Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship & Boundless Futures: Junior Achievement Prepares Our Youth.

Susan Nelson: [00:00:00] What kids shouldn't be receiving junior achievement? What kids shouldn't be receiving economic empowerment as part of their education, financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship. Like these are things that all kids, all young people would benefit significantly from our programs. The choice we have to make here is with limited resources, offering the programs and then infusing it with subject matter experts in a smaller scale.

There is a way for all kids to benefit.

Jeff Holden: I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story. In their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more [00:01:00] tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Our goal is to help build stronger communities through shared voices and to both encourage and support the growth of local non profit organizations. through podcasting. Thanks to our founding partners for their foresight in helping us transform the way conversations start. CAP Trust, fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations.

Runyon Saltzman Incorporated, RSE, marketing, advertising, and public relations creating integrated communications committed to improving lives. And Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families. Entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health and awareness for our youth and students.

We all want that, right? We expect it. But somebody has to make it happen. My conversation today is with an organization that might just have some understanding of how to do that. I mean, they've been doing it for over a hundred years. [00:02:00] Junior Achievement is one of the legacy organizations in the nonprofit world.

But what they did back then is nothing like what they're doing now. They've made the transition to our contemporary world. They're proud of their history of creating meaningful impact. Clearly they are not resting on tradition alone. What they are doing is constantly evolving to address today's challenges while anticipating the needs of tomorrow, ensuring their programs remain relevant, innovative, and transformative for the communities they serve.

Junior achievement worldwide was nominated for a Nobel peace prize this year. My guest, Susan Nelson, has the privilege of being president of Junior Achievement Sacramento, and I'm excited to share that after our conversation had been recorded, they were awarded 200, 000 from the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Program.

Now that's a testament to the future. And What they do in our community. Susan Nelson, welcome to [00:03:00] the nonprofit podcast network. 

Susan Nelson: Thank you, Jeff. It's a pleasure to be here. 

Jeff Holden: Well, I'm excited because you run a legacy organization. It's been around a long time. It's a name we're familiar with. What an incredible brand.

1919 it was started. And I was really surprised to see that it was started by an executive of AT& T. Who would have thought back then that they had the foresight to be looking this far forward? In 1919 that far forward to say we need to do something different for financial literacy and business understanding to our youth.

So give us a high level overview of junior achievement. 

Susan Nelson: Yes, I agree. You know, just the just would love to be able to. Go back in time and see how that evolved. Because as we all know, the challenges that we've come to [00:04:00] address with our mission, just to inspire young people to achieve economic success through financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship, you know, those challenges.

Have have been in front of us for quite some time, and it's really of most recent that it's so understood how important that is for our future success. Right? And indeed, we do have a remarkable legacy, but it's so much more than that. We're proud of our history, creating meaningful impact. However, we don't just rest on tradition.

We're constantly evolving to address today's challenges and anticipate the needs of tomorrow, ensuring our programs remain relevant, innovative, transformative for the communities that we serve. 

Jeff Holden: Let's talk about those communities you serve. Who is it? And, and literally your geographic footprint here in the greater Sacramento area.

What's that look like? 

Susan Nelson: So I am one of a hundred markets across the U. S. Junior [00:05:00] Achievement of Sacramento serves 14 counties across this region. Wow. So for, I like to say from here up to the Oregon border are the students that we should be able to impact, right? Resources are always an issue. So I would say the bulk of the students that we serve are mostly here in Sac County.

A little bit of Yolo, a little bit of Placer, a little bit of Yuba Sutter area. But there's a half a million students in that footprint, and that's just K 12. And now we're in the K 25 space. So there's a lot of kids that we should be able to impact. And I think the exciting opportunity is that our, our programs and solutions now have that scalability and flexibility to really have that kind of impact across all students.

Jeff Holden: So you just said something. Yeah. is significant. From kindergarten and you said to K 25. What is that? 

Susan Nelson: That is We're the greatest need is, you know, because, you know, in our most underserved communities, you want that early and often, right? Because, you [00:06:00] know, quite frankly, if you don't have that influence before middle school, you may really miss out on that opportunity to put kids on the right path.

Right? But at the very least, let's make sure kids are exiting high school and then going into some type of a post secondary solution, whether that be a trade, you know, of community college, our state schools, our universities, et cetera. 

Jeff Holden: So junior achievement is following the students now all the way into college?

Susan Nelson: That is true. 

Jeff Holden: That's amazing. Yeah, and 

Susan Nelson: not just into college, you know, into trades and certification programs with through coaching and mentoring and badging. So it's very robust solution that we have to offer now. 

Jeff Holden: Tell me a little bit about the programs themselves. They start at kindergarten in some way, shape or form, and they continue all the way through to several graduations.

You know, from grammar school to high school, and now, as I understand, into college. What are those programs, [00:07:00] maybe as, as a, a spectrum that That would help us understand the influence that you've got in the, you know, in the scholastic system. 

