BOSTON, April 16,
2024 /PRNewswire/ --Founded in 2021 by tech-legend
Ralph de la Vega, former President
and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, the De La Vega
Global Entrepreneurship Award is the highest global award for the
JA Company Program. The winning JA Company of the Year student
teams from JA's six regions—JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia
Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA
MENA, and Junior Achievement USA—automatically become
finalists.
The JA Company Program is the world's oldest hands-on
entrepreneurial experience, helping students develop real companies
that create products or services to meet a specific need; build,
market, and deliver products; and earn real profits. Student
companies compete at the local level, and some move on to national
and regional competitions. Until this award was established, the
highest prize that a JA student company could earn was the coveted
first place at one of JA's six regional competitions.
The 2024 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award competition
included teams from JA Ghana (AID Electronics), JA Argentina (MANIK), Prestasi Junior Indonesia
(SIEVASCO), JA Greece (Isometricks), INJAZ Oman (Warif), and JA
Southeastern Pennsylvania (Youthful Thinkers).
Today, award sponsor Ralph de la
Vega announced the 2024 winner: Isometricks (JA Greece),
students at Experimental Senior High School of the University of
Macedonia and winners of the 2023 JA Europe Gen-E Company of
the Year competition. The team won US$15,000 cash prize for its product Wizzle, a
3D-printed puzzle game with medical and educational applications.
The five other JA student companies also won US$5,000 each, courtesy of the de la Vega Family
Foundation.
To Isometricks, playing is a serious matter. The company's
product, Wizzle—a combination of the words "wizard" and "puzzle"—is
an open-ended game of thought and creativity with hidden math and
educational and medical applications. This pioneering collection of
colorful tiles is designed according to mathematical rules (each
puzzle is designed by members of the Experimental High School Math
Club) and assembled with mosaic logic, providing endless
possibilities for creativity. As a non-digital, hands-on learning
experience, Wizzle is a valuable educational tool for teachers and
students, enabling inclusive learning experiences for those with
dyslexia and for refugee students who struggle with language.
Additionally, Wizzle is a promising non-pharmaceutical intervention
suitable for people of all ages with mild cognitive
disabilities.
Mr. De La Vega commented on the contributions all six finalists
are making to the world: "The power of entrepreneurship is that it
enables you to achieve anything you want to achieve. There is
strife in the world. There's hunger in the world. There's war in
the world. But you bring messages of hope, of inspiration, of
overcoming adversities, of partnering, of working with each
other."
JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani
agreed. "Being an entrepreneur in your teenage years is
transformational, teaching essential skills early in life. And, as
Team Isometricks and all the student finalists demonstrated, JA
entrepreneurs can create value for society as well as turning a
profit."
About JA Worldwide
As one of the world's
largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Worldwide
delivers hands on, immersive learning in entrepreneurship, work
readiness, and financial health. Reaching more than 17 million
young people each year through over 675,000 teachers and business
volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of few organizations with the
scale, experience, and passion to build a boundless future for the
next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Visit us
at jaworldwide.org.
Contact
Tere Stouffer Chief Marketing
Officer, JA
Worldwide +1-212-641-0747
tere.stouffer@jaworldwide.org
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SOURCE JA Worldwide