Page 41 - BusinessWest April 18, 2022

18 Under 18
New JA Initiative Will Recognize Young Leaders in the Community
Jennifer Connelly says that, in many ways, the new recognition program created
by Junior Achievement (JA) of Western Massachusetts was inspired by the pandemic and a recognized need to bring attention to the manner in which young people, who were impacted by COVID-19 in many different ways, stepped up and displayed true leader- ship and community involvement at a turbu- lent time.
“We wanted to do something to recognize them to help their self-esteem, but also for the community to realize what a bright future we have with these young people who are doing so much already and celebrate them.”
“The past few years have been tough on everybody, but they’ve been even tougher on young people,” said Connelly, the agency’s presi- dent and CEO. “I think that being isolated, doing remote learning, having to wear masks, not being able to interact with people like they used to, like our volunteers ... has challenged many of them,
and they’ve felt isolated and removed from being part of the community. We wanted to do some- thing to recognize them to help their self-esteem, but also for the community to realize what a bright future we have with these young people who are doing so much already and celebrate them.”
But these are qualities worthy of recognition
Jennifer Connelly says JA’s 18 Under 18 program will recognize young people in three areas — innovative spirit, leadership, and community involvement.
at any time, she went on, noting that JA’s new initiative, called 18 Under 18 — in a nod to many regional and national recognition programs, including BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty — and presented by Teddy Bear Pools, will hopefully become a permanent fixture in the region. That is certainly the plan.
The program, as its name connotes, will rec-
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