JA Southern Alberta - Celebrating 60 Years

JA Southern Alberta Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Work Readiness

Entrepreneurship

Financial Literacy 41

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO

O

n behalf of the staff, Board of Directors and the hundreds of thousands of students JA has reached in the last 6 decades, we want to thank our many donors and volunteers for continuing to help mentor and develop our young people.

You help to ensure that JA Southern Alberta remains part of the solution to bridging the talent gap by inspiring a productive and talented future workforce.

It is difficult finding words to express gratitude for changing lives. While many folks would find it hard to understand how teaching money management and business skills can change lives, we know it does. All of the students that participated in a JA program in the last 60 years remember their JA experience as a unique opportunity that enhanced their understanding of money, helped them navigate through career choices and sparked their entrepreneurial spirit. This knowledge has impacted their future and added value to their lives, our communities and our economy.

Our important work cannot be done without the generous support of individuals and partners from the community. To our donors, thank you for providing funding to our organization so that our students, teachers, parents and schools can have free access to our life-altering curriculum. To our volunteers, you are critical to our success; your time, skill and personal stories about money and work add value to our curriculum and provide that ‘special impact’ that engages students and creates memorable moments.

JA Southern Alberta Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Your gifts of time and money are valuable to us and we are most grateful. We humbly request your continued support as we deal with an inordinate waitlist. Please accept these two simple words – THANK YOU – but know that they come filled with heartfelt gratitude for your support. We look forward to working with you for many more years and decades to come!

Sincerely yours, Melissa From

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 2

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: 1960 to 1965

BRIAN SIDORSKY

Founder and CEO at Lansdowne Equity Ventures Ltd.

Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

A: Over the five years of company program the products were varied. Our products included aluminum cookie sheets. Ironing cord clips, which held the ironing cord out of the way. Planters made from cedar and shaped as red river carts.

Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: Given twenty weeks I would probably develop an internet marketing company that would direct ship our custom designed products directly from the manufacturer to our customers door. The business skills necessary today have evolved dramatically in the past sixty years. Word of mouth advertising has become the standard of social media. The basic necessary skills are still pretty much the same, only they have evolved to a much higher degree. The saying, “nothing happens until a sale is made,” is more true today except that a Degree in psychology is almost necessary to understand the selling techniques employed. 3D printing also has opened up an unlimited amount of possibilities. The creation of a new product goods or services today can all be accomplished by a consortium of designers, manufacturers and marketers, all located in different parts of the world.

Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

JA Southern Alberta

A: There were several learning lessons, but the biggest lesson that I learned and have used all my life was how to run a business. Almost all businesses operate on the same fundamental principles. Creating and providing products goods and services to customer clients in the most efficient and economical way are the basis for most businesses. Junior Achievement provided the opportunity to learn those basic skills necessary to survive and thrive. Even the companies that lost money or failed, learned as much through their failures as they did through their success.

Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: Yes, JA provides the opportunity to experience LEARNING BY DOING . Almost everyone on the planet will be involved with business in one way or another, so the more knowledge you possess on how the systems works, the easier and more successful your life will be.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: Learn how to learn. Read, read, read. Knowledge is the most important part of success. Learn and earn. Read at least one business book a week and learn how to sell. Seek out the best mentors for the path you have chosen and always ask for help from those that know more than you and are willing to share. Go the extra mile and read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Maximum Achievement

by Brian Tracy.

1960 Junior Achievement of Calgary is established, beginning a rich tradition of innovative student companies.

1967 Junior Achievement of Canada is established to oversee Canadian JA Charters, becoming the first international JA member.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 3

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: 1965-1967

SUSAN NELSON CEO at Open Gate Properties Inc.

Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

A: During my first year with JA, we used core samples and dipped them in plastic to sell as coasters to corporations.

These core samples were derived from oil and gas discovery projects. During my second and third year with JA, I worked at the JA Bank tracking all of the deposits from JA Company Program teams. Throughout the years I won multiple major awards and radio recognitions for my participation in JA. Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: I would grow into new areas that JA hasn’t approached

Congratulations on 60 great years, JA Southern Alberta!

yet, something in a growing industry like robotics and the agro-food industry.

JA Southern Alberta

Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

CWB is proud to partner in shaping our future leaders through education and mentorship.

A: The biggest lesson I learned was that collaboration is the key to team success.

Celebrating 60 Years Looking forward to more anniversaries 1960-2020 together.

