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BOSTON, April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ –Founded in 2021 by a 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 given to the JA Company Program. The JA Company of the Year winning student teams from JA’s six regions: JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia-Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENAand Junior Achievement USA – automatically become finalists.
The JA Company Program is the world’s oldest hands-on entrepreneurial experience, helping students develop real businesses that create products or services to meet a specific need; build, market and deliver products; and make real profits. Student companies compete at the local level and some participate in national and regional competitions. Until the creation of this award, the most prestigious prize a JA student company could win was the coveted first place in one of JA’s six regional competitions.
The De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 2024 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, prize sponsor Ralph de la Vega announced the 2024 winner: Isometricks (JA Greece), students of the University of Macedonia Experimental High School and winners of the JA Europe Gen-E Company of the Year 2023 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.
For Isometricks, gaming is serious business. The company’s product, Wizzle – a combination of the words “wizard” and “puzzle” – is an open-ended thinking and creativity game with hidden mathematical 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 according to mosaic logic, providing endless possibilities for creativity. As a hands-on, non-digital learning experience, Wizzle is a valuable educational tool for teachers and students, enabling inclusive learning experiences for people with dyslexia and refugee students who struggle with language. Additionally, Wizzle is a promising non-pharmaceutical intervention suitable for people of all ages with mild cognitive impairment.
Mr. De La Vega commented on the contributions of the six finalists to the world: “The power of entrepreneurship is that it allows you to achieve anything you want. There are conflicts in the world. There is hunger in the world. There are conflicts in the world. war in the world. But you bring messages of hope, of inspiration, of overcoming adversity, of partnership, of collaboration.
JA Global CEO Asheesh Advani agreed. “Being an entrepreneur as a teenager is transformational because it teaches essential skills early in life. And, as the Isometricks team and all student finalists demonstrated, JA entrepreneurs can create value for society while making a profit. »
About JA Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest and most influential youth-serving NGOs, JA Worldwide provides hands-on, immersive learning on entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health. Reaching more than 17 million young people each year through more than 675,000 educators and business volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of the few organizations with the scale, experience and passion to build a future without limits for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders. Visit us at jaworldwide.org.
Contact
Tere Stouffer Marketing Director, JA Worldwide +1-212-641-0747
tere.stouffer@jaworldwide.org
