GLC 2021 Wraps Up with Closing Ceremony and Global Awards

November 18, 2021

During the third and final week of JA’s 2021 Global Leadership Conference (GLC), JA Europe and JA Africa took the stage on Days 7 and 8, virtually sharing best practices with the global network and creating two full days of impactful experiences for more than 1,050 JA staff around the world.

Today, the final day, the conference culminated in a live closing ceremony and presentation of the GLC Awards, the most prestigious accolade in the JA global network.

The JA Alumni Engagement Award recognizes JA locations that have developed robust alumni strategies, including tracking, communication, and engagement projects for alumni. The JA location’s alumni strategy should enhance the member’s ability to promote fundraising initiatives, volunteering, and/or operational efficiency.

Winner

JA China established its alumni network in 2018 and now boasts 500 registered alumni in six cities, hosted it first alumni conference in 2019, and has facilitated more than 20 events, even during the pandemic!

The JA Activator Award recognizes a JA location’s proven willingness to activate programs and ideas developed by others within JA. This award celebrates one of the most important characteristics of good leadership: learning from others and executing great ideas that did not originate with your team or location.

Winner

tGELF/JA India activated, adopted, and adapted the Vida Segura Program from JA Mexico, a learning experience that helps students chart a life and career plan that highlights the risks and challenges they face.

The JA High-Tech Award celebrate JA members that have developed high-tech learning experiences for students. Examples may include virtual or augmented reality, interactive website and apps, or other immersive and innovative uses of educational technology. The high-tech learning experiences submitted must demonstrate outcomes in at least one of JA’s three pillars (work readiness, financial literacy, entrepreneurship) and have been completed—that is, not in development or in a pilot phase—when the nomination was made.

Winner

JA Romania launched Unlimited Education, an aggregator of several virtual learning-management systems (LMS), featuring 15+ fully digital interactive versions of JA programs. In addition, JA Romania organized over 450 webinars attended by 50,000+ students and teachers and started the Tech Skills & Challenge coding program that helps middle school students learn to code in a fun and interactive experience. Finally, JA Romania equipped 22 schools, including many from economically disadvantaged communities, with smart classroom kits (such as interactive boards, laptops, projectors) to enable hybrid education.

The JA Low-Tech Award recognizes JA members that have developed low-tech learning experiences for students who don’t have reliable access to broadband or devices. The low-tech learning experience must demonstrate outcomes in at least one of JA’s three pillars and have been completed—rather than in development or in a pilot phase—when the nomination was made.

Winner

tGELF/JA India, in its second win, recognizing the shocking number of students who do not have access to broadband, employed a mix of lower-tech tools—including WhatsApp and Google Drive—to move programs online during the pandemic.

The Soraya Salti Award recognizes JA leaders who are committed visionaries who push boundaries to move JA forward in a positive way, particularly to bring systematic change to a country or region. The winner must be innovative and able to engage a wide variety of stakeholders in order to advance social and/or economic progress in the areas where they live and work. This person should also exemplify JA’s values in tangible ways, including excellence, integrity, and respect, and belief in the boundless potential of young people. This year’s finalists are exceptional examples of the visionary leadership that former INJAZ Al-Arab JA MENA CEO Soraya Salta brought to her work every day.

Winner

Milena Stoycheva, CEO of JA Bulgaria, who is widely known as JA’s “Firestarter,” is an innovator who understands that entrepreneurial and empowered youth can fundamentally change a country.

The JA Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a JA network professional who has significantly contributed to the growth and impact of JA programs in his or her country. Nominees have at least eight years’ experience with JA, serve in a member nation’s chief executive position, and have demonstrated student growth in either student experience numbers or contact hours in each of the past five years.

Finalists

Ayna Bayramova, JA Turkmenistan

Cecilia Nykvist, JA Sweden
Krishna Alejandrino, JA Philippines
Leen Abdel Jader, INJAZ Algeria
Majid Khalid, INJAZ Yemen
Miriam Cresta, JA Italy
Noémie Sasse, JA Switzerland
Sevinj Amirova, JA Azerbaijan
Stéphanie Damgé, Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg

Winner

Ayna Bayramova, CEO and founder of JA Turkmenistan, where she has created dozens of programs from scratch, partnered with USAID to deliver learning experiences to thousands of young people each year, and become an advocate against youth trafficking.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Get a taste of GLC 2021 Week 3: