Meet All Six De la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 2022 Finalists
March 4, 2022
Back in December, we shared the news that five of the six finalists for the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award had been determined. Now that the JA Africa 2022 Company of the Year Competition winner has been announced, we have a full cohort of finalists.
Project Yoof from JA Kenya will join FinLit from JA of North Central Ohio (USA), Scribo from JA Slovakia (Europe), Scrapcap from JA Singapore (Asia Pacific), Hasib from INJAZ Bahrain (MENA), and MarketAngelo from JA Canada (Americas).
Project Yoof, an all-girl team from Nova Pioneer Tatu Girls High School in Tatu City, Kenya, wowed the judges with the way they leverage technology to make mental health services more accessible to young people. (Read all about the JA Africa Company of the Year Competition.)
The de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award recognizes outstanding JA entrepreneurs. The first-place team from each of the six annual regional JA student-company competitions (including Company of the Year, Young Entrepreneurs Competition, and National Student Leadership Summit) are automatically entered as finalists for the award. The winning team receives awards, plus US $15,000, educational opportunities, and more. (Read about the first year’s finalists and winners.)
Next steps
Each student company will submit a four-minute video that tells the story of the company in a creative way. They’ll also submit an executive summary that includes a brief vision of the team’s business plan, marketing goals, challenges, successes, and a financial report.
The winning team will be announced on April 5, so stay tuned to JA Worldwide’s social media channels and the blog for all the details! Join the event live on Facebook at 8:30amEDT/2:30pmCEST/8:30pmHKT.
December 16, 2021
Until recently, the highest award that a JA student company could earn was the coveted first place prize in one of six regional JA Company Program competitions in Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, MENA, and the United States. But thanks to the generous support of the de la Vega family, JA Worldwide now offers a global prize for JA student companies: The de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award.
In June, Ralph de la Vega, former President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, announced the winning student company for the first-ever edition of this award: Bubbles from JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab). Founded by three young men during their time in the JA Company Program at Herningsholm Erhvervsskole & Gymnasier, Bubbles’ noise-canceling headset helps students with ADHD by creating a direct line of communication between student and teacher.
Read more about Bubbles and all the incredible student companies in last year’s competition.
Last week, both INJAZ Al-Arab JA MENA and JA Americas named the winners of their top awards at the Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration and the Company of the Year Competition, respectively. With these winners, we now know five of the six student companies that will compete for the 2022 de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award. JA Africa will celebrate its best student companies in February.
Meet this year’s finalists (so far) . . .
Junior Achievement USA
finlit from JA of North Central Ohio triumphed over an elite group of 15 student companies from around the U.S. to capture the title of Company of the Year with “Budget or Bust,” a fun, interactive, and engaging board game for kids designed to teach financial literacy.
JA Europe
Scribo from JA Slovakia, students at Gymnázium Poštová 9 school, triumphed over 62 student companies for its zero-waste dry-erase whiteboard markers made of recycled wax.
JA Asia Pacific
Scrapcap, students from Nexus International School Singapore and JA Singapore, made the first-round cut to the final ten out of an original 18 student companies, and claimed the title of Company of the Year for its baseball caps made of recycled school uniforms and mission to reduce textile waste.
INJAZ Al-Arab
Hasib from INJAZ Bahrain, one of nine student companies in the Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration high-school division, took home the Soraya Salti Company of the Year Award for its device that alerts cyclists about surrounding traffic.
JA Americas
Capping off the calendar year’s competitions, MarketAngelo from JA Canada wowed judges with its interactive learning platform that aims to educate users about the relationships between investing and pursuing profits, claiming the title of Company of the Year over 20 other student companies from 11 countries around the region.
We can’t wait to learn more about the incredible student companies that will compete in the 11th JA Africa Company of the Year Competition. The regional competition will be held virtually from February 24–26. Hosted by JA Mauritius, supporters from around the world can watch live on Facebook and cheer for the 11 student companies from around the region. Learn more at ja-africa.org/coy2021
Stay tuned to JA Worldwide’s social media to find out which incredible student company will win the US$15,000 cash prize (and more!) for the 2022 de la Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award.