Susan Nelson: So our programs go beyond traditional classroom learning by integrating hands on experiences.

That's really how the foundation of how we're, we're built, bringing in that volunteer, volunteer mentorship and real world applications, right? Whether it's teaching elementary school students, the basics of money management. Guiding middle school through career exploration. Empowering high school and college students with tools to launch businesses or succeed in the workplace.

Junior Achievement ensures learning is practical, impactful, and relevant. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. Give me an example of a program that you might have in grammar school. 

Susan Nelson: Sure. So, in grammar school, I would say my favorite program that I like to teach when I get into the classroom is Well, I can tell 

Jeff Holden: because you just lit up about whatever it is.

Susan Nelson: Yeah, it's our fourth grade program and it's called Our Region. One of the things, we have grade level programs for each grade in the elementary school. And [00:08:00] because we align with both federal and state standards, we're very integrated with what the kids are learning. In English Language, math and social studies.

And so, for example, in fourth grade, they're learning a lot about resources, capital resources, human resources. And so, what a perfect landscape to introduce the concept of entrepreneurship. And so here we are in fourth grade having this discussion with kids about this is what entrepreneurship is. And by the way, you know, more than 50 percent of you here in this room are going to try your luck at it.

And what we hope for you is that you're going to be successful doing that. And so we're here to talk to you about what are the attributes of a successful entrepreneur? And then we take them through various hands on activities where they learn concepts of Profit and loss and run them through scenarios that are positive and not so positive, um, to see how they can [00:09:00] work their way through some of those challenges.

Because as we all know, it's that grit, that entrepreneurial mindset that whether you become the entrepreneur or go work for somebody else is so needed in today's, you know, workforce. 

Jeff Holden: Fourth grade, 50 percent every other student is going to try an entrepreneurial. And is that a fourth grade stat or just a stat in general?

No, 

Susan Nelson: that's, that's a life stat, right? You know, just, I mean, more than 50 percent of all of us, you know, will try, you know, whether we're successful or not is a whole nother picture. You know, in fact, our most underserved communities. Have extremely entrepreneurial mindsets. Right? So how can we provide that infrastructure to get that basic information to take you from concept?

And then you have your success. But then how do you grow and scale that and help them really think of all of those things and understand their [00:10:00] resources so that they continue to develop the confidence to fulfill their dreams? 

Jeff Holden: So, the program is in the schools, volunteers, and it's in every grade. How do you get into the schools?

How do the schools bring JA 

Susan Nelson: in? That's a great question, Jeff. You know, I, so, JA, it's not your mother's JA. Good, good. Right? You know, so, it's like. The J. A. That I received when I was in high school looks so different than it is today. And so, you know, traditionally it really was the goodness of the heart of a teacher that would understand how important this is.

And even though I'm not that my paycheck isn't tied to delivering this content to kids, I'm going to make a point. of bringing JA into the classroom so that my kids benefit from this because it should be part of their education, right? And as you know, the demands on education are not getting less, right?

And teachers are expected to do more and more, and it's become a very challenging [00:11:00] environment. right? And so at this point, we're doing a lot more work working directly with districts. So, for example, this since Cove it, this is the first year that we've really had great success circling back with the superintendents and their staff to really start engaging.

Never been for lack of interest, but more Lots of fires over the last five years, right? And so now, you know, if you look at the L caps that exist for each one of the districts, college and career readiness are, you know, in their top three, you know, but how do you put that skin in the game? You know, you have, you have, You have college and career counselors, you have CTE, but they're not really empowered to have that direct impact on the kids.

It's really right now left up to the teachers as individuals. And when they have all these other demands, you know, what, what gives, right? And so those are the kinds of conversations that we're really [00:12:00] enjoying right now with some of our local districts is we need you. to work to solve those problems for the teachers, to solve those problems for the students, and make it a situation that's turnkey so that it's easy for a teacher to be successful, to support what's intended, and so that we can make sure that, you know, economic empowerment gets very well integrated into how kids exit the K 12 system.

Jeff Holden: So, you actually are a part of the system implemented by the teachers, although volunteer. So, JA volunteers, Junior Achievement volunteers, would come to the classroom, do the presentation, whatever it happens to be for that grade level and or product that you're serving. More often 

Susan Nelson: than not, that is the case.

And so, but then as, as we start to offer more and more robust solutions that we have, it really becomes a roadmap with a district to decide what are your [00:13:00] priorities and how are we going to get them done. You know, so, for example, many people in the business community know us for our J. A. In a days where we come in and have an economic empowerment day, a middle school.

I'm sorry at a at a elementary school. And in this case, we've got. Two volunteers coming into each classroom, they're spending the entire day with these kids and they go through one exercise after the next, usually about five or six exercises and about two thirds of the time is kids with those hands on activities, right?

So that, that's something that's gone round and round for years, but now we have the flexibility where, you know, if we can't get to all of those students, teachers could offer that program. We also have situations where. older students are able to come into the classroom and offer it to younger students so that we can get, you know, that awareness out at the elementary level.

