Students from JA Denmark Win First-Ever JA Global Entrepreneurship Award; Receive NFTs, a Cash Prize, and Further Education
June 7, 2021
Until recently, the highest award that a JA student company could earn was the coveted first place prize in one of our six regional competitions in Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, MENA, and the United States. But now, thanks to the generous support of the de la Vega family, JA Worldwide offers a global prize for JA student companies: The de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award.
The 2021 award winners were announced today by tech-legend Ralph de la Vega, former President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions. The six regional JA Company of the Year champions were automatically entered after winning the first-place prize in each of their six regional competitions.
Meet the teams:
JA Asia Pacific | Singapore
Tina Jiang, Sam Liu, Carlota Pinker Rego, Dhruv Sharma, Guanju Wang, Jackson Wang, Kevin Yu, Terry Zhang, Coco Zhou
Watch the video
Junior Achievement USA | Southeast Texas
Alyssa Le, Richard Chan, Megan Konvicka, Jeran Kong, Kayla Awadin
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JA Europe | Denmark
Nicklas Stokholm, Christian Ørum, Kevin Albin
Watch the video
INJAZ Al-Arab JA MENA | Oman
Shahad al Hasani, Sarah Al Zaabi, Zainab Al Lawati, Ahmed Al Lawati, Hashim Mustafa
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JA Africa | eSwatini
Sivesetfu Bhembe, Sibongakonkhe Dlamini, Lindelwa Zindela, Nkhosinathi Dlamini
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JA Americas | Peru
Ariana Bettocchi, Fiamma Bahamonde, Isabella Romero, Daniela Escribens, Michelle Leigh, Emma Cilloniz, Daniella Becerra, Camille Rouillon, Luciana Córdova, Camila Salmón
Watch the video
Ultimately, JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab) triumphed in a very tough competition. As the winning team, the three members win a cash prize of US $15,000 to share, to expand the business, put toward college, or spend how they’d like. In addition, the team will receive support to enroll in an entrepreneurship course from the institution of their choice, with approval from JA Worldwide.
Finally, in an exciting twist, each team member also received a non-fungible token—or NFT—one of only five copies of a digital graphic specially designed for this year’s winner by designer and artist Masha Eizner, with its authenticity verified through the blockchain.
Bubbles improves communication between educators and students who suffer from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Students wear noise-cancelling headsets that eliminate audio distractions, creating a direct line of communication between teacher and student, improving academic performance.
The Bubbles team—made up of Nicklas Stokholm, 19, Christian Ørum, 18, and Kevin Albin, 20— came together in a high-school class called Innovation at Herningsholm Erhvervsskole & Gymnasier, a class that included the JA Company Program. The idea for Bubbles originated because Christian watched his sister struggle with ADHD her entire life. “We soon realized it was not only my sister who was affected by this,” Christian said. “A lot of other students were influenced by it, including many other diagnoses that inhibited their ability to focus in class.”
Not yet out of high school—they’ll graduate in three weeks—Christian, Nicklas, and Kevin will take a gap year—or Sabbath year, as it is known in Denmark—to continue working on Bubbles. “All our time will be dedicated to Bubbles, so hopefully we’ll be able to help a lot of children. We’re quite excited to get going full-time with the company.” Learn more about Bubbles.
In addition to the first-place prize, each of the five other teams win US $5,000 to share among team members, to invest back into their businesses, or start new ventures.
Congratulations to JA Denmark, all the finalists, and to the de la Vega Family Foundation, for its generous sponsorship of JA’s first global entrepreneurship award.