Junior Achievement of Northern California Announces Partnership with SolarBuddy

Students from Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon, California, USA kicked-off the program.

Author: Kate Trevelyan-Hall
Community Involvement
Published: Tuesday, 28 Jun 2022

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Group of students posing inside a classroom with SolarBuddy product

Image caption: Students from Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon, Calif. kicked-off the SolarBuddy program.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Junior Achievement of Northern California (JA) this month announced a partnership with SolarBuddy to promote K-12 educational programs that will include assembling and gifting of SolarBuddy lights to children throughout the world living in extreme energy poverty.

Junior Achievement of Northern California inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy by becoming financially literate, workforce ready, and armed with an entrepreneurial mindset.

JA’s suite of grade-specific programs is designed to be interactive and utilize a blended-learning approach that enables students to apply their learnings to life inside and outside of school.

SolarBuddy USA’s goal is to unite a global community to gift millions of solar systems to children living in energy poverty by 2030, to help them to study after dusk and improve their education outcomes.

Through engagement in their programs SolarBuddy inspires communities to learn how innovative design solutions can help create a more sustainable world for all people and our planet and demonstrate how the gift of lights can transform lives.

Collectively, Junior Achievement of Northern California and SolarBuddy USA will bring together education, STEM, and entrepreneurship with a global view of energy poverty that effects over 700 million around the world.

On May 12, Junior Achievement launched its first implementation of the project at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon, Calif. with 50 students learning how to assemble solar lights to send to their peers in the Dominican Republic. After putting the devices together, students then wrote letters to the children that would be receiving the lights, sending well wishes and sharing anecdotes about their lives.

“The opportunity to work with SolarBuddy to teach youth about energy poverty and provide an actionable innovative solution for students here in the US and abroad is powerful, said Cristene Burr, president and CEO of Junior Achievement Northern California “We are thrilled to be a part of this.”

“This partnership with Junior Achievement marks a significant milestone in the evolution of SolarBuddy’s global expansion and our founder Simon Doble’s dream to create awareness of children living in energy poverty throughout the world,” said Russel Head, general manager SolarBuddy USA. “Education is key to understanding the issue, the opportunity to change lives, and to understand that we are one interconnected world and are all deserving of a chance to learn. Junior Achievement is a perfect partner for us with their reach and mutual ambitions to educate.”

About Junior Achievement of Northern California

Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Locally, JA connects students, educators, and business professionals together to build quality partnerships that empower young people to own their economic success by becoming financially literate, workforce ready, and equipped with entrepreneurial skills. In the 2021-22 school year, JA will serve more than 50,000 students in experiential, hands- on learning that enable them to connect their studies in school to real-world business and industry. After participating in JA, students see first-hand how academic success can prepare them for a fruitful and meaningful future. Learn more at https://norcal.ja.org/