Junior Achievement's purpose is to educate and inspire young people to value business, economics, and education to improve the quality of their lives. Junior Achievement (JA) trains volunteers from local businesses and communities to teach our proven curriculum which emphasizes financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and business ethics. Since 1953 in Silicon Valley, these volunteers have helped over 500,000 young people gain practical, hands-on experience as well as understand how to apply their classroom knowledge to the real, working world.