Junior Achievement Insurance Learning Labs: Fostering Financial Literacy and Insurance Know-How

Travelers has partnered with Junior Achievement (JA) for nearly two decades, providing financial support and employee volunteers for local programs. In 2019, in coordination with JA, Travelers launched insurance learning lab “storefronts” in Colorado, Minnesota and Georgia to teach students about insurance basics and how to make responsible economic decisions, help them develop financial literacy and prepare them for future success. Housed in JA’s experiential learning centers, the storefronts reinforce concepts for students by providing hands-on business simulations. In 2022, Travelers partnered with Junior Achievement of Central Maryland to create our fourth Travelers storefront, which serves more than 46,000 K-12 students each year. In 2023, Travelers renewed its commitment to Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain with a $100,000 grant to support a storefront in its brand-new facility. This three-year commitment is intended to enable more than 1,700 students to participate in the program free of cost. The facility is designed as an interactive marketplace environment with on-site activities to allow students to exercise lessons learned in the classroom.

In 2024, the Travelers Foundation pledged $1.5 million to Junior Achievement of Southwest New England (JASWNE) to be the exclusive insurance company supporting the building of the future JA Finance Park, an experiential learning facility that provides a hands-on business simulation environment and a capstone program for personal financial planning and career exploration. The new facility will include a Travelers storefront and is expected to open for the 2026-2027 school year.

In addition, Travelers provided more than $250,000 in financial assistance, as well as volunteer support, to several JA organizations across the United States. In 2024, more than 1,800 employee volunteer hours were logged to support JA organizations across the United States and Canada.

In recognition of its service, Travelers received the U.S. President’s Bronze Volunteer Service Award for the 2023-2024 school year. Created by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the award recognizes individuals and organizations that contribute a significant amount of time to volunteer service. Junior Achievement USA^®, as an official certifying organization, designated Travelers for volunteering more than 1,500 hours across the country.

Community benefits

• The program provides age-appropriate learning on topics such as civic constructs, currency, economics and business, helping students prepare at an early age for career and financial decisions to come.
• Our partnerships with JA are focused on districts with limited resources, where students may otherwise not have access to these programs.

Travelers benefits

• The program introduces students to Travelers as potential future employees or customers.
• Employee volunteers have opportunities to build their own capabilities, such as teamwork and presentation skills, which helps develop Travelers’ talent base.
• Employee volunteers expressed satisfaction with the company making investments in youth, which deepens engagement and helps with retention.