New Global Winner Crowned at 2025 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony
March 11, 2025
The De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award celebrates the innovative spirit of young entrepreneurs from around the world. Today, JA Worldwide held the fifth-annual ceremony with a global audience. The award, the only global prize for the JA Company Program, recognizes outstanding achievements in youth entrepreneurship, bringing together the top first-place winners from all six regional JA Company of the Year competitions from JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, and Junior Achievement USA.
This year’s ceremony, hosted by Sarah Rapp, JA Worldwide’s Director of Youth Advocacy and People, showcased the six 2024 JA Company Program regional champions:
JA Africa: Bloomtech, JA Tanzania
JA Americas: ACHEI, JA Brazil
JA Asia Pacific: O’BGE, JA Korea
JA Europe: Treberei, JA Austria
INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA: Limitless, INJAZ UAE
Junior Achievement USA: FlameGuard, Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio
Each student company presented their business ventures via video recording and a one-page executive summary, highlighting their creativity, problem-solving skills, and resilience. An exclusive jury composed of JA board members, staff, alumni, and partners from around the world reviewed each company’s submissions and scored each according to a detailed rubric to determine the winner. Watch all six JA student company videos at jaworldwide.org/delavega.
The event not only honors the regional winners but also emphasizes the importance of fostering entrepreneurship among youth to drive future economic growth. The winning student company receives a cash prize of US$15,000 from the De La Vega Family Foundation to grow their business, pursue educational opportunities, or start a new business. The other five companies also receive a cash prize of US$5,000.
Fireside Chat with Divine Nhdlukula
The De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony serves as a testament to the potential of young minds when provided with the right guidance and opportunities. By celebrating their achievements, JA continues to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams and make a positive impact on the global economy. This year, for the first time, JA welcomed a Global Business Hall of Fame Laureate to join CEO Asheesh Advani for an inspiring fireside chat.
Divine Nhdlukula, inducted into the Global Business Hall of Fame in 2021, shared her entrepreneurial journey and the mindset that led her to success despite the challenging economic conditions in Zimbabwe. She emphasized the power of belief, stating, “Anything is possible as long as you believe," a mantra she lived by while building her business from the ground up. Highlighting the importance of resilience, execution, and financial discipline, Divine explained, “It took a very stubborn mindset, a can-do attitude that believes that I can do.” She also credits her father as her greatest role model, instilling in her the confidence to break societal norms and become a leader in her industry. Divine’s message to young entrepreneurs? “The world is at your feet, so you’ve got nothing that can stop you from being who you are. Keep on dreaming—you’ll get there.”
Watch the full conversation with Asheesh and Divine in the ceremony recording below.
Meet the 2025 Winner: FlameGuard from Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio
Justin Lackey, CEO, is a first-year student at Ohio State University studying mechanical engineering with a minor in business.
Joe Lattarulo, COO, is a first-year student at Walsh University, majoring in psychology with a minor in business.
Matt Smith, CMO, is a senior at Jackson High School with plans to study aeronautical science in college.
Zach Ferguson, CFO, is a first-year student at the University of Akron, double-majoring in sports data analytics and marketing.
Jack Lancy, Sales Director, is a senior at Jackson High School with plans to pursue pre-law studies and business at university next year.
Justin, Joseph, Matt, Zach, and Jack came up with the idea for FlameGuard after a housefire in their North Central Ohio community claimed several lives. After winning the Junior Achievement USA Company of the Year award at the 2024 National Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., FlameGuard formed a limited liability company (LLC) and is now running as a private company in the US.
After the 2025 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award ceremony, JA Worldwide sat down with Justin, Joe, Matt, Zach, and Jack to discuss their JA journeys, the teachers, volunteers, and JA staff who helped them along the way, and what’s next for their company.
JA Worldwide: From your video, we know the story of how you guys started Flameguard and why, but can you tell us a little bit about, after you came up with the concept, what the journey was like? How did you take your idea from concept to business?
FlameGuard: We came up with, the concept of FlameGuard because we want to start a company that helped our community, one that our community could use. So we really started our company around helping our customers and helping them protect their families. Throughout the process, we grew and grew, and we use earned media to promote our product. Today, we've been able to spread our message to not just through the US, but also to the whole world, connecting with customers in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
JA Worldwide: What were some of the biggest stumbling blocks that you encountered getting your company up and running?
FlameGuard: Throughout the year we started, we probably got a project in in November or December, and we really started out with maybe $2,000 in sales. And we really wondered, is our product really needed? Is there really value in it? And then, in January, we began to get some media coverage and that really propelled us forward. We also faced a lot of logistical problems.
FlameGuard: Shipping was a big problem. Joe had to learn how to ship stuff, especially fire extinguishers, which have certain regulations. We also faced a supply chain issue. Suppliers would tell us we would receive items in 30 days, but they wouldn’t show up until 60 days later.
FlameGuard: So there were a lot of delays. About a year ago, we wire transferred a supplier $800 for fire ladders. But to this day, those ladders have not shown up. So we faced a lot of supply chain challenges at first.
JA Worldwide: Did those instances help you learn anything about yourselves or make any sort of change within you as individuals or as a team?
