Scribo Wins 2022 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award
April 5, 2022
Congratulations to Scribo, a team of JA students from JA Slovakia, winners of the 2022 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award!
““Young people are living messages to a time we will not live to see . . . messages of hope, messages of inspiration, messages of prosperity, and messages of peace.””
The De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award, now in its second year, is the most prestigious student award in our network and the first global award JA has ever created. Made possible by the generosity of JA Worldwide Governor Ralph de la Vega and his wife, Maria, the competition brings together the six first-place JA Student Company winners from JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab JA MENA, and Junior Achievement USA.
The JA Student Companies
As part of the competition, each student company created a video showcasing their work.
Project Yoof from JA Africa | Kenya
The team: Apetronila Maina, Shanice Kituu, Tatyana Murila, Maya Amolo
MarketAngelo from JA Americas | Canada
The team: Jin Schofield, Samuel Lo, Isabelle Gan, Kelly Guan
Scrapcap from JA Asia Pacific | Singapore
The team: Hugo Khaou, Maya Fowler, Taiga Tanaka, Xavier Sheehan
Hasib from INJAZ Al-Arab JA MENA | Bahrain
The team: Habiba Maher, Hussain Al Mahoozi, Fatima Al Goud, Lulwa Osama, Rashid Mahmood
Scribo from JA Europe | Slovakia
The team: Miroslava Velgosová, Gréta Sotáková, Oszkár Urbán, Jakub Mičko
Finlit from Junior Achievement USA | North Central Ohio
The team: Gavin Williams, Brad Smith, Aaron Pike
Each JA student company brought something different to the competition, from team size to product or service. Project Yoof from JA Kenya built an online platform to help students’ mental health; MarketAngelo from JA Canada (Americas) makes it easy for students to learn about ESG and investing through friendly virtual competitions with actual cash prizes; Scrapcap from JA Singapore (Asia Pacific) takes old school uniforms and repurposes them to make caps; Hasib from INJAZ Bahrain (MENA) invented a device that makes biking safer in their community; and Finlit from JA of North Central Ohio (USA) created a board game to help young people learn financial literacy. Ultimately, it was Scribo from JA Slovakia (Europe) and its environmentally friendly replacement for whiteboard markers made from recycled printer wax that won the competition. It’s no surprise to all of us at JA Worldwide that this year’s race was extremely close. These are, after all, the best student companies in the world!
“I’m a firm believer that entrepreneurship leads to prosperity everywhere around the world. And prosperity around the world leads to peace.”
The Award
Thanks to the generosity of the de la Vega family, Scribo received a US$15,000 cash prize and other educational opportunities, and JA Slovakia will receive US$5,000, as well. Ultimately, every team in the competition comes out a winner, as each receives US$5,000 per team. The students are free to spend the money as they see fit, whether that’s to continue to grow their business or further their education.
Ralph and Maria de la Vega were inspired to create this award several years ago when they attended a JA Company of the Year competition in Oslo, Norway. Inspired by the young people they saw competing, they wanted to do more. Maria asked, “Where do you find these young minds?” Ralph responded, “Everywhere!” Ultimately, the de la Vegas wanted to shine the spotlight on the best JA student companies in the world. And here we are!
The Ceremony
This year’s ceremony included an inspiring chat between our CEO Asheesh Advani with Ralph de la Vega and a special message from 2021 winners Bubbles.
Did you miss the livestream? You can watch the recording below!
Jakub Mičko, Gréta Sotáková, Miroslava Velgosová, and Oszká Urbán
What’s Next?
Scribo’s Miroslava Velgosová, Gréta Sotáková, Oszkár Urbán, and Jakub Mičko are hard at work finishing up their final year of high school at Gymnázium Poštová 9 school, and all four are planning to attend university in the fall. We can’t wait to see what these four—and all of the JA student companies in this year’s competition—will do in the coming years!