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: Yes I would, because it allows students the opportunity to meet others who might be outside of their peer group. It allows for diversity and strong inter-generational opportunities working with various business mentors within each group, from different industry specialities.

CWBANK.COM

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: The importance of persevering and learning to work through difficult situations.

OBSESSED WITH YOUR SUCCESS ™

1971 Name changed to Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 4

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BRUCE LEE

Director of Service Development at Everyone’s a Caregiver Learning Systems.

Strategist, Speaker and Productivity Coach at Bruce Lee Productivity Resources.

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: 1967-1969

Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

A: To step up and take as big of a risk as you can. Be a leader and support and encourage others to be the best that they can. Step over limiting beliefs, and when someone believes in you, to live up to that expectation.

JA Southern Alberta

Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

A: During my first year, my team created a combination of both bottles of candy and bottles of bath salts. In the following two years I represented JA as President of the Achiever’s Association.

Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: I did come up with a number of ideas from special customized aprons for kitchen work, to self-sticking platforms for car dashboards that keep items secure from moving, to unique luggage tags with GPS, but I would have to check with the team as to their ideas too.

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: Yes. JA gives you insight into the real real world and allows you to build connections and learn about business.

Business is about who you know and how to get there faster and JA gives you the opportunity to fast track this and open doors.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: To join earlier in my high school career, rather than at the end. I would also tell myself to really work on the development of the product.

1980 JA launches business programs for elementary school students.

1989 JA launches the Economics for Staying in School program for junior high students.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 6

CONGRATULATIONS TO JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT FOR 60 YEARS OF INSPIRING TODAY’S LEADERS.

EXCELLENCE Going far beyond the call of duty.

Doing more than others expect. This is what excellence is all about. It comes from striving, maintaining the highest standards, looking a er the smallest detail and going the extra mile. Excellence means caring. It means making a special effo to do more.

– R.D. Southern, Founder, ATCO and one of the business leaders who brought JA to Calgary

Ron Southern closing a deal, 1951, California. Age: 21.

PROUD TO SUPPORT JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT SOUTHERN ALBERTA Congratulations on 60 years of investing in the future of Alberta!

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JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 7

MANJIT MINHAS

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: In Grade 10 and 11 – 1996 and 1997

CEO at Minhas Breweries, Dragon on CBC’s Dragon’s Den

Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

A: Hand Rolled Beeswax Candles Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: Something baby related Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

A: The value of teamwork and having a plan to execute upon, but also understanding not to be rigid with the plan as you have to listen to the market and your customers.

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: Absolutely! It gives you valuable insight into some of the realities of being an entrepreneur and all the work and decisions involved in a short amount of time. It also teaches you about finances, job descriptions, responsibilities, working with others and free enterprise. JA gives students an advantage by providing real world opportunities and skills not taught in schools.

JA Southern Alberta Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: Ninety Nine percent of the things you worry about never happen.

Dream more, worry less and enjoy every day. It goes fast.

1995 JA holds the first annual Economics of Staying in School week at Mount Royal College.

1996 Company Program is modified so it can be delivered during daytime classes for the first time.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 8

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: 2000-2003 - all three years when I was in high school Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

A: The most innovative product we created was a set of sushi candles, (candles shaped and packaged like sushi).

What made this extra special was that it wasn’t our first idea.

It emerged out of an earlier attempt at a product which was less creative and hadn’t been selling well. This was a first lesson in successfully iterating and pivoting a business strategy, and the sushi candles ended up generating strong profits despite having less time to produce and sell them.

Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: I’ll caveat this by saying that I’m pretty disconnected now from the high school market, and it would depend on the skills and strengths of my team and local demand.

At the forefront of my mind, alongside commercial returns, would be environmental sustainability and innovation. I would create a business that explained the fourth Industrial Revolution to high school students and our parents, including what it meant in terms of our studies and future job prospects and help us prepare for what is to come.

I might build a website or an app that held some basic information, plus offer a paid-for customized phone, text or in-person consulting service for those who wanted tailored advice.

BAILLIE AARON

Founder and CEO, Spark Inside, Founder of Venturing Out risk, and see if it might be a fit. Even if that doesn’t appeal, the interpersonal skills learned through the experience are invaluable: leadership, creativity, teamwork, ideation, resilience and drive, to name a few - all of which are becoming more important as we enter into the fourth Industrial Revolution and an unprecedented time of uncertainty.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: I would give my younger self the same advice as I would give to my current self: to own my power. Marianne Williamson said, “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” To my younger, current and future self: Now is the time to be radiant, to grow to the limits of my potential, and not to concern myself with what others might think - because, as Dr Seuss said, “Those that mind don’t matter, and those that matter, don’t mind.”

Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

A: There were so many! I think the biggest takeaway for me was the confidence in my leadership abilities. After holding the role of VP of Human Resources for one year, and then President for two years, I knew that I enjoyed leading teams and that I had a gift for it. It felt natural to take on leadership roles in the future including CEO. I was also exposed to vulnerabilities that would continue to challenge me over the years, mainly involving management and communication.

JA Southern Alberta Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: A resounding yes! While the entrepreneurial life isn’t for everyone, JA’s Company Program enables young people to test it out in a safe way, without any financial

2000 JA Titan, an online business simulation for high school students is launched.

2001 JASA pilots the first online version of the Investment Strategies Program, an online stock market sumulation for junior high students.

2004 The Frist Annual Calgary Business Hall of Fame Awards Gala and Induction Ceremony hosted by Ron MacLean.

2009 JASA Company Program student team, Smile, wins the first ever JA North American Company of the Year competition.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 9

Q: What year(s) did you participate in Junior Achievement?

A: I have participated in the JA Company Program for the last three years, starting in the 2017 school year.

SAHIL KALE

Current High School Student

Q: What was the product or service that you sold?

A: In Unwind, I sold foot hammocks!

They were designed to stylishly fit under a desk and allow you to keep your feet up at work in a fashionable way; a stark contrast with my second company, Allure, which sold organic lip balm to help with our dry winters. As of now, Reusabag sells foldable bags that have the ability to velcro, meaning they fit snugly in pockets while having all of the space a conventional bag would offer.

Q: If you were to join company program today, what product would you make and sell over 20 weeks with your high school friends?

A: Although I’m currently in the company program, if I were given a fresh start, I would try to make electrically-heated gloves. Calgary is known for going from -40ºC to +5ºC in a matter of hours, and having something to help with the extreme cold would be a massive hit in the market.

Q: What was the biggest learning lesson that you took away from your time in the JA program?

A: The biggest lesson I learned was the power of compromise. Regardless of the setting, every individual offers a unique perspective for every problem and a solution. Knowing how to strike a balance and come out with a solution that all parties agree with is a powerful skill, regardless of what is being dealt with. One of the best pieces of advice I received was that “compromise is never a flaw; it is simply a tool”. Knowing this, I approached every problem with this mentality and allowed the team to make decisions that everyone could get behind.

JA Southern Alberta

Q: Would you recommend young people join Junior Achievement Company Program and if so, why?

A: Absolutely! JA is an innovative program that allows you to experiment with solutions that apply in the corporate world. I often like to describe it as a program where you make mistakes so that you can fix them. While it sounds odd, I’d much rather make those mistakes and lose a few dollars, compared to millions on a large scale operation. You get to make friends, learn about business, and walk away with marketable skills, win-win-win!

Celebrating 60 Years 1960-2020

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: I would always encourage my younger self and other young individuals to go out and try something new. If it weren’t for a very persuasive friend of mine, I wouldn’t have joined the company program and reaped the massive amount of benefits that were offered. There will undoubtedly be an element of challenge involved, but the programs offered by JA ultimately result in having learned a new skill that can be applied in many other places in life.

2010 JASA expanded program reach to nine rural regions.

2014 JASA introduces Entrepreneurial Artist (EA) Program which provides Calgary’s Fine Arts students with business and entrepreneurship skills they will need to succeed in an arts career.

2014 JASA launches Indigenous Programming to Treaty 7 Schools.

2016 JASA introduces Entrepreneurial Trades (ET). The program provides Calgary’s Trades students with business and entrepreneurship skills they will need to succeed in a Trades career.

2019 JASA hosts first National Company of the Year Success Summit.

2019 JASA hosts first JA Day with Caucus.

JA Southern Alberta • Celebrating 60 Years • 10

Become a JA Supporter: Invest: Donate Today Involve: Volunteer to Deliver a JA Program Inspire: Today’s Youth...Tomorrow’s Leaders Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta 870, 105 12 Ave SE Calgary, AB T2G 1A1 403-237-5252 www.jasab.ca