JA USA Hosts the 2018 National Student Leadership Summit
June 25, 2018
The National Student Leadership Summit (NSLS) is part of JA USA's annual celebration of the accomplishments of JA Company Program students from across the United States. In the JA Company Program, students develop and market a product or service with the goal of realizing a profit for their shareholders. Reaching 10,000 U.S. students during the 2017–2018 school year who created 500 start-ups, JA Company Program gives teenagers the skills to start and run their own businesses under the mentorship of a local business volunteer.
This year's NSLS brought JA student companies to Washington, D.C. for three days of learning, competing, and making lifelong friends. The summit featured the JA Company of the Year powered by The Hartford (first through third place), the FedEx Access Award, the EY Innovation Award, the Delta Social Impact Award, and the ICE/NYSE Foundation Best Financial Performance Award.
Scroll down to see our summary of last week's event. But first, we introduce you to our social-media hosts for the event, alumni ambassadors Sam Blum and Ethan Chase.
We begin with the always-popular FedEx Access Seminar from JA global funding partner, FedEx, represented by Natashia Gregoire, Communications Manager for FedEx Services. See Natashia's selfie, just below, and interview farther below.
Other JA sponsors also made their mark on the event. Delta sponsored the Delta Social Impact Seminar, after which students teams worked on developing new product ideas for Delta planes. Delta Air Lines is JA Worldwide's parter in the upcoming JA Global Youth Forum.
EY, another JA collaborator, worked with students to develop their creativity and innovation, coming up with big ideas for improving urban transportation.
JA collaborator ManpowerGroup supported the Entrepreneurship Expo on Capitol Hill.
And we've included a few examples of student presentations during the expo:
Before we knew it's the time had come for awards.
Thanks to the generosity of FedEx, Blockchaingirls of JA of Southern California won the coveted FedEx Access Award.
Defy Science from JA of Chisholm Trail won the EY Innovation Award.
BeelieveInc from JA of East Central Ohio won the Delta Social Impact Award!
Pocket Perks of JA of the Upper Midwest was awarded the ICE/NYSE Foundation Best Financial Performance Award.
The Hartford—without which this event simply wouldn't be possible—presented the highest award of the night: first, second, and third places. Silicube from JA of Northern California was awarded third place, while Defy Science took second. And it was Beelieve of East Central Ohio who took the top prize!
Finally, Sam and Ethan bid farewell to the 2018 NSLS.