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Business Laureates of BC - Nominations for 2017 now open!
If you know a business leader who has made an outstanding contribution to the business community in BC, click here to submit a nomination!
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JA Programs back in Peace Region
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JA Volunteer Receives Prestigious Award
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It has been an exciting, rewarding journey as we wrap up our programs for the 2015-16 school year! Since our 60th anniversary last year, we at
JA British Columbia (JABC) have carried on with our legacy of delivering relevant, meaningful business education programs to youth across BC. We continue to reach notable milestones and create impact for our youth this past year. Here are some of the highlights:
- We delivered over 1,400 programs to over 38,000 students this past year - a new record in our 61 years of providing business education for youth in BC.
- We continued to build our presence throughout the province. We introduced JA programs in school district #81 Fort Nelson and are now engaged in 56 out of 60 school districts across BC.
- We launched new versions of our two most popular programs - Our Business World and Economics for Success - and introduced a new program, Be Entrepreneurial, that connects students with local entrepreneurs and walks them through the process of creating a business plan. All three programs received very positive response from students, teachers and volunteers.
- We unveiled the new Business Laureates of BC Hall of Fame at the Vancouver Convention Centre West in September. The new site marked the 10th anniversary of the Hall of Fame, and now honours over 60 business leaders and their lasting legacy for future generations.
As the African proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child. I believe it takes the world to raise the leaders of tomorrow. You are all part of what we do, raising and building up young people into business and community leaders. Your gift of generosity and dedication creates an undeniable impact in young people's lives, as shown in the story of Jennifer and Dayle Wilnechenko below.
That's why we extend a sincere thanks to all of our supporters - our
donors,
volunteers,
teachers and
alumni - who have given so much of their time and resources to build up young people and give them a promising future. We especially want to thank our
over 850 volunteers who help us make JA programs a reality. Your tireless dedication to our youth continues to help us deliver JA programs free of charge to students across BC.
Thank you for investing in our youth and building up leaders of tomorrow! We look forward to many more successful years with you as we continue to inspire and prepare our youth to succeed in today's global economy!
Jan Bell-Irving
President & CEO
JA British Columbia
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| Jennifer and Dayle Wilnechenko |
JA helped set the foundation for the educational and entrepreneurial development of sisters Jennifer and Dayle Wilnechenko.
Sparked by a business mindset since childhood, the sisters created a small card business under the guidance of their parents. Then Jennifer joined the
JA Company Program, received a
JA student award, mentored as a business volunteer in the Company Program, and became an executive of the
JABC Young Alumni Network. Younger sister Dayle participated in the Company Program two years in a row. There is no doubt that JA helped Jennifer and Dayle set the foundation for their newest business venture -
BOLT Vancouver Design.
"JA was the test run where we could actually take our ideas and business skills and go ahead and create things. We could try building a company and bridge from there to the real world of business." - Jennifer Wilnechenko
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Nearly 700 BC business leaders and their guests gathered at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Thursday, May 12th for the induction of Norm Francis, A.E. "Dal" Grauer, (1906-1961), and Ian Telfer into the Business Laureates of British Columbia (BLBC) Hall of Fame.
JA British Columbia (JABC) has been proudly hosting this event since its inception in 2006. This 11th annual Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremonies was co-sponsored by Scotiabank and Fasken Martineau, and emceed by Tim Manning, Regional Vice-President, Commercial Financial Services, RBC Royal Bank, and Past Chair, JABC.
JABC was pleased to welcome distinguished guest, the Honourable Judith Guichon, O.B.C., Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia to this year's event. We were also pleased to welcome the Honourable John Manley, P.C., O.C., President and CEO, Business Council of Canada & Former Deputy Prime Minister, who delivered the keynote address.
The two winners of this year's JABC Student Award for Oratory and Presentation skills - Darren Gill and Tahlia Ifada - delivered speeches on the value of their JA experience and how JABC has made an impact on their lives.
Proceeds from the BLBC Hall of Fame Gala support JABC in developing and maintaining high-quality education programs that target financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship for youth.
Nominations for the 2017 Hall of Fame are now open!
If you know a business leader who has made an outstanding contribution to the business community in BC, click here to submit a nomination!
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Team Vancovers, 2016 CIBC Student Company of the Year, with Teri McIntyre, Market Vice President, BC & Yukon, CIBC (right)
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Congratulations to JABC student award winners who were awarded and recognized at Celebrate JA! 2016 on June 9th at SFU Beedie School of Business in downtown Vancouver. Over JA 25 students were awarded and honoured for their outstanding performance, creativity, and demonstration of business acumen.
The year's event featured the inaugural
Celebrate Entrepreneurship Award - launched in October, 2015 by the
Ministry of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction in partnership with JABC. This award went to
Waft, a JA Student Company that produces organic, handmade air fresheners to target smelly school lockers.
The prestigious
2016 CIBC Student Company of the Year Award went to
Vancovers, a JA Student Company which marketed a bike cover designed to protect bikes from the West Coast climate and enhance security by preventing theft and vandalism. The company's slogan is: Give your bike a break!
