Our Mission
Junior State of America, a student-led organization, prepares a diverse community of high school students to participate effectively in our democracy. We offer hands-on civic programs designed to activate the talents of young people, instill values of respect and understanding, and inspire them to be a new generation of American leaders.
Our Values
These are the principles that guide Junior State of America:
Respect
All students are actively supported and given opportunity to engage with today's issues through discussion and debate in a respectful space.
Empowerment
All immersive education and leadership empowers JSA students to actively engage with our government and meet the challenges of our democracy.
Autonomy
JSAers have a level of autonomy that is unique among our peer organizations; they are challenged to think independently, work collaboratively and find their way together.
Transformation
When students notice that their capacities have begun to meet their ambition, they experience a transformation.
Activism
Leadership spurs activism — when students inspire each other to uphold the interests of a common good, they can have a positive impact on their communities.
Our Story
JSA has been engaging tomorrow’s young leaders with civic issues and activism for 90 years.
What started as a conversation became a nationwide community.
In 1934, Ernest Rogers organized a “Conference of Youth on American Ideals” at the Montezuma Mountain School for Boys in Los Gatos, CA. As the country began to emerge from the Great Depression, Rogers hoped to find a way to motivate students for the tasks of public service. He knew that a key to this enthusiasm lay in bringing students together to engage with issues of the day through discussion and debate in a respectful space. This principle has guided JSA throughout our history and remains as relevant to our national network today as it was to that original cohort of ten.
During its history, the Junior State of America has seen both incremental changes and dramatic growth. We were an innovator in offering college prep summer experiences at some of our nation’s most prestigious universities, which introduced many civics-minded students to our school-year program. Those students who weren’t JSA members wanted to bring JSA to their own areas and were empowered to start their own school year chapters. This student demand has brought our student-led, school-year experiences across the country, turning JSA into a national community, with chapters in 35 U.S. states, and eight territories.
The future of JSA is more exciting than ever, with new opportunities for students to connect with each other outside the bounds of chapter, region, or state. Today, there is a spirit of experimentation and collaboration that is unparalleled in our organization’s history, as we leverage new technology and a renewed student appetite for change in response to the times. Once again, the students of Junior State of America are finding opportunities to connect in innovative, inclusive, equitable ways and will be the ones defining what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America, and JSA.
History Timeline
Since JSA’s founding in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, the organization has cultivated the next generation of civic-minded leaders across the country.
1934 | The Junior Statesmen organization was founded at a small private boys school in Santa Cruz Mountains of California.
1938 | The Junior Statesmen Foundation was incorporated.
1941 | Established the first Summer School to help expand JSA to new schools. The first session was for boys only and was held at Montezuma School.
1946 | Launched a summer school for girls.
1953 | Both summer schools were combined into one coed program held at Mills College in Oakland.
1973 | Elected first female governor, Andrea Zigman of Aragon High School in San Mateo.
1976 | Elected its first African-American governor, Melody Cunningham of Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland.
1979 | A major summer program on Washington State Politics and Government was established in Seattle.
1981 | A new session of summer school was launched in Washington, D.C. In the early years it moved from Catholic University to American University and finally to its permanent home at Georgetown.
1982 | JSA permanently moved its UC Davis summer program to Stanford University.
1984 | First East Coast JSA school year conference was held at Princeton University. California split their state into two JSA states – Northern and Southern California.
1988 | JSA added a new state – the Mid-Atlantic. JSA worked with The Montezuma Foundation to establish a national JSA leadership conference held on the site where JSA was founded.
1989 | JSA launched its third summer school, held on the Yale University campus.
1991 – 1998 | A fourth summer school was held at University of Texas in Austin.
1995 | Student leaders in Northeastern states voted to break away from the Mid-Atlantic and form their own JSA Northeast state.
1991 | JSA receives first grant from The U.S. Department of Interior.
Mid 1990s | Students established Florida a new JSA region which expanded to include Georgia and the Carolinas.
1996 | Midwest JSA was established.
1999 | Ohio River Valley broke off from the Midwest JSA and formed the ORV Territory.
1995 – 2005 | A fifth session of JSA Summer School was held at Northwestern University.
2004 | A second session was added at Princeton University and grew to over 400 students in attendance.
2012-2016 | JSA holds a three-week summer program in China.
2019 | Junior Statesmen of America Foundation changes its name to Junior State of America Foundation.
2019 | JSA has its first-ever permanent female CEO.
2020 | For the first time since 1941, JSA cancels its in-person Spring State conferences and its in-person summer programs due to a global pandemic.
2022 | Junior State of America Foundation changes its name to Junior State of America.
2022 | JSA holds summer programs in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and on Saipan.
2022 | JSA partners with ACLU to lead their educational programming for their National Advocacy Institute.
