November 2024 Issue

Only six weeks left in 2024! That’s so hard to believe…

It’s been a momentous year for JA USA with Jack Kosakowski’s retirement (see his new member announcement below!), welcoming Jack Harris as JA USA’s new CEO, and congratulating Tim Greinert as the new JA USA President. We have signed our new Memorandum of Understanding and look forward to a continued partnership with JA USA.

One of our key priorities this year is increasing the opportunity to get together with our JASAN friends. Our first set of gatherings will be virtual – November 20 and 21. Ed Grocholski, JA USA Chief Marketing Officer, will provide a JA USA update on November 20 and Jack Harris will provide the update on November 21.

Our first in-person gathering will be in the Phoenix area on Monday, December 16 th , at the

headquarters of JA Arizona at 11:30 am MT. Watch your email for the invitation. We are

planning to schedule several spring in-person gatherings around the country. We hope one of

those will work for you!

2025 promises to be equally amazing…more in-person gatherings, opportunities to help us with

interviewing those who have changed JA’s reach and celebrating all our success in Cleveland at

our annual meeting, July 23-25, 2025.

Thanks for being a part of the JA Staff Alumni Network!

Linda

Chair, JASAN

lschoelkopf@hotmail.com

2024 Jim Sweeny Award Winner

You probably know that your contributions support the Jim Sweeny Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, which is awarded at the JA National Student Leadership Summit in June each year.

This $2,000 scholarship is awarded to a JA Company Program student in recognition of his or her accomplishments, role in their JA Company, and entrepreneurial potential. Zea Khoja, a Senior at John Foster Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas, is the 2024 Jim Sweeny Award winner for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Zea is the CEO of the F.L.I.N. (Financial Literacy Interactive Notebook) company. Watch F.L.I.N.’s Product Commercial and check out F.L.I.N.’s Annual Report

Hear directly from Zea about how much this award means to her.

Paying It Forward

As the holiday season is approaching fast, we are very grateful to our JASAN members for their

continued support. We are currently raising money for our 2025-2026 fiscal year! This money

provides scholarships for JA professionals to attend NLC 2025, sponsorship support for the Karl

Flemke Award, the Jim Sweeny Award, and the JA Staff Professional Hall of Fame laureate

recognition. Your money also helps us with our communication with you, our website, and all of

those other “back office” things!

Many of you will be making gifts before December 31st and as a reminder, all contributions to

JASAN are tax-deductible. You can make your gift on-line or mail a check directly to JA USA, 12320 Oracle Blvd., Ste. 325, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, Attn: Kim Hunter. As you know, JA USA is our fiduciary agent, so they process all gifts, and then transfer 100% of the funds to our account.

We will be rolling out a new Leadership Circle giving program to expand the opportunities for

members to help increase JASAN’s annual scholarship and awards programs, including the Jim

Sweeny Scholarship, NLC Scholarships, and the JA Professional Staff Hall of Fame.

You can also name JASAN as a beneficiary in your will or trust or designate JASAN as a

beneficiary on insurance policy(s) you may own. You may remember that when you were

part of the JA USA health plan, there was a life insurance policy included in that plan. You can

designate JASAN as the beneficiary on this policy as well. If you’re not sure whether you have

this plan, or need more information, contact Mark Fiore at JA USA, mark.fiore@ja.org.

Finally, if you have an IRA or 401(k), and are over a certain age, the IRS may require you to start making minimum distributions of funds. These funds can also be donated to JASAN. Check with your financial planner, tax advisor or the company that holds these funds for instructions on contributing to JASAN from your retirement account. 

I am always available to assist or help get you the information you need. And I would love to

catch up with you whenever you have the time.

Happy holidays and thank you for your continued support of JASAN!

Dennis Gilfoyle

Chair-elect and Chair, Fund Development Committee

Focus on the Future and Preserve the Past

Our mission and goals ensure that we help JA USA develop our future leaders, as well as build

a catalog of interviews about our past. You can listen (and read) transcripts of the interviews

that were conducted several years ago. By early spring, we plan to have recorded several more

-using today’s technology – video!!! This will make it easier to upload these interviews almost

immediately. If you are interested in helping with this process, please send us a note via the

“Contact Us” form on our website.

Sally Stamper

Chair, History and Archives Committee

Welcome New Members!

Say Hello and Welcome to Lisa Gillis. Lisa joined JA USA National Office as its first-ever Chief Academic Officer in 2012 and helped to lead the National initiative to “Share the American Dream” by developing and launching 21st Century Digital Programs. She is

now volunteering in her local community in California and having fun supporting her husband, Scott, with his engagements. Even more fun for Lisa is enjoying their grandkids and figuring out the transition from career to retirement.

Lisa looks forward to staying connected with JA friends through JASAN and becoming involved

in supporting JASAN’s work. Please join us in welcoming Lisa to the JASAN membership!

Welcome new JASAN member...Jack Kosakowski! Starting as a student in the Junior Achievement program in Toledo, Ohio, Jack attended the University of Toledo on a Junior Achievement scholarship. Over the years, he served as President of JA in Toledo, President of JA of Wisconsin, and in several leadership positions at JA Worldwide,

Junior Achievement’s global parent. He was named President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA in 2007 and recently retired in June 2024 after an awesome and impactful 50-year career!

During Jack's tenure with Junior Achievement USA, the organization engaged approximately

3.5 million volunteers in delivering JA learning experiences to nearly 70 million students. Some

of his accomplishments include the digital transformation of JA’s learning experiences, strategic

organizational and financial changes that strengthened the entire Junior Achievement

organization, and his leadership through one of the most challenging times in JA’s history during

the pandemic. Junior Achievement is in the strongest position it’s been in in its 105-year history

because of Jack Kosakowski’s leadership.

It’s hard to imagine a person like Jack spending his retirement in a typical way. So, what’s next

for Jack? “The short answer is, I’ve got a couple things in the works.” He will continue to serve

on the Achievement Foundation Board of Directors, a separate entity from Junior Achievement,

and he will serve as a volunteer board member on the recently created Junior Achievement

USA Foundation. He’ll also work with JA Worldwide on leadership programs for JA staff around

the world, helping to develop a pipeline of talent for the global organization.

Congratulations on an amazing career and welcome to JASAN, Jack!