DIRECTV & Junior Achievement Partnership Keeps the Ball Rolling for Colorado’s Kids

In June, Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain (JA Rocky Mountain) announced that DIRECTV employees raised nearly $90,000 in 2015 to support JA programs that served more than 125,000 students in the Denver area with financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurial programs during the 2014-15 school year. This was made possible in large part to more than 225 DIRECTV employees that participated in the 2015 JA Bowl-A-Thon. DIRECTV was JA-Rocky Mountain’s number one fundraising company for the event.

“Junior Achievement’s core mission of teaching entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness to students aligns with DIRECTV’s goal of educating our youth about how they can succeed in high-growth fields, and ultimately, create secure financial futures,” said Ed Balcerzak, senior vice president of Customer Care for DIRECTV and JA Rocky Mountain Board member. “DIRECTV’s employees who participate in the JA Bowl-A-Thon have a great time and enjoy spending time with co-workers, friends and family while at the same time raising money for Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain’s programs in a team environment.”

JA-Rocky Mountain was also selected as a 2014 and 2015 beneficiary of the DIRECTV Charity Golf Tournament. Proceeds from the tournament help ensure that JA-Rocky Mountain is able to deliver its world-class programming at no cost to schools.

In addition to financial support, DIRECTV is one of JA-Rocky Mountain’s top 10 volunteer providers. During the 2014-15 school year, DIRECTV employees directly impacted more than 1,000 elementary, middle and high school students by participating in two JA in-a-Day events at Peakview and Arapahoe Ridge Elementary Schools, adopting several more schools for smaller JA-in-a-Day events and volunteering at JA Finance Park. Additionally, DIRECTV hosted two JA Job Shadow events for students from Rock Canyon High School at the ROOT Sports Broadcasting Center and students from Ponderosa High School at the DIRECTV Castle Rock Broadcast Center. Students who attended these opportunities received special tours of the facilities, and learned about the variety of career options available to them in the communications industry.

DIRECTV has also partnered with Junior Achievement in cities including Los Angeles, Calif.; Boise, Idaho; Tulsa, Okla.; Huntington, W.Va. and Huntsville, Ala. In these cities, DIRECTV has engaged with JA through special events, corporate sponsorships to fund local JA programs and volunteer opportunities. DIRECTV is also helping JA recruit additional volunteers by running public service announcements on their ROOT Sports channels in the Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh markets.

“The technology and communications industry helps drive U.S. competitiveness and innovation in the global economy,” said Robin Wise, president and CEO of JA-Rocky Mountain. “I applaud DIRECTV for making the commitment to educate our youth about how they can succeed in high growth fields, and ultimately, create secure financial futures.”