It also provides a great opportunity. One of the things that we've been exploring that I've seen [00:14:00] success in other markets doing is with the teacher shortages, right? You know, they have teacher academies now. 

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Susan Nelson: And what a wonderful thing to help these kids provide the efficacy of our programming and get a feeling for what it would be like to get into the classroom with the kids and be successful doing that.

And so we're finding a lot of interest in that to be able to get leadership programs. In front of the kids so that they can offer that my daughter and and some of her peers that were on her volleyball team Approached me to do that when I first started with j. a And it was really wonderful to watch because you know the kids the closer you get to them in age The more, you know weight.

Yes these decisions, you know, and these concepts have for the kids So they're they're like sponges to be able to really get that empowerment from you know Somebody that's closer in age to them. It's that relevance 

Jeff Holden: of a peer Correct, yeah, 

Susan Nelson: correct. But so that's like the traditional J, A in a day model.

When you get into middle and high school, [00:15:00] it's not that easy to stop traffic in the schools, right? You know, they, they're period, they have the periods and a lot of times it's not even necessarily a day of the week, it's rotations. And so that requires a lot more coordination. It truly cost us about three to four times.

What it costs to implement programs in elementary school. It's about three to four times more expensive to do that when you get from middle school and beyond, because there are just so many attributes. The other thing is that the volunteer base changes a lot. You know, when you're gonna You know, give up some air time in the classroom.

You better have somebody that can command control of your middle school and high school kids and be interesting and engaging and, and really get them engaged. So it's just a very different landscape to work with, but it's an exciting landscape because now you're getting into at the middle school level, you're getting into exploration.

You know, so you're going from awareness in elementary school, you've got exploration [00:16:00] in middle school. Then you get into high school and beyond, and we're talking preparedness. And then, linking them into work based learning experiences. You know, so that can be anything from a job shadow, to an internship, to full blown employment.

Jeff Holden: Answering my questions as you're going, which is wonderful. So, there is a Progression, a connected progression for somebody who started junior achievement in grammar school through middle to high school, all the way to college if they choose. I'm sure the collegiate side of it is all by choice. What does it look like when you graduate high school and 

Susan Nelson: you know, we're letting our friends across the nation that have much larger junior achievement chapters lead the way with that.

So from a model standpoint here in Sacramento, that's to be determined, you know, but we have done a few things here and there based on request and demand for years. People have wanted our [00:17:00] curriculum to be leveraged beyond 18 and we've been willing to do that. But the bigger issue is. You want to make sure that the curriculum is developed to be relevant and interesting to that target group.

And so that's the commitment that Junior Achievement made about three years ago, is to say, yes, we're in that space. And when we bring together the efficacy of our programming, it is designed to be able to appeal and be effective for adult learners. 

Jeff Holden: Especially for the benefit of those students, whatever age they may be, who haven't had Junior achievement prior in any way, shape or form.

So it's, it's all new to them. I would imagine the same in high school. There's students who have never seen junior achievement in their, you know, grammar school and or middle school. But in high school, you know, here it is. It presents itself and that engagement. is, is going to be different for sure, because at least they now have some understanding of economics.

Yes. They buy things. They [00:18:00] have jobs, you know, maybe at that point, depending on, you know, their situation. And, and junior achievement is not just for the underserved communities. It's for all the community, correct? 

Susan Nelson: Yeah, that is so true. I mean, when you look at what we have to offer, you know, this is something, you know, I was in discussions with our board from the time I joined the organization.

It's just like, Yeah. What kids shouldn't be receiving junior achievement, you know, what kids shouldn't be receiving economic empowerment as part of their education, financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship. Like these are things that, you know, you could argue are much more substantive than some of the other topics, you know, that, that can be offered, right?

You know, 

Jeff Holden: conversation, but yes, I would agree with you. And so, 

Susan Nelson: yes. All kids, all young people would benefit significantly from our programs. The choice we have to make here is with limited resources, where can we make the end point? And the bulk of the funders that we receive designate their funds to, [00:19:00] you know, making sure that we're reaching the most vulnerable.

So that is the stipulation that we have. However, I have some very robust conversations with some of our more comfortable, you know, environments to say yes, but how right? You know, and that's where you can come up with the creative solutions of let's leverage your leadership group. Let's leverage, you know, your, uh, And so I just wanted to start off saying, we need to look at our civic organizations.

Let's, you know, because if you can find ways where we're not having to recruit the volunteers, or we empower the teachers to be offering the programs and then infusing it with subject matter experts at a smaller scale, you know, There is a way for all kids to benefit. And that is the beauty of how our model has evolved is that, you know, one of the things that we've seen a lot since COVID is we're doing a lot more programming outside of the schools in addition to the work we've done with the schools.

And the thing I love about that is, let's say, you know, you're over at St. John's, right? [00:20:00] And so they're all of their volunteers receive trauma training, you know, and they're very well established with the the community there, right? So if we can empower that group to be successful delivering our subject matter expertise, that's a win win, right?

