Volunteer Opportunities
JA Learning Centers
JA BizTown Info Sheet (Columbus or Newark) – After learning about money and jobs at school, 5th graders visit JA BizTown to experience adult life for a day. With volunteer guidance, they operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor, linking classroom lessons to the real world.
JA Finance Park Info Sheet (Columbus or Newark) – Educators teach middle schoolers personal finance before heading to JA Finance Park, where students adopt personas and make budget decisions, guided by volunteers sharing their real-world experiences.
In the classroom
JA in a Day Info Sheet – Volunteers team up to adopt classrooms at a local elementary or middle school, delivering a JA program that includes five 30 to 45-minute sessions in one school day. JA’s programs focus on financial health, career readiness, and entrepreneurial thinking, featuring fun games and activities aligned with state and national standards.
JA Career Speaker Info Sheet – JA Career Speaker volunteers visit a classroom one time to present their personal education pathway and career story to the students, with plenty of opportunities for Q&A. You can sign up as an individual or as part of a group of volunteers.
General information
Explore Junior Achievement Resources and Share with Your Team
Junior Achievement (JA) Overview – A quick look at who we are and what we do.
JA Fast Facts – Research that demonstrates our impact.
JA Volunteer Champions Committee (VCC) Info Sheet – Share this with friends or colleagues from your network who might be interested in joining the VCC.
JA Volunteer Village Info Sheet – Share this with individuals in your network who might be interested in getting direct emails about volunteer opportunities.
Office Zip Code Lookup – If you’re wondering which JA area serves a community outside central and southeast Ohio, find out on this site.
Outreach toolkit
A customizable toolkit to help you recruit volunteers and create Junior Achievement superfans!
Find resources to help you:
- Recruit volunteers for events
- Celebrate and recognize your volunteers
- Educate company leaders about JA
- Advocate for JA to your personal and professional networks
- Help us grow the Volunteer Village
Sign-up links
JA Career Speaker:
JA Volunteer Village: A mailing list that will keep you up-to-date with individual volunteer opportunities that arise!
Next Steps: Nothing! The Volunteer Team will reach out to you with more information.
JA BizTown:
JA Finance Park:
JA In-Class (JA in a Day):
- To request this event, reach out to Steph Patton (stephanie.patton@ja.org) and/or Andrea Walker (andrea.walker@ja.org)
JA Career Speaker:
- Fall/Winter/Spring
- Note: If you are interested in your team participating in a group version of this event, you can adopt multiple spots from the link above or reach out to Steph or Andrea to discuss/plan a specific event
Steph or Andrea will be notified that you have signed up, and will reach out to you…
- To fill in any blanks that you’re not sure about
- To set up a planning meeting, if applicable – typically just for In-Class events, like:
- JA in a Day
- JA It’s My Business
- JA Career Speaker Series (Group events only)
- With an Excel spreadsheet for your volunteers’ names and email/phone numbers, which is then returned to us.
- A few notes about the spreadsheets:
- If your group is volunteering for an In-Class event, you will need to indicate which team members will be partnering with one another in your spreadsheet. This is not necessary for JA BizTown or JA Finance Park events.
- Unfortunately, we cannot link the spreadsheets for download on this site. Instead, you can check your email to see if you’ve gotten the spreadsheet from Steph or Andrea, or you can follow this guide to create your own:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Phone number (it’s nice to have individual phone numbers, but if you don’t have those, you can just use a general company number)
- (If applicable) Department or Employee Resource Group, or Team name
- (In-Class events only) Which volunteers are partnering together in each classroom? (Please include if you know this information now, OR if it’s okay for partners to be assigned randomly. If you will be deciding partners at a later date/during JA Volunteer Training, you can wait to send this volunteer list until that information is known.)
- A few notes about the spreadsheets:
About ja
Impact By the Numbers.
Numbers represent the 2024-2025 school year.
51,657
Student Experiences
71
Local School Districts
3,674
Volunteer Experiences
Local focus with national and global networks
Founded in 1919, we are a global organization with a local focus. As a partner of JA USA, we are one of 99 local Junior Achievement areas across the United States.
Leaders in Experiential learning
JA of Central Ohio is one of six JA areas in the state. We serve 25 counties and are the only JA in Ohio with physical Learning Centers, one in Columbus and the other in Newark.
4 Nobel Peace Prize nominations
JA Worldwide has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
56% JA Alumni are in a career similar to their volunteer
More than half of JA Alumni currently work in a career or job, or have worked in a similar position to the one their JA volunteer had.
Follow us
Connect with Us.
You get the best of both worlds (The option of volunteering for JA Biztown AND JA Finance Park) 🎶🎤💜
We hope this email finds you well. Please see the experiences of our JA BizTown Citizens attached. Best Regards, Junior Achievement of Central Ohio.
#JuniorAchievement #RealityvsLinkedin #CorporateTalk #JABizTown
Come with the JA Marketing team as we explore the hands on activities at JA Inspire! 💡
Did you have a favorite activity at the event? Let us know below!
#JuniorAchievement #JAInspire #TopTen #experientiallearning
Four SHOCKING things exhibitors revealed to us at JA Inspire Columbus 💥⚡
Were you at JA Inspire? what is one thing that surprised you when talking to participating employers?
#JuniorAchievement #CareerExploration #JAInspire #Opportunities
We can't believe it's already been a week since the best career exploration day in Franklin County! Here are some of our favorite moments from the 3rd annual JA Inspire in Columbus 💡⛑✏💫
#JuniorAchievement #JAInspire #CareerExploration
What career paths do high schoolers want to learn more about? We talked to REAL students at JA Inspire Columbus to find out 💡
#JuniorAchievement #CareerReadiness #CareerDevelopment #JAInspire
It's the most wonderful time of the year... JA Inspire Columbus!! Come along with our Social Media Manager to learn what our staff and board members love about this event 💫💞
#JuniorAchievement #JAInspire #CareerExploration #StreetInterview
💫JA Job Shadow x Bread Financial🍞
Come with us as we follow @lindenstem High School students through a Job Shadow Day at @breadfinancial offices! Students were able to ask Bread team members questions about their career journeys, as well as see an extensive tour of their buildings ...⚡💵
#JuniorAchievement #JobShadow #CareerReadiness #comewithme
🎭Learning Center Sponsor Highlight - @gcac_cbus 🎨
Our JA BizTown Shop allows students to learn more about budgeting and careers in the arts through hands-on learning experiences. This experience allows students to sell goods to pay off their business loans by the end of their first ...day of being an adult!
#JABizTown #GCAC #JASponsor
