Team Bubbles: Connectivity for Struggling Students

JA Europe | JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab)

Nicklas Stokholm, Christian Ørum, Kevin Albin

When Team Bubbles—made up of Nicklas Stokholm, 19, Christian Ørum, 18, and Kevin Albin, 20—came together in a high-school innovation class at Herningsholm Erhvervsskole & Gymnasier, they saw an opportunity to start an innovative JA Company Program, a collaboration between the school and JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab). 

The idea for Bubbles originated with Christian, as he watched his sister struggle with ADHD. “She was the inspiration, but we soon realized it was not only my sister who was affected by this,” Christian says. “A lot of other students were influenced by it, including many other diagnoses that inhibited their ability to focus in class.”

Bubbles improves communication between educators and students who suffer from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Students wear noise-cancelling headsets that eliminate audio distractions while, at the same time, creating a direct line of communication between teacher and student, with a goal of improving academic performance. 

Although all three were set to attend college, Christian, Nicklas, and Kevin decided to tap a gap year—or Sabbath year, as it is known in Denmark—to continue working on Bubbles. “All our time has been dedicated to Bubbles, so we’re able to help a lot of children. In fact, we’ve just hired our first employee!

Team Nina: Safe Drinking Water for Peru

JA Americas | JA Peru

Ariana Bettocchi, Fiamma Bahamonde, Isabella Romero, Daniela Escribens, Michelle Leigh, Emma Cilloniz, Daniella Becerra, Camille Rouillon, Luciana Córdova, Camila Salmón

Tamara, who lives with in western Peru with her family, wanted help: Her little brother had developed typhoid fever from drinking polluted water from the Rímac River, the only source of water available to their family. His life was at risk.

Ten Peruvian teenage girls stepped in. Research showed that two billion people around the world lack safe drinking water, resulting in nearly 100 deaths every hour, so they focused their JA Peru company—named Nina—on developing an inexpensive water-filtration system. Designed and 3D printed by the team, the result is Yaku, a portable, sealed, stainless steel one-liter bottle that filters 99.99% of water’s impurities and is priced 40% lower than its competition. Each bottle also features a Peruvian-themed graphic design.

Recognizing that a one-liter personal water bottle won’t make enough of a difference for most households, Team Nina sought out paid investors to help expand into a larger product, called the Mayu. This backpack version enables filtration and purification of enough water for a family of four and can be worn to and from rivers and other water sources. Rather than sell the Mayu, Team Nina donates one for every ten Yakus sold, and is looking to expand beyond Peru, once needs there are met.

The goal: To save lives, including that of Tamara’s brother.

Team Balda Taiba

INJAZ Yemen navigated checkpoints, impassible roads, and war-ravaged cities to bring a student team to MENA’s top youth-entrepreneurship competition in Oman

When Majid Al-Shammiri first heard that the INJAZ Al-Arab Young Entrepreneurs Celebration (YEC) would be held in Oman, he knew it was the closest the competition would ever come to his home country. In better days, the trip was a three-hour flight. But traveling from Sana’a, Yemen, to Muscat, Oman, would require three solid days of travel, mostly by car, as Majid, the student team, and their mentor circled well around the country’s most dangerous roads and checkpoints.

Yemen, currently ranked as the most dangerous place on earth, has been engaged in a civil war for more than six years. Yet INJAZ Yemen, which operates out of a modest location in the capital city, served 28,000 students in 2020, thanks to a small but dedicated group of employees and volunteers.

Majid’s Story

Born in Taiz, Yemen, Majid moved to Sana’a with his family when he was seven years old. By the time he finished high school, he had come to love the 7,000-year-old city, full as it was then of shops and cafes, and home to Sana’a University. 

Majid’s last year of university, 2011, also marked the famous Arab Spring, and Yemen was one of the first countries to experience the exhilarating—and destabilizing—protests, following the first uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. After a mostly peaceful few months of political turmoil, Yemen began 2012 with a new president and a renewed hope in democracy. 

