Breaking Ground on Boundless Possibilities

Author: Carla Crowe
Community Involvement
Published: Thursday, 03 Apr 2025

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Image caption: JA Board Leadership (Niloufar Molavi, Mark Lashier, Evelyn Angelle) and JA President (Joe Burke) celebrating the milestone!

Rain and muddy grounds could not stop the celebration as Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas took a monumental step toward empowering the next generation and creating experiences on the path to economic opportunity! We officially broke ground on the Phillips 66 | JA Discovery Center, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come.

This state-of-the-art learning facility will house JA’s administrative offices and two of its high-impact programs – JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. These programs bring relevance, authenticity, and applications to traditional education to energize students around academics and their future possibilities.

A project of this magnitude wouldn’t be possible without our incredible partners:
· Phillips 66 – Our lead partner driving this transformative project · Gauge Real Estate Partners – Bringing expertise in real estate development · CBRE – Providing strategic commercial real estate guidance · Kirksey Architecture – Designing a space where innovation thrives · Arch-Con® Corporation – Bringing it all to life with expert construction.

We would also like to thank our board members and public officials who were able to attend: Camilo Amezquita, Tracy Paddock Beam, Juliet Breeze MD, Darin Carroll, Damon Echevarria, Frank Steininger, Greg Vesey, Houston City Council Member Twila Carter, Texas State Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons, and Texas State Representative Ann Johnson.

Additionally, we'd like to say a special thank you to those who played instrumental roles in making this vision a reality:
Mark Lashier – For his leadership in securing our lead gift of $5 million from Phillips 66. Niloufar Molavi – JA Board Chair, championing our mission every step of the way. Evelyn Angelle – Campaign Committee and Project Chair, whose dedication has been invaluable.

And to our incredible board members, campaign supporters, and advocates—your belief in our mission is creating a lasting impact for students across our community.

We can’t wait to see the impact this center will have on future generations. Stay tuned as we build a future filled with boundless possibilities!