September 4, 2019  LONDON, ON – As Junior Achievement (JA) worldwide celebrates its 100^th anniversary, two JA Charters in southwestern Ontario are joining together to serve more students.

JA is a not-for-profit charity that provides financial literacy programs free to the youth in the community, delivered by JA-trained volunteers and mentors.

Junior Achievement London and District and Junior Achievement South Western Ontario (JA SWO) have combined their operations, strengthened their team, and set a goal to reach 15,000 elementary and high school students in the next school year. JA SWO – the new entity – will serve: London and the counties of Middlesex, Elgin, Oxford, Huron, Perth, Grey and Bruce and Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton, Windsor-Essex.

“Junior Achievement will build on our established partnerships to grow our programs to reach more students,” said JA SWO president and CEO Bev Robinson. “We are excited about the opportunities to strengthen our team and expand delivery of JA programs to youth in our southwestern communities.”

The existing JA offices in Chatham and London will remain open, and JA SWO staff will be able to collaborate and work efficiently together to promote JA throughout the expanded region.

“The JA team has been collaborating over the past year on this amalgamation and is looking forward to this new organization,” said Robinson.

“There are many opportunities for JA volunteers, stakeholders and supporters with this amalgamation,” said Robinson, “including the opportunity for funders to make their brand known in a larger area.”

“We are committed to growing JA in every community we serve,” said Robinson.

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