That was also the year that Majid was offered the opportunity to relaunch JA operations in Yemen. He had other job offers but wanted to bring JA’s hands-on programs to his home country. Success quickly followed: In both 2012 and 2013, INJAZ Yemen made impressive showings at the YEC. But conditions within the country steadily worsened until a civil war erupted in late 2014.

A Country at War

At first, Majid and his countrymen were hopeful that a peace agreement would quell the violence. But that lasted only a few months. By the end of 2015, the INJAZ location suffered damage during an airstrike, and Majid considered, for the first time, shutting down the operation.

But his students simply wouldn’t let him give up. Keenly aware of how much they need the skills to prepare them for employment and entrepreneurship, INJAZ Yemen students insisted on taking the risk and continuing to learn. 

The new building allocated to them was undamaged but far from a home for staff, volunteers, and students, creating challenges due to gasoline shortages and increasingly frequent checkpoints. These factors also increased the challenges that Majid and his staff and students faced, especially when traveling. For the INJAZ Yemen Company of the Year team (called Balda Taiba) to travel to Oman in the middle of a civil war now seemed a remote possibility. 

In late 2019, after Majid negotiated for months to secure passports and visas for his students, Team Balda Taiba set off for Oman on a warm Wednesday afternoon. The first part of the journey, from Sana’a to Marib, had been a two-hour car ride in pre-war days. But it took the INJAZ Yemen team 14 hours, as they were forced to travel on a secluded mountain road that avoided checkpoints and other dangers.

From Marib to Seiyun was another eight hours in the car. From Seiyun to the Oman border took another 14 hours, this time through the desert, finally arriving at 6am on Saturday. The team had been on the road for two and a half days, with just seven hours of breaks. 

Once in Oman, they traveled by car to Salalah, slept for a few hours, and then boarded a plane to Muscat, arriving late Saturday night. The competition would begin the next morning. They had made it.

Coffee, Camaraderie, and Competition

The INJAZ Al-Arab YEC is a well-oiled machine. In addition to presentations and interviews with judges, each team is assigned a trade-show booth, which they arrange in whatever way they believe will elicit the best response from judges. For Team Balda Taiba—all students at Sana’a University—the theme was coffee, the product that the company processes, infuses with local flavors, and sells, along with other hot beverages. At the trade show, the team set up carafes Judges and other VIPs who visited the team’s trade booth received a hot, spicy sample beverage, and then were pitched on its unique flavor, its affordable cost, and how there was no doubt that Yemen produces the finest coffee in the world. 

““Our work is to open the minds of the youth of Yemen. For they will lead the way.””

— Majid Al-Shammiri

When one visitor, a native of Brazil, stopped by, suggesting that, perhaps, Brazilian coffee—not Yemenese—was the best in the world, a member of Team Balda Taiba laughed out loud, and said, “Oh, you Brazilians. Just like the Kenyans. You always think you have the best. But wait until you taste the real thing!” 

She was right. The judges thought so, too, and on the last day of the YEC, Team Balda Taiba was awarded the prestigious Citi Foundation Client Focus Award, a coup for the team and their mentor, Mr. Ibrahim Al-Isti, as well as for Majid and his staff. Suddenly, the 50+ hours of dangerous travel seemed worthwhile.

Two Yemens

The sheer joy of the team as they rushed across the stage to receive the award is, perhaps, the most illustrative contrast between the Yemen described in international news stories and the Yemen that Majid experiences every day. One is a story of suffering and loss, ranging from extreme food insecurity to demolished city blocks to shortages of everything from gasoline to teachers. The other is a story of exuberance, resilience, and—most of all—hope.

But, as Majid would tell you, they’re the same Yemen. One reflects the present; the other, the future.

Sarah Talbi

by Sara Hammoud, Gather Reporter for MENA

Thanks to Algerian entrepreneur and JA alumna Sarah Talbi, cleaning your plate at the end of the meal is no longer enough. Now, your plate is part of the meal. Sarah, a 22-year-old food engineer, is the co-founder of Genewin, a startup with a mission to replace plastic plates and cutlery with edible and biodegradable versions. Through her patent-pending product, Sarah sources wheat bran, a part of wheat that is usually thrown away by bread makers, to manufacture Genewin’s products: plates, bowls, cups, flatware, and more. 

