Junior Achievement Of Central Mass To Dissolve
Junior Achievement of Central Massachusetts Inc. will cease operations June 30 after falling out with Junior Achievement Worldwide over the organization's philosophy.
Matthew Cote, chairman of the board of Junior Achievement of Central Massachusetts, said that since February, JA Worldwide has been pushing for JA organizations in Worcester, Springfield, Boston and Fall River to merge into a single chapter.
The dissolution of JA of Central Massachusetts protects its programs from that fate, Cote said. JA of Central Massachusetts is licensed by JA Worldwide, but exists as its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Junior Achievement promotes financial literacy, workforce readiness and educational programs in economics, business and free enterprise.
Cote said JA Worldwide has turned its attention to reaching the largest number of school kids possible, which is not in the 30-year-old Central Massachusetts chapter's best interest.
"It saddens all of us to have to go this route, but for us not to dilute our resources and have them go to Boston or Springfield, we have to keep our assets local," Cote said. "We have a duty to the people who have donated to us over the years to stay local."
JA Worldwide currently has 138 chapters and is in the process of bringing that number down to 50 or 60, Cote said. He said it's possible that the JA of Central Massachusetts board of directors could regroup under a different name. "We've run successful programs with talented people and they're not going anywhere," he said.
It's also possible that JA Worldwide could establish its own local chapter to replace the one being dissolved.
In a statement this afternoon, Deborah Hopkins, JA of Central Massachusetts' president and CEO, said she was "fully supportive of the very difficult decision by the JA board. Their decision was truly made on behalf of the best interests of our local public school students."
The Central Massachusetts franchise is one of Junior Achievement's most successful and has garnered several awards from JA Worldwide.
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