Other recipients of JA Student Company Awards include:
- Profit Performance Award: Mount Doug Wear from Mount Douglas Secondary in Victoria - offers an extensive line of sportswear to the Mount Douglas student body to encourage school spirit and pride, featuring 12 original logos on 20 different garments.
- Digital Marketing Award:
- Mr. Sleeves from multiple schools in Metro Vancouver - offers a re-usable cup or bottle sleeve handmade of 100% cotton that serves as a stylish and environmentally-friendly alternative to the single-use cardboard sleeves provided by most beverage vendors.
- Wonderlust Candles from Britannia Community Secondary School in Vancouver - created seven designs of candles, by mixing soy wax and fragrance oils that represent the Seven Wonders of the World, inviting customers to experience an aromatic journey around the globe.
Celebrate JA! 2016
also recognized JA volunteers and teachers in Metro Vancouver by presenting the Outstanding Teacher Award to Christopher L. Lee (Renfrew Community Elementary School), and the Outstanding Volunteer Award to Craig Lovell of North Vancouver.
Other local Celebrate JA! events took place on in the same evening on June 9th in Victoria and on June 14th in Prince George to recognize student winners in other BC regions. Congratulations to
Duchess Park Market Place from Duchess Park Secondary School in Prince George for winning the
Ledcor Group Regional Company of the Year Award!
If you are a teacher interested in an opportunity for your students to win such prestigious awards and scholarships, host a JA Company Program or encourage them to apply for a JABC award next year!
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Volunteers delivering a JA program
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JABC reached more students than ever in the 2015-16 school year, thanks to our host teachers and dedicated support of over 850 JA volunteers across the province. We provided a
record-breaking 1,395 regular JA programs across BC - a significant increase from the record 1,303 programs we delivered in 2014-15! Combined with special experiences and competitions like our online BC Business Challenge and in-person Innovation Jam,
we delivered over 1400 programs in 2015-16!
Our provincial expansion continues; we introduced JA programs in School District #81 Fort Nelson, bringing JABC's presence to 56 of 60 school districts in BC. We are accessible in every district.
Also, for the first time, we awarded the Next Generation Leaders Forum Award to winners from all regions - BC North, BC Interior, Vancouver Island, and Metro Vancouver. The award gives these students an all-expenses-paid trip to Toronto to attend the
NGL Forum
, JA Canada national student conference, this August.
Our new
Be Entrepreneurial program is a highlight for the 2015-16 year.
Be Entrepreneurial walks high school students through the beginning phases of creating a business plan for their own real business. At the end of program, each student pitches his/her business concept to the class and community guests.
Be Entrepreneurial is a terrific program for
high school business teachers to consider as a stand-alone or as a complement to the high-impact
Company Program. It is also a terrific program for
local small business owners and entrepreneurs to deliver as it provides them with a perfect platform to share their real-world experience, while requiring only four to five hours in the classroom.
As we gear up for the next school year, JABC will be introducing a new version of our hugely popular financial literacy program,
Dollars with Sense (DWS), featuring new digital resources. Over the summer, we will create tools to help introduce the new DWS to hundreds of JA teachers and volunteers. Our tools will include an on-demand digital training module that volunteers can access at any time, and a PowerPoint slide deck that can be used when presenting the program in the classroom. And of course, we will continue to offer group training sessions in as many locations as possible.
What else is in store for the 2016-17 year? We are working on other initiatives such as new digital resources for JA Company Program, a new Company-based competition, and an Aboriginal partnership. We look forward to telling you more about these and other developments later in this fall!
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Barb Jones at Celebrate JA! Vancouver 2016
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Barb Jones
, our Manager of High School Programs for Metro Vancouver, is retiring from her full-time role with JABC at the end of August. Throughout her tenure of almost 20 years with JABC, Barb has provided leadership to high school programs, including creating in-person and online competitions based on the Titan Business Game, and developing our awards and scholarships offerings. She has built amazing relationships with teachers, volunteers, partners and JA staff, sharing her expertise and experience with her colleagues in BC and across Canada. She has earned the respect and affection of hundreds of business teachers and thousands of high school students (now JA Alumni) across BC. Without Barb, JABC wouldn't be where it is today. Thank you Barb for all you have done for us!
Barb will be staying on with JABC part-time to continue supporting the Titan program for BC.
Irene Phan
, our Manager of Elementary School programs, will take over Barb's role as
Manager of High School Programs
in September.
Amy Robillard
, our Program Coordinator for Kootenay-Columbia is moving to Indonesia. We thank her for her great work developing our newest service area, and wish her well in her new adventure. We welcome her successor
Meagan Noel
to our team. Meagan comes to JABC already an enthusiastic JA volunteer; she was previously recognized for her community contributions with a Top 40 Under 40 award in Kelowna. She is excited to work with teachers and volunteers across the Columbia Basin territory from her new home base in Revelstoke.
Annie Ko
has completed her contract with JABC as Manager, Marketing & Communications at the end of June. We thank Annie for filling in for
Rosine Hage-Moussa this past year while she was on maternity leave. Rosine returned as Manager, Marketing & Communications on July 1.
Farewell to Amy and Annie, and welcome Meagan to the JABC family!
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