““The worst enemy of yourself is yourself. The most difficult challenges to overcome are the ones we carry internally.””

— Sarah Talbi

It took hundreds of hours in the lab to develop a product that starts biodegrading as soon as it touches soil or water and that is edible. (Compare this to several centuries required for plastic products to biodegrade!) Genewin’s first prototype was tested with team members and university professors. 

By January 2020, the prototype was assessed to be safe for both the consumer and the environment, and Sarah applied for a patent to protect the formula and the process of manufacturing. She expects to be granted the patent in 2021, giving her 20 years of protection in Algeria, which can be extended to other countries through the collaboration that exists between the Algerian government and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 

“It all started with the JA Company Program,” Sarah says, thinking back to her time with INJAZ Algeria, when she decided to combine her newfound business skills with her engineering background to create a successful startup. 

Her JA team, which was made up of 20 students working in the food industry, came in second at the INJAZ Algeria Company of the Year competition. That singular experience brought out the entrepreneur in Sarah, and began building both her confidence and skills. She adds that being a young female entrepreneur in the MENA region is challenging, because women are often not taken seriously in the business world. But her INJAZ mentors did. They treated all students equally, regardless of gender. 

Today, the Genewin team all have backgrounds in food engineering and business and are targeting Algeria youth, with green consumption patterns, as their target market. Over time, they also hope to lower costs though economies of scale by expanding to other countries in Europe and in the Arab world. And Genewin continues to research improvements in the shelf life of the product: It’s currently six months before opening the package and one month after opening. 

But Sarah’s longevity in the business world is practically a guarantee given all that she has already accomplished. Sarah encourages young people like her to dream big and work hard toward their goals. Bran may be the main ingredient of Sarah’s product, but ambition and passion are the ingredients of her success.

““It all started with the JA Company Program.””

— Sarah Talbi

Arya Yurdacan & Öykü Ulusay with Entella Co.

“Wouldn’t it be great to see a startup from the JA Company Program become one of the world’s leading companies?” asks 20-year-old JA Turkey alumnus Arya Yurdacan. She speaks with a confidence that belies her age, especially when the subject is her JA student company, Entella Co, winner of the JA Europe Company of the Year competition and the FedEx Access Award.

When team members first came together in the JA Company Program, they sought a solution to a significant problem in Istanbul: marine pollution. But the answer didn’t come easily. “Being a team is difficult, because everyone has different ideas but we need that one solution,” Arya says. “We are 10 people, and that means 10 different ideas.”

““Everyone, everything is linked to each other. One movement affects the others.””

— Arya Yurdacan

“And we have 10 different backgrounds,” added Öykü Ulusay, Head of Sales and Marketing. “We failed so many times. But we failed as a team, not as individuals.” Öykü, a high school senior, who encountered one of the highest highs possible in JA in 2019, perfectly articulated one of the hallmarks of this organization: resilience. In a year of global tumult, Entella Co endures.

As if juggling school schedules and work weren’t enough, Arya, Öykü, and the Entella team are pursuing patents for their marine filtration system, Mareen, and looking to scale up. Meeting with angel investors to grow the business, securing patents for their design, and finding new battles to fight in the oceans, especially due to the presence of disposable face masks in waters. They’re also giving back to current JA Turkey students, volunteering as mentors for the up-and-coming entrepreneurs following in their footsteps. One of Arya’s biggest aims is to improve lives through innovative solutions and to empower and inspire people to dream big. “Balancing one’s innovation, knowledge, and hard work with values, passion, and dedication creates leaders best equipped to change the world.”

“But entrepreneurship is not easy,” she continues. “One day everything goes perfectly and the next day everything may be ruined, but the important thing is to be able to motivate yourself and keep going.” With this mindset and this leadership, our bet is on Entella Co turning into a world-class business.

In August, Arya was elected as one of the 20 Most Talented Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 20 in Europe’s “20 under 20.” She is also honored to work with the Oceans Youth Council and contribute to promoting World Oceans Day. 

““We failed so many times. But we failed as a team, not as individuals.””

