Goizueta Foundation helps to expand outreach to Hispanic students.

The Atlanta-based Goizueta Foundation has awarded a grant in excess of $2.3 million to JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement) and Junior Achievement of Georgia, Inc. to fund the expansion of their Hispanic Initiative program. The program seeks to counter the drop-out rate of Hispanic high school students—currently 28 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the highest of any ethnic group—by providing positive role models to deliver JA Worldwide’s “economics of life” programs in grades K-12. The program recognizes the unique challenges faced by Hispanic youth and seeks to provide education, early intervention, and united community effort to help them succeed.

The grant will fund the program’s expansion, which originated in Atlanta, to six cities over three years: New York, Albuquerque, N.M.; Denver, and Los Angeles, with two additional cities to be named later. One of the grant’s key objectives is to recruit Hispanic community leaders and train them to deliver JA Worldwide’s business and workforce readiness curricula and thereby encourage students to stay in school and learn how to succeed in business themselves. Volunteers are a key ingredient of the program, sharing their personal experience with students and serving as role models to whom Hispanic students can relate. The grant will also fund a revision of program materials in Spanish that students can take home and share with their parents.

Additionally, the grant will fund the hiring of new JA Hispanic Initiative National Director David Arrambide, who held previous positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and Junior Achievement of Dallas, Inc.

“This tremendously generous grant from The Goizueta Foundation will help JA Worldwide impact and enrich the lives of thousands of Hispanic students,” said David S. Chernow, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide. “With The Goizueta Foundation’s help, we can show these students the value of staying in school, give them practical tools to succeed in life, and provide them with strong volunteer role models who share their expertise and cultural heritage while teaching students invaluable lessons about entrepreneurship, workforce readiness and financial literacy.”

Both Arrambide and Chernow will attend the first-ever Regional Conference of the Partnership for Hispanic Family Learning in Albuquerque, N.M. on May 23 and 24, held by the White House Initiative for Hispanic Education. The Initiative seeks to increase educational attainment and to close the achievement gap for Hispanic Americans by family involvement.

More than 6,000 Hispanic students in Georgia have been impacted by the JA Hispanic Initiative since its inception three years ago, with plans to impact 6,000 this year and 12,000 students across Georgia by 2010. Results from an independent evaluation conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide demonstrate the notable impact of the program on students, showing they are more likely to save their money, volunteer in their communities, and start their own businesses compared to their peers who do not participate in the program. Students also greatly improved their interpersonal skills and their knowledge of business and economic principles.

Established by Roberto Goizueta, the late chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Company, The Goizueta Foundation assists organizations that empower individuals and families through educational opportunities to improve the quality of their lives.