Because these, and you know, we can support them in any way. Maybe we give them a volunteer in addition to their volunteer, but it's still keeping that environment in that safe and comfortable space that honors Their mission, right? And helps forward, you know, things in a positive way. And, you know, the beauty of that is we don't need a bunch of nonprofits going out to develop unique financial literacy, you know, curriculum, et cetera, et cetera, right?

You know, like, let us be that subject matter expert. And then let's partner in a way that we can bring it to life. 

Jeff Holden: And you're actually just a step ahead of me because I want, I want to just wrap this. school part of [00:21:00] it together for the benefit of somebody who's listening. This really is for all intents and purposes.

This is a turnkey program. This is to the benefit of the school, to the benefit of the teacher. It's the burden that he or she doesn't have to deal with that brings something of really high quality value to the classroom. to the student that's applicable to other core studies when you look at it in the grand scheme of things.

So, 

Susan Nelson: yeah, to take that a step further, you know, we actually have four distinct virtual markets that Junior Achievement has to offer. And unfortunately, you know, given the limited resources that we have in this region, Everything that we offer here currently really falls into that content and curriculum space.

Right. But we have three other very substantive verticals. We have the capstone experiential learning centers that can be done either out of physical location or brought into the schools. And we have [00:22:00] that for Elementary, middle and high, you know, we also have a program that has been around for about 15 years, but branched off to become its own company for about six or seven years to become a scalable option.

It was it started in. Georgia and Florida, and at the time it was called JA Academy, where we had a public private partnership with the districts, and we come in to some of their most underserved communities. We started in Georgia, and basically we're helping them hire their teachers, and we're staying together very intimately for two to three years.

And it's been fully integrated into all of their subjects. We have 10 programs in this state. They're UC approved A through G. They could be dual enrollment and that's fully integrated. So it's like case studies, if you will, just like business school. And so these kids are coming out with a leg up in that type of an environment.

And these are teacher led courses that get infused with the [00:23:00] business community. You know, involvement throughout. And so it's just, you know, that's a whole nother. And then the fourth virtual is in this workforce space. That's just so important right now, the talent management. And we have a wonderful model that can compliment programs that the chamber has, and you know, all of that.

It's like, here's the piece that we'll handle. And then we hand this off to you. And that's a lot of like. The coaching, the badging, the certification, and then ultimately making those handoffs to workforce where it makes sense, either through particular programs that are already established in the community or even starting to identify because these are the top priorities that we're driving through Valley Vision or whatever it may be, you know, let's, let's make these connections.

Jeff Holden: We'll be right back with more from Susan on how our students are learning lifelong skills and money in business comprehension right after these brief messages from the companies that make our program possible. I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon [00:24:00] Saltzman, RSE, Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations.

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In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission [00:25:00] aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments. If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomasatcaptrust. com. 

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com. So, I'm, I'm smiling because one of the next questions is, it's going to be Collaboration and and who are those partners? Because we know the schools, you're deep into the school system. They're they're aware. They're familiar. I'm sure embracing it to the degree that they can under the [00:26:00] circumstances of what other, you know, that particular situation is in that school district, but they're familiar.

is so much more beyond that, that you did touch on St. John's as a non profit, one of our big non profits for women and children, families who need support, and you just touched again on Valley Vision, another huge non profit for the community, what does it look like when you get engaged? Who are some of the bigger organizations that you work with?

And I, I could say them myself, I think, but I'd rather hear it from you because I'm excited about it. 

Susan Nelson: The possibilities are endless and so from a vision standpoint, there is a, a wonderful opportunity in front of us to help, you know, facilitate a model that any youth phasing organization could benefit from, right?

And so we're in that incubator stage because we now have so much flexibility as to how we can offer our programs. It used to [00:27:00] be. It's our volunteers, you know, and we have to be the ones that are in the classroom. We have a lot more latitude now, so we can make those partnerships and say, you know, we will equip you.

to have a successful experience with your folks, right? And so we've, we've been really working with the, the organizations that see themselves to be able to invest in putting this model together, if you will. So for example, two years ago, we sat down with Navo and they had, you know, a program where for the first year, based on their membership, they had Kids of their members wanting to become young entrepreneurs and be supported.

Jeff Holden: National Association of Women Business Owners. Correct. 

Susan Nelson: So, you know, we, we got talking at the time Liliana Bernal was overseeing the organization and we're continuing to work with, you know, the team, the new team of, of leadership. But the [00:28:00] concept was, how can we make this scalable. And, you know, and so we're still in that incubator stage.

We were in year two from the get go. We wanted more underserved kids to benefit. That was our goal because the first two schools that they had and that we had last year were St. Francis and Oak Ridge. You know, wonderful that these budding entrepreneurs are engaging and in a very robust way. But how do we get that so that, you know, a more diverse community Group of people can benefit.