— Öykü Ulusay

Bill Schawbel

Early in 2019, JA received exciting news: We had qualified for two charity entries in the 2020 Boston Marathon, representing a significant fundraising opportunity. William (Bill) Schawbel—founder and CEO of Schawbel Companies, Wharton graduate, JA alumnus, JA volunteer, chair of the 2019 JA Centennial Gala, and all-around JA supporter—had decided to run the marathon in celebration of his 80th birthday and secured the two entries, which are managed by John Hancock. The other entry went to Leo Martellotto, President of JA Americas, IronMan triathlete, and JA alumnus. 

““I believe it’s entrepreneurial to give back, whether with time or money.””

— Bill Schawbel

Then along came COVID-19. 

The marathon was postponed to September, but later changed to a virtual event. Registered runners completed the 26.2-mile run on their own and reported the results. Participants could run around their neighborhoods, put in miles on treadmills, or travel to another location to run, as long as they practiced COVID hygiene. Participants even had access to a virtual marathon expo and an app for family and friends to follow along. 

An experienced marathoner, Bill would run the Boston Marathon for the seventh time, but this time at his home in Needham, Massachusetts, USA, completing the entire marathon on a treadmill. Blessed with an exceptional workout facility on his property, Bill arranged for supporters to cheer him on, rotating every hour and watching from a safe distance. And he and Leo raised over US $125,000 for JA. 

Bill, an inspiring lifelong entrepreneur, lived and breathed JA while a student at Boston Latin School. “In 1956 or 1957, when I was involved in JA,” he says, “I was president of my JA company. We had to deal with banks, get a product to market, and get investors. This experience was not that much different than experiences later in my career, when I also had to deal with financial institutions, create new products, and manage accounts receivable and accounts payable.” 

““Have a vision outside of your neighborhood. There are opportunities outside of your city, your region, and your country. Reach out and see what’s happening in the rest of the world, because you might find there are more opportunities outside than at home. But get involved locally, too.””

— Bill Schawbel

Now entering his ninth decade, Bill remains an active supporter of JA Worldwide and Junior Achievement of Northern New England. He has served on the JA of Northern New England Board of Directors for over 15 years as Board Chair, Executive Committee member, and Advisory Council member. Bill now serves on the JA Worldwide Global Council, and he continues to make a difference locally as a JA of Northern New England Board Emeritus. 

“JA is very, very valuable for the economy in general and for underserved people in particular. JA enhances what students learn in school, through which JA students realize that, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’”

Tonatiuh Gomez

Back in high school, Tona Gomez attended the JA Mexico FIE Entrepreneurship Camp, never believing it would change the course of his life. But while he was there, surrounded by other students who had passion and vision, he decided he would do whatever it took to accomplish something big with his life. He didn’t know exactly what, but his participation in the FIE Talent Show and his journey in dance would set the stage for the inspiring career that would follow.

Today, as a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet Company who trains an average of seven hours per day, Tona credits JA with developing the work ethic, emotional maturity, leadership, and humility required to pursue an emotionally and physically demanding career in the ballet. 

““I fell in love with ballet because it wasn’t easy. The challenge is to bring your best performance wherever you are.””

— Tonatiuh Gomez

He also learned resilience through JA, a trait that allowed him to not lose hope after being rejected twice by the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City (one of the most important schools in Mexico), after sustaining a serious injury that prevented him from any physical activity for over two years. Once Tona had fully healed, he had missed the age cutoff for any of Mexico’s national dance schools . . . that is, until the Superior School of Music and Dance in Monterrey extended its maximum age, and Tona came in just under the wire. He was accepted and trained extensively for one year, during which he would eat, breathe, and sleep ballet. From there, he was offered a scholarship to The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, which opened an even bigger world of opportunities, given its close proximity to New York City. Tona started traveling into the city regularly to watch ballets and go on auditions. 

Although ballet is Tona’s passion, his heart is that of an entrepreneur. Throughout Tona’s training and professional dance career, he has been developing business ideas and projects with a social impact, specializing in the arts and creative industries. Prior to this, he already had one successful venture under his belt: While Tona was in college earning a B.S. in marketing, he co-created a fast-food operation that transformed a food cart (usually used to sell hot dogs or burritos) into a salad bar called Fresh & Green. When a friend wanted him to start a second location, Tona began franchising the operation, eventually creating more than 30 locations throughout Mexico. 

For now, though, Tona gives the ballet company and his nonprofit organization his full attention, especially since the pandemic has given him a chance to heal from herniated discs he suffered in a late 2019 performance of The Nutcracker. At the time, just before the pandemic, doctors weren’t even sure Tona would be able to dance again. But with performances cancelled for months on end, Tona took time to heal and was surprised to find that his strength, stamina, and flexibility fully returned for the 2020 Nutcracker.

What does the future hold for Tona? He intends to keep growing in ballet, extending his entrepreneurial projects, and, perhaps, even try his hand at other performing arts ventures, such as acting. But, thanks to JA, there’s one thing he’s sure of: There will be many more startup businesses in his future.

Justin Valdez, Gather Reporter for the Americas, contributed to this story.

Daniel Amoako Antwi

Story by Helenah Swedberg and Fungai Tanya Chimbuya, Gather Reporter for Africa; photos by Kate Carlton

It’s empty and quiet inside the bright white wooden church in central Accra, Ghana. Daniel Amoako Antwi stands in the middle of the aisle, leaning against one of the red chairs. This is his place to reflect and think outside his busy work life. “Every business needs a fundamental blueprint, beyond yourself,” he says, confirming why social values and impact are at the heart of his business mindset. The spark ignited by the JA Company Program well over a decade ago eventually led him to start the social entrepreneurship hub he runs today, only a few blocks away from his church. 

Daniel joined JA in high school in 2004, and his JA company team decided to sell sport products. The sport teams of central Ghana were very competitive, and several schools were bitter rivals. There was a high demand for merchandise with team names and colors. But Daniel’s JA company had no initial funds to start production, so they began selling shares to raise money. As the team’s marketing officer, Daniel went around to classrooms, dining halls, dorms, prep time, and even games, where he would pitch their company to crowds as large as 1,000 people. 

“I learned to speak in front of a large audience at an early age,” he says. “Being in JA taught me to persuade and convince people.”

After university, he spent a few years in corporate positions at Guinness and Hewlett Packard before he and a colleague decided to branch out on their own and start a software company together. “We rented a big office and bought everything we needed, but we didn’t know how to code,” he says. “We hired people we thought were good at IT, and all our money went to rent and salaries. We thought it was cool to say that we had our own business, but at the same time, we could barely afford rent.”

In an unexpected twist, they stumbled upon the opportunity to organize the first TEDx Ghana in 2014, the first of many they would organize, opening a door into a community of social entrepreneurs. But after recruiting volunteers for events, it became clear to them that young people were lacking fundamental work skills, like organization, data collection, and presentation. Employment is one of the biggest challenges for young people in Africa, with an unemployment rate hovering around 20% and about 10 million students graduating from African universities each year unable to find jobs. And that was pre-COVID-19.

“The more we learned about the skills gap,” Daniel says, “the more we wanted to do something about it.” So Daniel and his teammates created a bridge Internship program to prepare students for work. Africa Skills Hub is a youth employment and business incubator that aims to groom Africa’s next generation through hands-on learning and coaching tools, delivered online and offline using the Career Pathways Module, which includes a combination of digital, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills.

““JA shaped my thinking and narrative. It was one of the best experiences of my life.””

— Daniel Amoako Antwi

In 2020, COVID-19 moved the program entirely to a digital platforms and launched a number of new features, such as “Ask HR,” during which experts share insights into the new normal around employability and help young people prepare for what’s next.

Daniel’s achievements haven’t gone unnoticed: He has been a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper, was chosen as a UNDP Africa Youth Connekt Fellow, was listed as one of the top 10 Global Changers in Education by TEDx, and has been selected as the brand ambassador for the UN #Togetherband.

Maria Rahamägi

by Senni Aalto, Gather Reporter for Europe

Founder and a CEO of Edumus, Maria Rahamägi, a JA Estonia alumna, got the idea for her company from the impact her JA mentors made on her. 

