We are excited to announce that the Brandon Hall Group has honored Junior Achievement with two Bronze Awards of Excellence. The first bronze award is for “Best Advance for Leading Under a Crisis” and recognizes JA’s pivot into its “Digital First” approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In a year that challenged us all, I am so proud to have worked alongside a team who never faltered in their commitment to continue to reach our students and provide them with the skills that they will still need as they prepare for their futures. Staff lead the way by learning new technologies and innovating engaging ways to reach students from outside of the traditional classroom. Some of these digital approaches will be kept, allowing us to work with schools who may not have had the ability to bring students to in-person events”, said Les McCabe, JASoCal President & CEO.
The second bronze award is for “Best Use of Games or Simulations for Learning” and goes to the redevelopment of the JA Titan Blended Model simulation.
JA Titan is a simulation-based program in which high school students compete as business CEOs in the phone industry, experiencing how an organization evaluates alternatives, makes decisions, and then strategize what to do next. The culmination of the programs, the JA Titan of Business competition using the simulation, has students striving to make intelligent business decisions in running their own global, virtual business, effectively allocating funds, balancing investor and stakeholder’s needs, and applying business-leadership concepts to understand how decisions affect a company’s bottom line. As students work in teams to make financial decisions about production, marketing, R&D, and corporate social responsibility, they begin to see how every choice made in an organization relates to its future success.
During the 2020-21 school year, over 100 JASoCal students in Orange County experienced the redeveloped JA Titan Blended Model program and culminating JA Titan of Business competition.
“Students reported that the program and simulation was a great way to have them think about the different aspects of a business like determining the features that a demographic would like and how to apply it in the development of their phones. Working in teams during the competition encouraged students to put what they’ve learned into action as they discuss the best business strategies and approaches to try to be the Titans of Business”, explained Angela Johnson, Development Manager.
Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards Overview
The Brandon Hall Group is a preeminent research and analyst firm with more than 10,000 clients globally and more than 20 years of delivering research-based solutions that empower excellence in organizations. The organization offers world-class research, data, and expertise in Learning & Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition, and Workforce Management.
The Excellence Awards feature two annual programs that recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have achieved measurable results. The awards attract entrants from leading corporations around the world, as well as mid-market and smaller firms.
The first bronze award is for “Best Advance for Leading Under a Crisis” and recognizes JA’s pivot into its “Digital First” approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second bronze award is for “Best Use of Games or Simulations for Learning” and goes to the redevelopment of the JA Titan Blended Model simulation.