So anyone at any school that wants to have an entrepreneur club, you know, can make that happen. That's taking a little bit more time because the interest is there. But sometimes the schools being able to support it, having the teachers that they can equip to be the sponsors for the kids, you know, various things get in the way a little bit, to be honest with you.

I can see 

Jeff Holden: that happening. And 

Susan Nelson: so, you know, I think The, and so what we're trying to do to combat that is like [00:29:00] we have a framework and this is how a club could work. But for example, the entrepreneur club that we have leads into a pitch. So last January we had a pitch third week of January and from that.

The winner became the rising star with the OWL Awards in March, right? 

Jeff Holden: Perfect. And OWL Awards is the awards for NABA. Outstanding 

Susan Nelson: Women Leaders, correct. And so it's just a nice continuum there. And so we've enhanced that program this year. But one of the things that we talked about is, if a school can't set kids up for these clubs, how can a one off or a group of kids on their own, after school, You know, be able to come together and benefit.

And so that's, what's going to be interesting to see right now is how many organic kids that we get to come forward, that we can appeal to that says, okay, you don't have a club this year, but maybe next year you'll start one because you get this going. And so, and that's the entrepreneurial spirit that we're [00:30:00] talking about right here.

Right. So, you know, It's just really exciting to be in that incubator state. And I'll tell you, working with an organization like NABO, you know, it's, it's a force to be reckoned with. They, they get things done and they're reaching a constituent group that is going to lead the path in our future economy for sure.

Jeff Holden: Well, and it's perfectly aligned. Those are those relationships that you look when you talk about a nonprofit and their alignment with other organizations to the benefit of the greater good for all of them. That's perfect. That's perfect. And I can see it in some of the other entrepreneurial organizations in town or maybe chambers, 

Susan Nelson: you know, 

Jeff Holden: where they have a lot of work with 

Susan Nelson: chambers.

Yeah, I have a staff member that's just super active in the chamber and that has been able to bring some of that expertise in two other partnerships. I wanted to just bring to your attention that are kind of in that new. Incubator State that we're super excited about. I have a woman that's our grant writer, part time, and she came to us after 35 years with Parks and Rec.

[00:31:00] And so, for as long as she's been with us, she's like, we should be doing summer camps, right? And then I'm like, you know, summer is the only time that we get to regroup. And do it all over again and learn from, you know, what we did. So we just have such precious resources. But last year we had an intern who also had the same passion.

She was over at St. Francis and had done some substantive stuff with Parks and Rec during her time over there. And so now she's at Santa Barbara and she, you know, came to us and said, can I be your intern this year? And I'm like, Oh, how, how honored we are to have you. And so we established a couple of projects.

And one was. Help us pick one smart thing to do in the parks and rec space, you know, because we can't do it all, but I think we can dip a toe in, if you will, right? And so, you know, we had lots of amazing opportunities presented to us in a very thorough, Yeah. Substantive way. But we really decided that the best fit was [00:32:00] reaching out to Sunrise Parks and Rec, who does stuff here in Citrus Heights, but also does, you know, works kind of as a, an outsource infrastructure for Twin Rivers Unified School District area as well.

And the area that we approached them on was, hey, you've got shortage in lifeguards, right? And you have to train them, you know, and so that is the where we're dipping our toe in with them. But, you know, before we've even implemented those programs, which we will be doing the spring, which will focus on financial literacy and work readiness, enhancing the training that they have.

Um, we are already talking about things that we're going to put on the calendar for this summer that we feel can be turnkey. So it's just the Opportunities are endless, and the, where my focus is right now is really building out our capacity. That is the most important thing for us right now, so that we can activate more people to elevate our mission [00:33:00] for the benefit of the community.

Jeff Holden: I'm just amazed at the, certainly the potential, but Already the infrastructure and support of the pieces that are in play. And I expected this is where it was going to go. And I'm excited to see that it really is there because of the need and the opportunity. And I'm sure much of it now comes down to capacity.

How many people do you have full time? 

Susan Nelson: Well, our full time equivalent is five and a half people, which represents eight people. We have three full time folks. Not enough, I'm going to tell you, for even what we're doing today, nevermind the potential of what we could and should be doing in this community.

Jeff Holden: And that's going to lead us perfectly into the next question, and it's funding. How is the organization funded? 

Susan Nelson: Well, our funding is robust in terms of, you know, the different constituent groups. So we do receive generous corporate contributions. That's been kind of the bread and butter of junior achievement since the [00:34:00] onset.

Challenging here in the Sacramento region because so many of our dollars are government dollars, right? And so this region, I don't I think we we don't get to reach the full potential. It's there, but we have to do more work. to appeal to individual funders and to also branch out into these other areas.

So foundation grants also is traditionally a great opportunity for junior achievement where we, I think locally have to do a lot more work is cultivating those individual relationships. Because as you know, Sacramento has become a very generous community and very engaged. You have programs like Social Venture Partners that, you know, are really on it in terms of like, let's rally behind the things that can create this collaboration and really help us get the biggest bang for our buck, which helps a individual contributor.

