Salesforce Employees partner with Junior Achievement for annual JA Day

Junior Achievement aims to inspire and prepare children and young adults to thrive in a global economy. Last year they reached over 4.5 million students. Hundreds of Salesforce Employees have gotten involved through the Junior Achievement Day program (JA Day) delivering the Economics of Success program to classrooms of eager students.

The groundwork for this successful partnership began when Junior Achievement of Central Ontario (JACO) became a Salesforce.org customer in 2009 through the Power of Us Program. Initially, the use of the platform was for registration and fundraising, but has since expanded to include recruitment of volunteers, special events, donor management, and prospecting tool.

Flash forward to July of 2012, when Kevin Johnston, a newly employed Salesforce Account Executive decided to champion a corporate engagement relationship with the local chapter. Already knowing the great work that JACO did from his first taste of participating in 1999 when at Xerox, then becoming a master trainer for other employees at Bell, Kevin saw a great opportunity to leverage the 1/1/1 model in its entirety. The initial goal was just 10 volunteers teaching five classrooms in the city of Toronto. But in true Salesforce style, Kevin closed with 48 volunteers in 23 classrooms. In 2013, a #JA Day organizing employee committee was formed, growing the number to 129 volunteers in 63 classrooms with expansion out to surrounding schools in other cities. To date, JACO has received more than $85,000 in grant money through this partnership and generated 11,674 volunteer hours.

Not content with just a local impact, Kevin had his eyes set on taking this initiative global. Other regions like Dublin, London, Atlanta, Boston, Halifax, Philadelphia and a handful more have become part of the JA Day experience. With the support of the Foundation and a local committee of dedicated employees, success is inevitable. “I wanted to create something that was scalable and sustainable to reach youth at risk. #JA Day does that,” says Kevin. “Getting behind a world-wide effort is really easy, especially with the successful model we have built in Toronto. We have offices in most global areas where JA chapters exist.” Why Junior Achievement compared to many other great organizations? “Educating youth on financial literacy will benefit us all in the future. This is the legacy we will collectively be leaving behind.”

Leveraging the entire 1-1-1 model, JACO has formed a sustainable partnership with the Toronto hub. “Junior Achievement of Central Ontario is thrilled with the partnership we have developed with Salesforce.com. Their business is more than data management – they are also active and welcomed participants in our work,” say Jane Eisbrenner, President and CEO. Recently, Kevin Johnston and fellow JA committee member and Salesforce.org staff Trisha Bergsma were chosen to be featured in a video for a classroom presentation. “Their passion, commitment and energy made them a clear choice.”

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