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Leaders-for-a-Day celebrates the Entrepreneurial Attitude of JA Alumni

Brussels, 16 April 2018

What would happen if we put an eighteen-year-old in the shoes of a CEO from a major multinational? JA Europe did just that, in a work readiness awareness raising initiative called Leaders-for-a-day on April 16. JA Alum from all corners of Europe got the chance to shadow top executives from the private and public sectors.

Leaders notably included European Commission’s Director-General for Environment, CEOs and top managers from AT&T, AXA, BNY Mellon, Euroclear, ERT, FedEx Express, ManpowerGroup, Sage, SAP, SAS and The Parliament Magazine’s Managing Editor.

Leaders-for-a-Day is designed to offer further opportunities to students who completed the JA Company Programme and obtained the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass TM (ESP), a unique certification of their entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and attitude. This 2018 edition in cooperation with digital experts AT&T and supported by ManpowerGroup also invited young participants from the AT&T Aspire mentoring programme in Europe.

This experience aims to inspire young people to be entrepreneurial and encourage mentoring between young people and experienced professionals. It additionally helps them expand their network and better position themselves to enter the labour market. Studies have shown that students who have contact with employers while in school are more likely to be employed and 3-6 times less likely to be jobless.

“Through our partnership with JA Europe since 2013, we are able to deliver programmes that make young people ready for the workplace. Today an entrepreneurial mindset and a collaborative approach are helpful skills to make people more successful. We’re delighted to endorse the Leaders-for-a-Day programme which gives students the ability to get up close and personal with a professional of their choice,” said Peter Daly, VP - Global Service Management at AT&T

“By shadowing a top executive from AT&T, I learned that managing a big team based in different countries requires good leadership skills: you have to manage your time, show understanding and support to your team, you have to have a vision and enjoy your work to communicate your passion. Since I’m now studying ICT, I was also very interested to learn about how the telecom business works and how AT&T can adapt to the different markets they operate,” said Andrea Aspesi, JA Alumni from Italy


Celebrating 100 years of Junior Achievement

At the end of the day, students and leaders shared their experiences during a celebration dinner in the presence of the JA Europe Board of Directors. Author Larry Farrell closed the celebration with a presentation of his new book “The Entrepreneurial Attitude” for which he interviewed seventy high-achieving JA alumni across the world.

 

“The number one educational institution in the world for developing successful entrepreneurs, CEOs, and professional leaders is JA Worldwide. (…) You won’t find any other organization, anywhere in the world, that has produced so many entrepreneurial leaders.
Founded in 1918 by the chairman of AT&T and a few of his peers, JA has become one of the largest nongovernmental educational organizations in the world with more than 100 million alumni alive today and untold millions more since its founding.”

Extracts from:

Larry Farrell, “The Entrepreneurial Attitude: Lessons from Junior Achievement's 100 Years of Developing Young Entrepreneurs”, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2018

 

 

 

See photo gallery on JA Europe Facebook page

Leaders for a Day 2018

 

For more information please contact:
philippe@jaeurope.org 

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ABOUT JA EUROPE
JA Europe is Europe’s largest provider of education programmes for entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy. In 2017, we equipped 3.6 million students in 40 countries with the knowledge, skills and attitude they require to start a business or get a job. JA works with the education and business communities as well as governments to provide young people from primary school to university with experiences that build the skills and competences they will need to succeed in a global economy. JA Europe is the European Regional Operating Centre for JA Worldwide®. Learn more at www.jaeurope.org

ABOUT ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS PASS (ESP)
Leaders-for-a-Day is a part of the Further Opportunities offered through the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP). The ESP is an international qualification that certifies that students (15-19 years old), who have had a real entrepreneurship experience, hold the necessary knowledge, competences and skills to start a venture of their own or be successfully employed. ESP includes a full year in-school JA Company Programme experience; an examination of business, economic and financial knowledge; the possibility to access further opportunities offered by small and large businesses, top higher institutions and international organization across Europe. Learn more at www.entrepreneurialskillspass.eu

ABOUT AT&T ASPIRE
Aspire initiative supports Junior Achievement entrepreneurship and employability programmes across Europe, equipping young people with skills they need to get a job or start a business. JA Europe and AT&T have developed a strong relationship, working closely to deliver inspiring business and enterprise programmes to young people in 8 locations in Europe (Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Israel, Netherlands, Slovakia, United Kingdom). Aspire initiatives involve various programmes and activities that help develop young people’s understanding of the world of work and the skills needed to succeed. This is supported by AT&T expert volunteers working as facilitators, presenters, mentors and trainers. The programmes are implemented thanks to local AT&T and JA offices and engage over a large number of AT&T volunteers. A total of 13,413 students were given the opportunity to participate in 350 Employability and Entrepreneurial programmes and additional supplementary activities supported by AT&T employees in 1,255 volunteering experiences during the period 2013-2017. http://about.att.com/csr

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP
ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower®, Experis®, Right Management® and ManpowerGroup® Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across 80 countries and territories and has done so for 70 years. In 2018, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the ninth year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies for the sixteenth year, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup is powering the future of work: www.manpowergroup.com

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