Know that they're not just doing a one and done, that they're going to invest in things that will be around and make substantive changes in our region. [00:35:00] 

Jeff Holden: And you have the benefit of saying, well, 1919, I don't think there's too many organizations older than us. We're still here. And look at the Look at the good we're doing in the community.

And look at the examples, you know. 

Susan Nelson: Yes. So just a couple others though. Special events. We, of course, thing is you have to scale the number of special events that you do for the size of your organization. And with the change in workforce too, there's a lot more fatigue. People don't have to come out of their houses.

Right to come to. And so they're a little, so you have to be more creative about how you're doing that. So we try to align those more with people, really getting experience of our mission. That's why we brought our JA Stock Market challenge into the market. It was one of the motivators is we wanted to.

Directly impact kids, which we do in the morning with the competition. It's kind of like our pink spoon that allows schools to see what it would be like to have financial education. And then that it just grows from there. It can lead now to a national competition, which is for the first time last year.

So it seals up 

Jeff Holden: like a spelling bee. 

Susan Nelson: Yes, correct. And so that's kind of, you know, an avenue. And [00:36:00] we have a number of programs that allow that kind of infrastructure to be able to go that route. Public funding also, that's becoming a big deal when you start to talk about financial literacy mandates, and also mandates that they talk about along the lines of bringing career education, you know, into the school system, not just for those who choose CTE, but across the board.

That's where you have to have some type of funding structure that makes sure that we could be a solution provider in that regard. 

Jeff Holden: And CTE for the benefit of those who don't know? 

Susan Nelson: Career technical education. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. Thank you. 

Susan Nelson: Thank you. And then program partnerships, like for example, my partnership with Navo, they're offsetting our costs, right?

So they, we're able to reduce our costs because they provide us volunteers and, you know, various things. But then they're also doing fundraising at their annual OWL, you know, awards to be able to fund and start to grow programs. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, that's a beautiful relationship. In terms of [00:37:00] looking at the organization ahead, and you've been with them now for how long?

Eight years in this role, right? Thirteen years. Thirteen total? Yeah, 

Susan Nelson: thirteen total. I'm a proud JA alum. 

Jeff Holden: You're an alum from back in the day as well? Yeah. I didn't know that. In fact, 

Susan Nelson: my five and a half full time equivalents, we have eight people, three of us are JA alums. Well, there's 

Jeff Holden: a success story right there.

Yep. Oh, that's amazing. I'd love to hear that. As you, as you look at the organization and now, especially knowing that perspective, that you've got it as an alum, so you've seen it when you were going through it in your student years to today as the director running the organization. If money were no object, what would it look like?

I know. I know. I love this. Don't 

Susan Nelson: do this to me. 

Jeff Holden: This is the dream part. 

Susan Nelson: So I'm going to tell you, there's about a third of the markets across the U. S. that [00:38:00] benefit from, my favorite is the J. A. Free Enterprise Center. So these are capstone facilities, right? And this is really where, you know, I always say junior achievement is a reflection of the commitment that the community makes.

To elevate our mission, right? And so if you go to Denver, right, they have just built 28 million facility. No, no small change there, right? And this is their third over the last two decades, and they have this J. A. Free Enterprise Center now. I've learned from some of the other markets that you could do that for about a third of the cost with the right partnerships.

You know, what if you have a school district that has real estate that they want to repurpose, you know, outside of a school, you know, and then their kids get to go to the program for free and we charge other districts, you know, a certain amount per student, you know, that there's lots of creative ways that you can make things happen.

Right. But say this free enterprise system. I would love this place [00:39:00] where it serves a lot of purposes, right? It becomes a place where elementary, middle, and high school has a capstone solution. We have those solutions, right? For fifth graders, they would go to J. A. BizTown. It's an interactive miniature city where students take on the roles of business leaders, employees, citizens, learning firsthand about commerce, teamwork, and financial responsibility.

Right? Eighth graders, they're going to go to Finance Park, right? A dynamic financial literacy experience where students create personal budgets, manage expenses, and make decisions about their financial futures. I love it. You 

Jeff Holden: got into this. You, you have it. I know where I want to go. So anybody that's listening, we have the, the infrastructure's already built.

She's got the outline and the structure. We just need to make this happen. I mean, we've got, you know, the Carlson Center for Entrepreneurship, you know, what a 

Susan Nelson: compliment. I mean, just how many more kids would take advantage of that beautiful [00:40:00] solution at Sac State if we're bridging them there, right? And that's what we need to do.

And this, you'll love this one. The last one for high school, Oh, This is what Denver's doing now that I love for that short attention span that we've all developed because of social media, right? They have this program called the Dream Accelerator, designed for high schoolers. It's an innovative state of the art high school program for students to identify, refine, and pursue their dreams with purpose and direction, right?

