Junior Achievement of Greater Miami Enters New Era

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 11th, 2024
Contact: Sarah Manning sarah@greyhorse.com

Junior Achievement of Greater Miami enters new era with the appointment of local executive Lourdes de la Mata Little as CEO and President

Miami, FL – Junior Achievement of Greater Miami, a local member of worldwide non-profit youth organization Junior Achievement, announces the appointment of Lourdes de la Mata-Little as its new CEO and President. She will draw on over two decades of experience in mission-driven communications to bring Junior Achievement’s financial and business curriculum to more students in grades K-12, and help develop future local leaders of Miami’s business and civic community.

Little is a bilingual Miami native whose family heritage comes from Cuba and Spain. She comes to Junior Achievement after 23 years as the Chief Marketing Officer at Goodwill Industries of South Florida, where she transformed a fragmented portfolio of business units into a well-respected and high-profile organization that trains and employs people with disabilities and special needs.

Little’s long-standing community relationships uniquely position her to bring Junior Achievement’s mission and programs to Miamians where they live, work, and go to school. She is leading an effort to raise awareness of the resources JA Miami has to offer, especially to the tech and STEM companies who have relocated to the area. She will oversee a wide array of programs including the JA Company Program, the Stock Market Challenge, and the Student Managed Investment Fund.

Little said, “I’m here for South Florida and the kids, always, and I’m so grateful to start making a quantifiable difference in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. I view the curriculum and mission of JA Miami as a great investment that pays enormous dividends for Miami kids and the community. When we change their paths, we change their lives.”

This week, student entrepreneurs from Miami’s JA Company program are at the JA USA National Student Leadership Summit in Washington, DC to showcase their work to business leaders and members of Congress. Representing Miami are: Vis-à-Vis, a student-run event management & production company from Alonso and Tracy Mourning High School; food waste reuse team BioBlend from Southwest Senior High; and Water Warriors from New World School of the Arts. Water Warriors, a team of two Cuban-American sisters who developed a video game designed to inspire youth to protect our waterways, are finalists for the STEM Innovation award.

“Lourdes’s entrepreneurial mindset and gift for communicating the incredible mission of Junior Achievement to help kids learn to earn, save, spend and share money for a brighter future is truly inspiring,” said Troy Templeton, Chair of the JA Miami Board. “We are so excited that she will be expanding upon the great legacy of former CEO and President Catherine Haga, who we were honored to work with for over thirty years.”

Junior Achievement of Greater Miami reaches over 35,000 students per year through proven lessons in financial literacy, work and career readiness, and entrepreneurship shown to positively impact the lives of young people. These lessons align with national and state educational standards and are delivered to thousands of students across the region with the help of our education partners and volunteers from the local community. JA Miami was awarded the coveted Five Star Status for 2022-2023 from JA USA, honoring mission-based achievements that exceeded performance expectations.

High res headshot: Lourdes de la Mata Little