational success and further mature the project management profession through globally-recognized standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses and networking opportunities. As part of the PMI family, ProjectManagement.com creates online global communities that deliver more resources, better tools, larger networks and broader perspectives. Visit us at http://www.PMI.org, www.projectmanagement.com, www.facebook.com/PMInstitute and on Twitter @PMInstitute
