Letter from the President

President Angela Raeburn The past four months since my start date in August have been hectic to say the least. We hired a new Director of Development – Mrs. Angie Spallas and we relocated to a new office. As 2007 winds down, I am filled with hope and excitement at the prospect of the New Year and Junior Achievement.

As a new President, I have three goals for Junior Achievement as we approach the New Year. First, we will identify new schools and students to receive the JA message. Whilst our core programs are in the classrooms, JA also recognizes that we can impact the lives of students outside of the traditional classroom environment. All students need JA no matter the school or income level, JA is about free enterprise and entrepreneurship, which are the engines of American economic power.

Secondly, as the national marketplace changes there are obvious challenges that face non-profit organizations like Junior Achievement and Funding is number one. Junior Achievement of Sacramento is a part of the Capitol Region and with that we are in a vibrant, diverse and important community. As a result, we at JA must step up and make our organization an integral component of business and industry here in Sacramento. We must be able to work in conjunction with small and medium sized businesses as well as large corporations. We must teach the reality of financial literacy to young people. In doing so, we expand our base of funders as Junior Achievement programs reach as many students as funding will allow.

My third goal is to make Junior Achievement a household name. As we look at the nation’s crisis in the mortgage market we have to ask ourselves how we teach young people about money and finances? Junior Achievement is the premier education organization on the topic of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. In order to accomplish this goal, we will focus on program quality and seamless service delivery in the classrooms. I plan to build relationships one business at a time.

I welcome any industry leaders who want to “Invest, Involve and Inspire” young people to their potential.

Sincerely,

Angela Bruce-Raeburn
President