FlameGuard: We really learned what we can do as a team to adjust to the issues that we face. A lot of the time, we realized, we have to pivot and understand where the team has to do in order to get the product out. Customers were waiting for their orders, and a lot of the time we just had to understand and accept that we can't control what's going on overseas sometimes but that getting products to customers is our job.
JA Worldwide: Do any of you think that you've changed as an individual during your JA journey, from starting the JA Company Program to now?
Justin, FlameGuard: I certainly think I have. When I first came in, one of the hard things for me was holding people accountable and like, standing up to people. Even if I knew them on a personal level. Standing up to enemies is hard, but standing up to your friends is harder. And sometimes disciplining peers was a hard task for me. But now that I’m in college, I find it a lot easier to speak up and tell my friends when I when I think they're doing something wrong. I think that was like a core change for me.
Joe, FlameGuard: For me, originally joining JA, it was more of trying to understand what business is really all about because you get firsthand experience and hands-on experience. And going as far as we have, I think it really just spoke volumes to the type of people we can be as far as reaching out to people, becoming more personable, making connections. I discovered that I really have a passion for business, and so I’m going to continue pursuing it in the future.
Matt, FlameGuard: For me, I would say absolutely. This year is my senior year in high school and my third year in the JA Company Program. It has been a tremendous experience. It's impacted my life in immeasurable ways. And, honestly, it has been life-changing for me. I think the one of the biggest things JA has taught me is that it's possible to do anything if you put your mind to it. When you work hard, you can get to places that you probably think you would never have gotten to before.
Zach, FlameGuard: Yeah, it really has changed my life in a very positive way. JA helped me find a passion for business, which is now, you know, what I'm studying. I was never a person who was outspoken. And now, I have no fear when talking to other people. So I have a passion for business, I have a bunch of lifelong friends, and JA has really helped me realize what I want to do with my future. I’ve also learned how I can be a better person and help others around me.
Jack, FlameGuard: To kind of pivot off of what Joe said, I enrolled in the class my junior year. I was just trying to get my feet wet. Kind of learn the ins and outs of what the business world looks like. But FlameGuard kind of took off in the blink of an eye. Getting to work with these guys every day and watching the friendships grow along the way has been awesome. We came in day in, day out, we’re all pretty hardworking. And that's what led us to this moment right here. It's pretty surreal.
JA Worldwide: As of today, you guys are the best JA Student Company in the world for 2024. Not only that, this is the first time the United States has won. Can you tell me a little bit more about your teachers and mentors from the JA Company Program and the impact they’ve had on you?
FlameGuard: Our teacher, Mr. [Shawn] Donaldson is the best teacher at Jackson High School. He has a passion for teaching and a passion for helping students. It could be six in the morning or 12 at night, and he will answer his phone. We would not be here without him. He put in so much time and effort. And he cares about us more than any teacher I've ever seen. And also our local JA office, they worked wonders with us. They helped us prepare for, you know, every single stage we were on. Especially nationals. You know, we practiced in front of them countless times, and they always were there to lend a helping hand. We also had in-class volunteers, too. They did wonders helping us prepare our annual report for the National Student Leadership Summit.
FlameGuard: Throughout our whole journey, coming up with our company, running our company, figuring out the logistics and accounting, [JA North Central Ohio] just helped us in so many ways. Like, we would not be here without them. And, you know, there is there's no fun going forward without the people who helped us along the way.
FlameGuard: Do you want to know how much of an impact a teacher can have? Mr. Donaldson is so much more than just a teacher, so much more than just a mentor. Mr. Donaldson believed in us from day one. He saw a vision that I don't think we really saw right away. And having that behind us again pushed us every day because he knew where we could end up. That was that was a big help and that was greatly appreciated from all of us.
JA Worldwide: You told us during the ceremony that you have formed an LLC. What's next for FlameGuard?
FlameGuard: Moving forward, we plan to reach out to different retailers across the United States and try to get our products in stores. And with the money we won, we want to invest more in inventory and marketing. We want to build a standard around fire safety.
FlameGuard: Everybody should have a kit in their house. Most people don't think a fire emergency will happen to them, and they’ll wait to buy something like FlameGuard until it does. But why not have it and be safe? It should be a standard, not just in the United States, but everywhere.
JA Worldwide: What advice would you give to current and future students in the JA Company Program? Not just in the US, but around the world.
FlameGuard: One core thing I think that we all learned throughout the year was to not take “no” for an answer when it comes to our business. Like, no matter how many obstacles or issues you run into, it's important to keep going and never give up. No matter how many times you're told no, no matter how many times you fail, with persistence, you can do anything if you believe in what you’re doing. You also have to be committed. We saw this in our company. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things like your personal time, maybe something you want to go do, to further what you're doing. I think we got here today because the five of us were committed. Not just to the company, but to each other.
FlameGuard: When you're committed to something and you put your mind to it, you can do anything. When we started FlameGuard, we did not think we would be here. I mean, we joked about it, but we didn't think we could take this this far at first. But as the year went on and we became more and more committed, we got greater results. All of us are really driven, and that really helps. If you're driven and you commit to something, you can take it as far as you want it to go.