Junior Achievement of Arizona has announced that Karen Quick, a Chandler resident, has been chosen from among more than one hundred thousand U.S. volunteers as one of eleven 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 2021-22 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. “Karen Quick, former Director of Internal Controls at Accenture is a remarkable example of that spirit of dedication and service to others. In a very real way, she helps Phoenix-area JA students get the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.”

Karen has volunteered in nearly 40 classes and is a believer in the financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship education JA provides throughout the state. She had the opportunity to go through JA programming as a young student in Arizona and directly saw the impact of that learning in her professional career. She loves sharing her real world experience and skills with the students and knows it will positively impact their future economic success. Karen is also a board member for Junior Achievement of Arizona.

Junior Achievement’s entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness programs are delivered nationwide—typically in classrooms during the school day, by volunteer role models from the local business community.

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 programs 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. Today, JA reaches more than 3.2 million students per year in 102 markets across the United States, as part of more than 12.5 million students served by operations in 115 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. Visit http://www.ja.org for more information.

About Junior Achievement of Arizona

Junior Achievement of Arizona (JA) is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization that equips Arizona students to succeed in work and life by giving them the knowledge and skills they need to manage their money, plan for their future, and make smart academic, career and economic choices. Since 1957, JA has taught kids, kindergarten through high school, about financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. The organization’s hands-on, age-appropriate programs are delivered by more than 8,000 corporate and community volunteers. Despite educational obstacles during the pandemic, JA reached approximately 100,000 students in the 2021-2022 school year. Follow @JAArizona on social media or visit http://www.jaaz.org/resources for more free online educational tools.