Junior Achievement of North Florida has received a gift of $800,000 from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

The gift is part of a total of $38.8 million donated to Junior Achievement USA and JA operations in 26 communities across the country. This is the largest gift from a single donor in the organization’s 103-year history.

“We greatly appreciate the incredible generosity of MacKenzie Scott for this amazing gift to our organization,” said Shannon Italia, president of Junior Achievement of North Florida. “We see this investment as a recognition of all the great work taking place in our community because of the passion and commitment of the business leaders, educators, volunteers, and other partners who support Junior Achievement locally. This donation will allow us to make even better use of other community investments to positively impact the lives of the young people we serve.”

Junior Achievement of North Florida will be using its portion of the gift to scale its impact in the region and accelerate the timeline for launching an integrated program model that provides young people with a pathway to work readiness and financial literacy.

To learn more about Junior Achievement of North Florida, visit www.janfl.org.