Exceeding Expectations with the JA Company Program

Author: Tania Daniel
Entrepreneurship
Published: Monday, 03 Jan 2022

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JA Alumni and JA Company Program students standing on a staircase during the holiday season.

Image caption: JA Alumni and JA Company Program students

The JA Company Program, Presented by LyondellBasell, witnessed incredible growth and expansion in Fall 2021, with over 50 cohorts already completing the core curriculum. Special thanks to many JA Board companies and stakeholders, like PwC, Schlumberger, ExxonMobil, Rice MBA, and Baker Hughes, for strengthening our mentor pipeline and providing much-needed guidance. We are honored to work on some unique, new opportunities, like The Energy Project at the Energy Institute High School with the Puranik Foundation and being able to support Stafford MSD’s brand-new STEM Magnet Academy.

Home-grown and external special events and competitions also progressed steadfastly. JA companies dominated the Finals of the HCC/University of St. Thomas Pitchfest and won all coveted first, second, and third placements. Eight JA companies made it to the Finals of the UH/Bauer/Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship Think Tank Competition 2022, where they will vie for a total of $6,000 seed money. It was had a fantastic start to the school year with the kick-off, JA Ignite the Spark! Presented by Worley and Veritex Community Bank. Supported by HCC and Microsoft, this event enhanced ideation and tech innovation.

Our inaugural Tech Innovation Boot Camp, hosted by SAP/SAP Concur, also fed into the Technology + Innovation pillars. The hope is to do more of this within the following year. The JA EnTEENpreneur Conference, presented by Enbridge and H-E-B and supported by Rice MBA and LILIE, was an amazing success with record attendance. Board companies continued to generously sponsor signature events of the JA Company Program, and the post-event student feedback continues to be extremely positive and appreciative. We also had our semester mock pitch session at The Ion with Demo Day, and this event is fast becoming a signature event, in its own right, with CEOs and Founders such as Kim Roxie and Gustavo Sanchez scoring our teams.

The JA alumni network continues to support training aggressively with Marketing, Pitch, and PPT workshops already completed by Facebook at UT Austin alumni. The first alumni strategy session was also completed recently, and the white paper will be released soon.

In 2022, JA alumni will play an even more significant role in shaping the content and execution of the JA Company Program. We look forward to a robust new year with program implementation in its final phase and more exciting special events planned!

Are you a JA Alumni who wants to get involved? We welcome you back! Please email Tania Daniel at tdaniel@jahouston.org for more information and opportunities for support.