Making a Commitment to the Future Through Junior Achievement

By Cristina J. Hatem

Part of my role as marketing communications director at a regional CPA firm is to encourage and facilitate our employees’ involvement in the community. Like many good firms across the state, our firm understands that it makes sense to do this. Why? Because, besides it’s being the “right thing to do,” communities that receive support from local organizations are able to prosper and create an environment that benefits everyone who lives and works there. But the firm also profits because organizations that contribute to the community in which they operate are perceived more favorably and receive more visibility than those that do not. And employees who are involved in the community have a larger base of contacts with which to network.

Prior to accepting my current position with the firm, I held a volunteer post on the Board of Directors of the Central New York Chapter of Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement exists to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics as means for improving the quality of their lives. It wasn’t until after I began working at my firm that the connection between Junior Achievement and the accounting profession crystallized for me. For public accountants and most CPAs, your role is similar to Junior Achievement’s: to help clients who believe in and value free enterprise and business to improve the quality of their lives. In that light, please consider getting involved with Junior Achievement.

So how do you get started? Teach a class. Junior Achievement conducts kindergarten through grade 12 programs in which volunteers from the business community meet face-to-face with students in the schools, usually for an hour a week for six to eight weeks. The programs teach young people to leverage information, apply basic skills, think critically and solve complex problems.

Or you can sponsor a class. As a nonprofit organization, program materials and administration are funded by individuals and organizations in the community. Consider making a tax-deductible donation to your local Junior Achievement chapter.

And if I haven’t yet persuaded you to get involved, here’s one more thing to bear in mind. Participating in your local chapter or the national organization of Junior Achievement will do something that we’re all aware is increasingly important to the future of the profession: encourage young people to consider a career in accounting. What better way to do this than to be a role model who makes economic concepts relevant, fuels the entrepreneurial spirit, and challenges students to excel in the workplace and in life.

To learn more about Junior Achievement, visit their website at www.ja.org or call your local Junior Achievement chapter.