Edumus brings professionals to schools to teach one grade, in one subject over one school year. For example, electrical engineers come to schools to teach physics, giving the students the opportunity for real-world knowledge and experience and giving the professionals the opportunity to experience the joy of interacting with students. In February 2020, Maria and Edumus were awarded the top prize (US $12,000) in the JA Alumni Accelerator Award competition, sponsored by FedEx. 

When COVID-19 broke out in Estonia, all students were moved to online school. Realizing that not all families have computers at home, Maria led an initiative called “Every Student Online,” organizing data about students who still needed devices and people who had some to donate. Within one month they managed to deliver around 1,000 devices to those in need and, to date, another 1,000 more! Maria has turned the initiative over to an existing NGO to carry it forward, although she continues to advise them and spread the word. 

““With Edumus, I aim to inspire and enable professionals across fields and countries to share their passion with students by teaching. Through my JA experience I learned that investing in education has by far the greatest returns one could wish for.””

— Maria Rahamägi

Adil Bey

by Senni Aalto, Gather Reporter for Europe

Originally from Cyprus, Adil Bey studies politics, philosophy, and economics at the University of Liverpool in the UK. He also serves as president of the Federation of Turkish Cypriot Students (FTCS) studying in the UK and is an active JA alumnus.

In spring of 2020, Adil found himself trapped in the UK due to a Cyprus travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools had closed in both countries, with lessons moving online, and Adil and other students became increasingly concerned that they wouldn’t have a place to stay in the UK if lockdowns intensified. So Adil put a plan into motion.

He and a friend reached out to government officials and organized two planes for students to fly back to North Cyprus, where they spent 18 days in quarantine hotels and 14 more days of quarantine at their homes.

During the quarantine, the group organized online events and activities, including yoga, arts and crafts, and even an online celebration with a virtual DJ. Sharing their days online made the quarantine bearable. And the Turkish Cypriots comforted and helped everyone they could. When one student lost a close relative while in quarantine, Adil and his friends acquired special permission from the Minister of Health for her to attend the funeral in an ambulance, which drove her to the location, and she watched the ceremony through the window.

Adil and the FTCS continue to support one another today, meeting regularly, organizing virtual activities, and strengthening their bond.

Edward Lee

When Edward Lee was 17 years old, he stopped by the office of his JA mentor. With his eye fixed on the charts and numbers pinned on the wall, he asked, “What is that?” Little did he know that the question would set the course for the rest of his career.

Edward learned a little about stock trading that day in 1972, and he soon became fascinated by the financial markets. He dedicated his free time to understand the workings of the stock exchange and mastering the craft of trading stocks. His stock-trading journey got off to a rough start, however, during the 1974 economic turmoil in the Philippines, when he suffered big losses. Since then, in times of crisis, he has turned adversity into opportunity.

““Financial stability impacts every aspect of a person’s life, as being in control of finances offers the freedom to focus on other matters.””

— Edward Lee

Edward started his financial career with an international trading company and, several years later, started his own investment firm with two of his original JA teammates. COL Financial, a publicly listed company, was founded on the belief that everyone can invest, not only the wealthy. But this required Edward and his partners to teach financial literacy. So, they created a learning infrastructure around investing, launched the EKL Learning Viber Community, and established Caylum Institute to further the cause of a properly educated and informed citizenry in the area of stock trading. 

During the COVID crisis, COL Financial had to reinvent itself. In the Philippines, most stock trades happen in person, but business shutdowns made that impossible. COL needed not only to make online investing possible but also create comfort with a virtual transaction. All the learning materials had to be transferred online, too. 

Today, in spite of only a US $4,000 per capita gross domestic product and a global pandemic, COL opens 200 to 300 accounts per day. 

Edward continues to be involved in JA, having served on the JA Asia Pacific and JA Philippines boards and mentoring Filipino students to repeated wins in JA Asia Pacific Company of the Year competitions. 

And he sees clients on the streets of Manila every day, who thank him for educating them about financial literacy. Although many of his clients came to him for financial advice, Chairman Lee always reminds them that gratitude/compassion/generosity is the mantra for investing and encourages his audiences to keep those words dear to their hearts, no matter what successes they achieve through investing. 

““If you can create an impact, no matter how small it is, you can change the lives of people. That is the most important achievement.””

— Edward Lee

Henry Hurowitz and Team Germ Genie

As Henry Hurowitz’s flight left Miami International Airport, he had no idea he was about to embark on a new business venture. But the high-school junior fell asleep with his cheek resting against the fold-down tray table, only to awake a few hours later with an itchy rash. The tray was most definitely not germ-free.

Through the JA Company Program offered at his school, Henry teamed up with Daniel Gutkin, Romy Peretz, Jonah Lubin, Benjy Sterne, and others to research exactly what sort of germs airline travelers were facing and find solutions. Their answer? Germ Genie. 

Germ Genie is a travel pack used to sanitize your space on a plane, train, car, or subway. Inside the zippered pouch, you’ll find disposable covers that fit onto tray tables, disinfecting wipes for armrests and displays, a cover for the headrest, hand sanitizer, and latex-free gloves.

Launched in late 2019, Germ Genie couldn’t have been better positioned to move beyond travel needs when the global COVID-19 pandemic hit. The online shop (at germgenie.com) was already up and running, so the team added a deluxe version of Germ Genie that includes N95 masks, a large selection of cloth masks, and mask filters to its lineup, as well as a first-aid kit, a pair of disposable booties, and toilet-seat covers. The startup’s impeccable timing led both to national press coverage (with items selling out quickly) and to numerous awards at the Junior Achievement USA National Student Leadership Summit. 

The team also positioned Germ Genie as a social enterprise, giving 20% of its profits to local charities, including Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and helping supply first-responders with free products. The company is also negotiating with airlines and hotels to offer Germ Genie to customers, as they navigate travel during a pandemic. 

““There’s no avoiding the myriad pollutants in our environment. Germs and allergens contaminate our air and the surfaces of our world, and we are vulnerable with every breath or touch, which can trigger the body’s immune system to flare up in response. A mindful and proactive approach is the best way to prevent needless exposure to harmful and potentially deadly germs and allergens. Our company provides a series of products that help germ-conscious and allergen-sensitive individuals protect themselves from those invisible threats and stay germ-free on the go.””

— Team Germ Genie

Solomon Odong’o Maxwell

Solomon Odong’o Maxwell built his first company in his second year of high school in Uganda. His company, which created a liquid soap product, won the national Company of the Year competition and qualified for the JA Africa regional finals. Through JA, he also saw how a bank worked and, shortly after, saw his first computer and fell in love with the possibilities that coding and design could offer. JA not only gave him real-world experience, but also radically improved his academic work. “JA was the best part of high school,” he says. 

By the time he entered college, Solomon was designing and developing websites, including the site for his high school, so majoring in IT felt familiar. One day, he realized that students had two realities in their lives that could work together: most rode bikes to school, and most were unable to find outlets to charge their phones.

““Surround yourself with other passionate people. Create a vibrant movement.””

— Solomon Odong'o Maxwell

The idea for Emali Creation was born: a mobile phone-charge device designed for bicycles. After securing a small grant to develop a prototype, Solomon was able to launch the company, which he ran throughout the rest of his college career. He also got involved in Model UN and other UN youth activities, and then took on the roll of local director for the Hult Prize, often called “the Nobel Prize for students.” Both endeavors created a close connection to youth issues. Before long, Solomon was given the responsibility of becoming the country director for AIESEC, which works with UN Uganda to develop leadership talent in the country. 

And although he still runs Emali, which literally gives life to Ugandan youth’s primary mode of communication, his current passion is 1MillionYouthAfrica, an initiative to teach one million young Africans how to turn dreams into reality.  

““Wherever you are, start! Ideas are good, but they have to be pushed into action. Business plans are great, too, but no one can predict what will happen in the future.””

— Solomon Odong'o Maxwell

Bonnie Chiu

At 16, Hong Kong–born Bonnie Chiu first discovered the power of social entrepreneurship. As CEO of her JA student company, she not only led her team to an impressive 200% profit, but subsequently donated 40% of those profits to the youth-serving organization, Make a Wish Foundation.

