Linda Chan accepts the 2016 JA New York Student of the Year Award,
presented by Joseph Peri.
A Manhattan student has 10,000 reasons to give thanks this holiday season. On Tuesday, November 15, Linda Chan, a senior at Cathedral High School in Manhattan, received the $10,000 Manuel H. and Claire Barron Student of the Year Scholarship Award to support her college dreams at the 2016 Junior Achievement of New York (JA New York) Leadership Awards Gala at Gotham Hall. Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi, CEO of Citi Holdings and Chairman of the Board of Governors at Junior Achievement Worldwide, was also honored with the 2016 Leadership Award for his contributions and dedication to Junior Achievement around the globe.
Four hundred and fifty business leaders and professionals gathered to celebrate Ms. Chan and Mr. Vanni d’Archirafi and to raise funds to support the delivery of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness programs to more than 80,000 K-12 students in New York City, Long Island and Lower Hudson Valley. The evening’s event raised a record-breaking $800,000 to support Junior Achievement programs.
The Manuel H. and Claire Barron Scholarship Fund is awarded each year to a high performing JA student in support of his/her post-secondary education. The Student of the Year Scholarship honoree distinguishes him/herself as an active and self-directed learner in Junior Achievement programs. Applicants go through a rigorous and competitive selection process to win the award. Successful candidates must exemplify the following qualifications and characteristics:
- Be an exceptional model of a Junior Achievement scholar
- Is enrolled in 12th grade during 2016-17 school year
- Shows interest in developing entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy skills
- Exhibits strong leadership skills and commitment to serving the community
- Has a 3.0 GPA or greater
Linda aspires to become the CEO of her own business one day, and she has a deep interest in both theater and entrepreneurship. She credits JA for helping her to become a model student and for teaching her the importance of giving back to her community.
Joseph Peri, President of JA New York, spoke about what made Linda stand out from her peers as a candidate for the Student of the Year scholarship award. “Linda’s talent, ambition and leadership skills are second to none. Linda is a passionate student who dreams of someday running her own business. She is someone who demonstrates that true leadership is about empowering those around her. She is dedicated to developing the talents of others and forming effective teams that can accomplish any goal.”
Upon receiving the Leadership Award, Mr. Vanni d’Archirafi gave a passionate speech, which detailed the important work of Junior Achievement, “Never before, at least not anytime that I can recall over the course of my more than 30 year professional career, have the things that we teach at JA been so needed. Things like financial education, self-confidence, discipline, collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurship. But equally important are the values that we hold dear and instill in all of our students — having a passion for what you do and always acting with honesty and integrity,” said Mr. Vanni d’Archirafi.
All event proceeds will be used to recruit, train and deploy business and community volunteer mentor resources to deliver free JA financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness programs to high-need schools and community organizations in the New York City, Long Island and Lower Hudson Valley.
More about Linda Chan, JA New York’s 2016 Student of the Year Scholar!
- Speech link: http://jany.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Junior-Achievement-Speech-Linda.pdf
- Video link: https://youtu.be/LB6tKD5N4mg
Junior Achievement of New York Student of the Year, Linda Chan, with JA Student Ambassadors, Thalia Baeza Milan; Jaya Hamilton; Kayele Spencer and Kaiyell Pettite with Junior Achievement Worldwide President & CEO, Asheesh Advani; Julie Monaco, Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, Public Sector at Citi and Chair of Board at JA USA; Junior Achievement USA President & CEO Jack Kosakowski; Junior Achievement of New York President Joseph Peri; Honoree Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi, CEO of Citi Holdings and Chairman of the Board of Governors at Junior Achievement Worldwide; and Gavin O’Connor, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Junior Achievement of New York.
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ABOUT JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NEW YORK
Junior Achievement of New York is the local affiliate of Junior Achievement USA, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. We recruit, train, and mobilize more than 6,200 corporate and community volunteers to provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students knowledge and skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness. Today, JA New York delivers more than 80,000 student experiences per year to 260 NYC, Long Island and Lower Hudson Valley public schools. Visit www.jany.org for more information.
CONTACT:
Rebecca Rosenbaum
Phone: 212-907-0027
Email:
SOURCE: Junior Achievement of New York
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