Partners in the spotlight Supporting young people’s career prospects with AT&T Over the past years, the scope of the collaboration with AT&T as well as its impact has been widened, growing the number of supported programmes to 55 and expanding geographically to reach over 2,000 students. To support the expansion, 180 AT&T volunteers mentored young participants, sharing their expertise and offering key insights. For instance, AT&T offered to all JA students and teachers the opportunity to participate in workshops designed to improve the presentation, communication and management skills. “Investing in a well-educated workforce may be the single most important thing we can do to support a strong global economy. Putting our company’s assets to work for education has been our priority for more than a century. We are proud to be part of AT&T’s commitment to education by investing in students here in Europe and beyond,” peter Daly, Vice President, AT&T Global Service Management. ��������������� and entrepreneurial youth with Metlife MetLife LifeChanger connects MetLife of昀椀ces with local schools to deliver JA programmes to students who might otherwise lack access to 昀椀nancial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship programming. Each of昀椀ce works with JA to select the JA programmes that best address local needs and leverage employees’ interests and skills. Piloted in four European markets in the spring of 2014, the initiative has now expanded to 19 countries across EMEA, including 16 in Europe.In 2016, 900 EMEA volunteers delivered JA programmes to 26,000 students from primary to upper secondary level. “The partnership has provided us with a proven way to engage large numbers of employees in diverse markets in the 昀椀nancial education of young people. More important, it has helped us establish a foundation for these young people to be 昀椀nancially con昀椀dent and entrepreneurial, which will help not only their future, but also the future of our communities,” Dirk Ostijn, Head, Western & Central Europe Sub-Region, MetLife. 18 JA EUROPE / Annual Report 2016