Whether for tuition, books or room and board, Junior Achievement (JA) Bahamas participants across New Providence and Grand Bahama are now one step closer to fully covering costs associated with continuing their education.

Junior Achievers Iyanda Hilton, Chardonnay Bowe and Laverna Hutchins, all winners of Most Distinguished Achiever (MDA) awards, will use a $5,000 donation recently made by CIBC FirstCaribbean to assist with paying for college.

Hilton of New Providence and Bowe of Grand Bahama placed 4th in the MDA Awards and received $2,000 each while 5th place winner Hutchins (New Providence) received a $1,000 scholarship.

“We are staunch supporters of Junior Achievement Bahamas and acutely aware of the void this non-profit youth organization fills within our communities,” said Marvin Major, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Shirley Street Branch Manager.

He added, “their dedication to teaching students the foundational principles of financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship is commendable. As a financial institution, we at CIBC FirstCaribbean directly benefit from the savvy, young financial professionals programmes like JA Bahamas produce. Helping students to reach maximum potential in their chosen career fields by assisting with a college level education, is one of the many ways we invest in our people and our industry.”

While Junior Achievement Bahamas is widely known for its Company Programme, the organization also offers a full array of programming that teaches critical life skills to students from K5 – grade 12 which is available to every school, on every island in The Bahamas. Using COVID-19 as a disruptor for positive change, the non-profit now offers these programmes both face to face and as virtual platforms.

Executive Director of JA Bahamas, Tammy Lecky said, “we know that our programmes change the lives of students. We only need look at the pillars of industry and community who are JA Bahamas alum to see the impact we’ve had over the past 42 years.”

“However, that being said, we are humbled by regional institutions like CIBC FirstCaribbean recognizing our contributions and making the financial commitment to give our Achievers even more tools to create the futures they envision while participating in our programmes,” Ms. Lecky added.

While the JA Bahamas year has officially ended until August 2021, summer programming will run in the interim. To learn more about Junior Achievement, student enrollment and ways to support the organization, please contact info@jabahamas.org.