Program combines mentorship, skill building, real world experiences, and turns their Aspirations into action plans. So they literally either give you a printout or email to the teachers. These action plans for each student that they created themselves. And the thing that's really cool is a program that could have taken, you know, say, 12 hours can be done in between 120 to 90 minutes for these kids, and then has that stickiness that, you know, it created that [00:41:00] Disney esque experience for them that's, you know, really left an impression, but gives them that action plan to be motivated to know, okay, here's how I'm going to hit the ground running with this.

Jeff Holden: And it's, it's stair steps, you know, they go from, from elementary, middle, grammar school, however that that's organized into high school, into actionable. Yeah, I love that. I love that. And we've got this economic structure in Sacramento now that so many people are seeing. We have the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

Correct. Talking about we need to have the, the wherewithal to have people who can grow into You know, the economic society of our city who are here, not imported. Yeah, we have great 

Susan Nelson: talent here, right? You know, and some of our, you know, just really well equipped students are, you know, they don't even know what's going on in Sacramento and why they should care, right?

You know, and so, and we have needs. That they could be fulfilling for us. So if along the way [00:42:00] they're receiving this economic empowerment and starting to get more intimately aware of how our region works and what the opportunities look like, think of how many people would choose to stay because it's a pretty great place here in Sacramento.

Well, and 

Jeff Holden: the support you've gotten, you know, somebody like the growth factory or all the venture capital people moving out of. I mean, there's a lot of change in our market over the course of the last 13 years for sure since you've been in the organization to your benefit. I mean, it's, it's really significant in terms of what we're seeing.

Now we're back to reality. We have to come back out of the clouds. And as we look at the. The reality of what you deal with, what is the greatest need you have today? 

Susan Nelson: Okay, so Junior Achievement thrives as a direct reflection of the community that comes together to leverage our resources, right? For the benefit of our young people and the community, to continue empowering the next generation.

For educators and non profit leaders, I would [00:43:00] say, if you serve young people between the ages of Five to 25. Let's collaborate to provide them with the tools they need to dream big and achieve their full potential together. We can deliver life changing experiences in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, not to mention the 21st century skills that get reinforced along the way.

So that's that. You know, that's the educators. Let's Let's figure it out. These kids need this. We need them to have it. We need, right? You know, so, so let's get it done. Right. And then for working professionals and entrepreneurs, your expertise and support are invaluable. Right. Join us as a volunteer to mentor and inspire students as a donor to fund critical programs, or as a board leader or help guide our mission to get us to that potential that's there for us.

We especially need representation from across all 16 career sectors to prepare young people for diverse opportunities. And we also need to look. different. We need [00:44:00] different ages. You know, we need to be representative, more representative of the students that we serve. So Come talk to us. Mm-hmm . That's, you know, every contribution, whether it's time, talent, treasure, makes a direct impact on shaping our future workforce and empowering young people to be successful in life and business.

And when you look at, you know, the cost of just a starter home here in California, like, this is not a nice to have. Right. This is a must. 

Jeff Holden: It's a, it's, it's ne it's a necessity. Mm-hmm . Absolutely. You know, you. I'm just thinking of the organizations, big brothers, big sisters, two, two, two birds with one stone, you know, one organization helping the other for the benefit of the student or girl scouts.

We've had several 

Susan Nelson: conversations about it. So it's like, I'm envisioning like, instead of trying to, you know, systematically approach one at a time. I see us having, you know, once or twice a year workshops. You want to collaborate. You want to get stuff done. Let's get the models going and let's get all the right people in the room to [00:45:00] say, okay, at this time of year, this is when it gets started.

This is how you're going to get your program underway. You know, here's the resources that you have, you know, and really put a toolkit around it. And so that's why it's been great working with some of these early adopters, if you will, to really, you know, kick the tires around see, you know, what is it going to take to make this scalable and reproducible?

And the more capacity that we get, you know, with our generous funders saying, I like what you're saying. I agree with you. We want to give you the latitude to get there. That is what will, you know, help us realize the full potential of what junior achievement has to offer. 

Jeff Holden: You've already shared some success stories.

I'm looking at one. 

Susan Nelson: Thank you. As you've come through 

Jeff Holden: it. And several of your staff, any other notable people in the community we might recognize that came up through JA? 

Susan Nelson: Well, thank you for asking that because, uh, JA breeds success. That's, we bleed it, we breed it, you know? There's so many inspiring local stories from junior achievement [00:46:00] alumni.

People who have used their skills and experiences they gained through our programs to achieve incredible things. Some notable alumni include Cassandra Pye. 

Jeff Holden: Yep. 

Susan Nelson: President of Lucas Public Affairs, right? Mark Haney, our serial entrepreneur. Haney 

Jeff Holden: was a JA guy? 

Susan Nelson: Kelly Brothers, prominent financial advisor here, just here an hour ago, right?

Christy Serrato, an innovative technology entrepreneur, who's a real go getter. Jack Crawford, an accomplished venture capitalist in the AI space. Very much so, 

Jeff Holden: yes. 

Susan Nelson: And that's really just a handful of people. I mean, every time I'm out in the community, I get more and more people that share their story. And You know, it, it's usually like, of course you're, of course you were right, you know, and so then it becomes, you know, I can't tell you how many young people when they learn about our mission or like, I wish I had that or how can I get that?

And that's [00:47:00] really, you know, as an alum myself, that would agree, you know, that you definitely benefit from even just a little bit of J. A., you know, nevermind a lot that. I want that for them too, you know, and that's one of the beauties is that in addition to all the different options, I can finally say, you know, if a kid says, how can I get Jay, even if we don't bring it into school, even if you're not part of a youth organization, we have a program called connect dot J a.

org. You want to start a business? Step A through Z is there for you, you know, so, and like I said, with the, the badging and certification that's getting underway, same thing, it's like, if it's not going to be offered through your school in a systematic way, we are opening doors so that people can take that initiative themselves, almost like a, you know, a Eagle Scout award, where you'll be getting that kind of recognition that the universities and, you know, employers are all going to recognize because they partner and fund with us.

Right? [00:48:00] And a lot of them are funding us to develop those certifications, right? I was at our National Leadership Conference over the summer, and 200 out of the top 400 fortune companies are sponsors of Junior Achievement in some way or another across the globe, you know, so because we're in a hundred different countries around the world.

Jeff Holden: Yeah, 

Susan Nelson: you know, 

Jeff Holden: just amazing. It's just amazing. You mentioned connect. ja. org and that's for somebody who is interested in grabbing that curriculum themselves. What's the best way to get in touch with you and or the organization? 

Susan Nelson: Well, I'm, I'll, I'll always answer my phone or return a call. So, you know, our phone number is 916 480 2770.

But more, more importantly, I would highly recommend people go to our website. J. A. So, J A S A C period O R G. So, J A S A C period O R G. And what you'll find there is there's a tab called Get Involved. [00:49:00] And you can choose to go whichever direction you want, whether you want to explore funding, whether you want to request a program, whether you want to become a volunteer.

And so that's really the best point of entry because that will parse to the right person to Pick up right there and, and reach out to you sooner than later. And it's also a great place to learn about what else is going on, what events, what the dates are, you know, what needs we have, et cetera. 

Jeff Holden: And Susan, I'll put those in the show notes for the benefit of anybody that, you know, they're driving, listening to this episode and they go, ah, I can't remember it's in the show notes, guys.

You can, you can find it just. Check on your app and you'll see everything there. Every community, every city, every county, state, country is built on the back of business. And without an education, without an understanding, without an infrastructure, that community, it's going to be challenged. Because it won't be competitive.

And I'm thrilled to see what we've got coming out of Junior Achievement here in Sacramento. Much to our benefit, when I look at the growth [00:50:00] of our chambers, when I look at the growth, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, when I look at the growth of what's happening at Sac State at UC Davis, we have a, I'm going to say even a desperate need for our students in our communities to be able to fulfill those expectations and jobs and entrepreneurship that this is all going to require for us to be successful.

And you're doing it. And your team is doing, your, your small but mighty team is really making an impact and delivering something to not only the benefit of the individuals who are using the courses, also taking some burden off of our teachers who are so stressed as well. And I think it's just a wonderfully well rounded program, and I can see why it's still around after a hundred plus years.

So thank you to you and your team for what you guys are doing here in Sacramento. 

Susan Nelson: Thank you. It's our pleasure. And I want to thank you too, for providing this platform at, you know, I had the opportunity to record the first podcast, I think [00:51:00] back in 2020, April of 2020, right? Me too. And I was going to 

Jeff Holden: say in closing, what people don't know.

Just in, in the heat of COVID, you know, we had this conversation and it's taken us a few years to get it back together, but we were so very different then. It wasn't intentional. Now we're Uh, fully bonafide episodic every week series, and finally we've gotten it together to connect. 

Susan Nelson: I know. It's, it's awesome.

I was going to share with you that we had our intern who had come over from Cristo Rey. So he had received junior achievement programs the summer before he started over at Cristo Rey. And then he selected. his place of employment. He ended up staying with us year after year, right? Fantastic. And you met James, you know, and interestingly enough, he asked me to become a reference for him a few weeks back, about a month ago.

And I just heard from him last night that he was hired for a state position. That's going to be really well suited for him. And so like, that's just, Another success story, but you did a great service to him, not just our organization, but him, because, [00:52:00] you know, he had expressed an area of interest in the work that you do.

And so it was just very enlightening for him to not only tell his story, but also experience, you know, the work that you're all about. And so thank you for what you do for elevating the nonprofits in our community. Jeff, I, 

Jeff Holden: I so appreciate that. And I so enjoy. What it is we're doing. Let's just keep doing it.

Let's keep doing it. 

Susan Nelson: Got it. I agree. 

Jeff Holden: Congratulations. 

Susan Nelson: Thank you.

Jeff Holden: Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help. If you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits, please give us a positive review, subscribe, and share.

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