Junior Achievement of Arizona (JA) is proud to announce that Arturo “Art” Pérez, community affairs manager at U.S. Bank, has been chosen from among more than 150,000 U.S. volunteers as one of 12 recipients of the organization’s most prestigious national award for volunteerism, the Gold Leadership Award.
Junior Achievement’s Gold Leadership Award honors volunteer excellence, presented in recognition of leadership in supporting and expanding JA’s student impact, resources, operational excellence, and sustainability. The Gold Leadership Awards honor the recipients’ JA volunteer service during the 2023-2024 school year.
“Our local business community’s support of JA is critical to achieving our mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in the global economy,” said Katherine Cecala, president of Junior Achievement of Arizona. “Art is a remarkable example of that spirit of dedication and service to others. In a very real way, he helps Arizona students get the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.”
Pérez has volunteered for more than a decade and has been a dedicated board member for the last eight years. During his time with JA, he strategically developed rural outreach efforts and grew employee volunteerism among his U.S. Bank colleagues.
Pérez is a passionate ambassador for Junior Achievement of Arizona’s mission, increasing awareness of the organization’s programs, fostering relationships with local organizations, and publicizing volunteer opportunities across his personal and professional networks to help JA in creating a more diverse volunteer community and Board of Directors.
Junior Achievement’s entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and career readiness programs are delivered nationwide — typically in classrooms during the school day by volunteer role models from the local business community. If you’d like to get involved, consider volunteering, donating, or attending an event!
About Junior Achievement of Arizona
Junior Achievement of Arizona (JA) is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization that prepares Arizona students to succeed in work and life by teaching them financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship skills. Founded in 1957, JA provides learners, K-25, with the knowledge and skills they need to manage their money, plan for their future, and make smart academic, career, and economic choices. The organization’s hands-on, age-appropriate programs are delivered by more than 9,500 corporate and community volunteers. In the 2023-2024 school year, JA reached approximately 190,000 primarily low-income, diverse students from all different geographic areas of Arizona, including rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities. Follow @JAArizona on social media or visit jaaz.org/resources for more free online educational tools.
About Junior Achievement USA® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world’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. JA learning experiences are delivered by corporate and community volunteers and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, Junior Achievement is expanding its reach to 18-to-25-year-olds to provide young adults with critical life skills, as well as to pre-K youth to ensure children get a solid head start. Today, JA reaches more than 4.6 million students per year in 99 markets across the United States as part of 12.5 million students served by operations in more than 100 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.
