After successfully running the "JA Career Exploration Fair – Sports and Entertainment", in the Spring of 2022, Junior Achievement of Southern California (JASoCal) will launch their first JA Inspire – a Career Exploration Fair in April. This in-person event will take place on April 12, at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC), and is expected to serve 2,000 8th graders from multiple LAUSD Middle Schools.

JA Inspire is a one-of-a-kind career exploration event for middle school students that brings together the business community and area schools to introduce young people to their future worlds of work. JA Inspire gives SoCal's future workforce the opportunity to learn about careers in a variety of industries and sectors.

Dr. Les McCabe, JASoCal President and CEO says, "We are excited to introduce this career readiness event to our students and business partners in Southern California. Our commitment to preparing students for their futures not only improves outcomes for the majority of students we serve who are living in under-resourced communities, but also offers a solution to current workforce gaps, and adds support to the local economy that in turn contributes to the ability of our region to thrive socioeconomically".

Connecting with students early in their education is crucial to building employment pipelines, and this event enables students to communicate directly with industry professionals. Ahead of the event, students will complete in-class learning sessions aimed to help identify a student's strengths, skills, talents, and interests and guide them to industries and careers in which they could thrive. JA Inspire is the culmination of those pre-lessons and allows students to use what they discover to explore local businesses that are a match to their profile. They will speak directly with current employees, experience hands-on activities in alignment with that industry, understand the variety of roles available, and learn what education pathways can help them reach their goals or open the door to possibilities they may never before imagined.

Participating companies have a chance to engage directly with their potential future workforce on what they want young people to know about their world of work, including in-demand careers, internships, and company culture.

JA Inspire Presenting Sponsor is Delta Air Lines. Other sponsors to date include Ernst & Young, CFALA, Bank of the West, LADWP, IBM, Howard Building Corporation, Farmers, City National Bank, LA Tourism Board, and Deloitte.

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Additional sponsorships and exhibitor booths are still available. To get involved, please contact Alex Rojas at arojas@jasocal.org.

Junior Achievement of Southern California (JASoCal) is dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make educated academic and economic choices. JA learning solutions are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences to students from kindergarten through high school. JASoCal offers multiple programs, including in-class programs, 3DE by Junior Achievement, and JA Finance Park, all of which focus on entrepreneurship, personal financial literacy and workforce readiness. JASoCal serves upwards of 50,000 students annually throughout its service area of Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. JASoCal Headquarters are in Los Angeles with a regional office in Costa Mesa.