““I was 16 years old when I joined the JA Company Program in Hong Kong. We made over 200% profit on our investment and we gave about 40% of those earnings to Make A Wish Foundation. We won the JA Hong Kong Corporate Social Responsibility award, which, to me, was the most important award to win. I think even then there was a desire deep inside of me to make some difference in society.””

— Bonnie Chiu

Four years later, at age 20, Bonnie successfully petitioned to overturn the death-penalty conviction of a domestic-abuse survivor, organized a World Anti-Drugs Day event, and launched a global nonprofit for women and girls called Lensational. And she was just getting started.

By the time she was 25, Bonnie had been named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” Social Entrepreneurship list, risen to managing director of London-based The Social Investment Consultancy, which tracks and magnifies the SROI (social return on investment) of companies, and secured a regular column in Forbes to advocate for women and girls, all while continuing to manage her growing nonprofit. Three years later, in response to the global pandemic throughout 2020, Bonnie launched “Women & COVID-19,” a contest to give voice to the lives of girls and women during lockdowns. Through Lensational, the global movement Bonnie founded eight years earlier, underrepresented women use photography, digital storytelling, and video production to tell their own stories, advocate for the issues they face, and earn a profit by selling their work. This year’s contest resulted in 11 shortlisted projects receiving a cash prize, one-on-one mentorship, and a global platform for their stories. See more at lensational.org.

Bonnie is also the winner of the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award, and Hivos Social Innovation Award. She was featured as the Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the Lavazza Calendar, has been interviewed by dozens of global publications, and has been invited to speak about social entrepreneurship in more than 20 countries.

““I really think that, without the JA experience, I wouldn’t be running my own social enterprise company today.””

— Bonnie Chiu

Patricia Hernandez

Thanks to a unique JA Americas entrepreneurship program, Patricia Hernandez and her family have enough business income to see them through the global pandemic. But it took living through the most difficult year of her life—three years ago—to propel Patricia to start her successful family business.

In 2017, 30-year-old Patricia and her husband, Antonio, lost their son, Juan, to a congenital heart condition. He was only 19 months old. Awash in grief, an opportunity appeared: the JA Women for Development program, which trained women to develop entrepreneurial skills, start a business, and apply for microcredit. Although JA in every other region of the world offers programs only to young people ages 5 to 25, JA Americas recognized a need to address the lack of opportunities and subsequent poverty facing women in Central and South America. In 2010, JA Women for Development launched. This year, the program celebrates a decade of training women entrepreneurs, which has resulted in thousands of new women-owned businesses in the region.

““We were not alone. Together, we not only built our businesses, but also built a network of entrepreneurs. All women. All learning. All intent on being successful.””

— Patricia Hernandez

Armed with a degree in communications, but not a drop of entrepreneurial experience, Patricia signed up for JA Women for Development, welcoming the opportunity to focus on something outside of her own sadness, which she recognized was “beginning to sap my strength and inspiration.” Within six months, with the support of the program’s business mentor, she had mastered the fundamentals of a startup business.

Patricia then met with her parents, siblings, and in-laws and developed a business plan for a family venture called “In Guatemala,” which would feature products from local artisans. Her mentor, Laura, gave Patricia advice on how to gain the trust of Guatemalan artisans and, according to Patricia, “her advice and the endorsement of the program proved critical in negotiations.”

Patricia notes that the program didn’t only offer entrepreneurial support. “Emotional aspects were addressed, too,” she says. “It was exactly what I needed.”

Having now moved past the critical two-year anniversiary that often separates companies that will succeed from those that won’t, “In Guatemala” is spending the pandemic as an online shop (at in.gt) that, this year, ramped up its offerings to provide essential services. The site offers face masks, health-care items, food, apparel, gifts, books, furniture, and other household items as a lifeline during lockdowns and serves as a source of revenue to the artisans featured on the site.

As Patricia built her family business, she also expanded her family (see is second from the left, below). Sophie is two and a half, while Camilla recently celebrated her first birthday.