Think back to when you were in school. You were probably juggling a lot: coursework, homework, personal commitments, and maybe a job… or two. Perhaps your school had community service opportunities—either optional or mandatory, and somehow, you managed to squeeze that in too.
This was the case with Carlos and Jan Vega. While getting their MBA degrees at USC’s Marshall School of Business in 2004, their school gave them the opportunity to volunteer with JASoCal in a local classroom. They opted in, volunteered at a local elementary school, and have since gotten their companies, Toyota and Wilmington Trust, involved as well. Here’s a conversation that JASoCal had with Carlos and Jan about why they work with JA:
JASoCal: Why did you decide to volunteer with JA while at USC?
Jan: I liked the idea of young kids getting a financial education.
Carlos: I wanted to mentor kids and provide them with guidance.
JASoCal: How did you get your companies involved?
Jan: I asked Wilmington Trust to start to do philanthropy days with JA, one to two times a year.
Carlos: I did the same at the L.A.Times. I got to Toyota in August of 2007. That first year, it was definitely a challenge to recruit, but the people who came to the first JA event are repeat customers. They volunteer at least once a year. After the first year, people started recruiting other people, and now, we can fill up an event just with one department.
JASoCal: So it seems like its spread throughout Toyota?
Carlos: Yes, more than 150 people have participated over the years. People are always excited about these events. These last two years we’ve had vice presidents attend.
JASoCal: Why do your colleagues volunteer with JA?
Carlos: It’s a team-building experience. It helps people develop their public speaking skills and other skills. We’ve had a group of Toastmasters come, and they’re hooked on JA. Everyone finds that it is a fun experience to teach and represent their company.
JASoCal: How do you, as volunteers, see JA impacting students?
Jan: Junior Achievement is an exposure to something they don’t see on a day-to-day basis. It gives them ideas of things that they can do.
Carlos: JA provides 1) a good financial education that they don’t get, and 2) a window of outside opportunity. Having someone come in from Toyota or Wilmington Trust and tell you about it, puts you in a place where you can start to aspire to things. I wish I could have had that as a kid.
JASoCal: How do you want to work with JA in the future?
Jan: I want to be involved with a high school.
Carlos: I would love to have Toyota volunteer at more schools, to make a long-term impact.
JASoCal: What is your favorite JA class memory?
Carlos and Jan: Teaching first graders about needs versus wants. The JA lesson said that a TV was a “want,” but the students thought that a TV was a “need,” We agreed with the students, so we told them that they were right.
JASoCal: Is there anything else that you would like to say?
Carlos: We love JA.
Jan: It’s such an easy sell, once they’re in the classroom.