Why JSA

Find your voice. Change the world.

Group of high school students smiling and standing together in a civics classroom.

The path to a better democracy is in our future.

Junior State of America programs are where students learn how to participate in our democracy. Through immersive experiences in citizenship, public issues, and activism, they come to understand what’s required to be a responsible leader in their communities.

From JSA to City Council

At 23, Jorgel Chavez became the youngest city council member in the history of Los Angeles County. Learn how his time in JSA helped spark his passion for government and public speaking.
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Our Approach

A better way to foster engaged citizenship.

educate-light

Education

We provide programming that empowers students to engage with today’s issues in respectful spaces through curriculum, discussion, and debate.

Leadership

We grant students a level of autonomy that challenges them to plan and manage their own events and activism, introducing them to leadership and accountability.

activism

Activism

JSA students are leading initiatives to fight apathy, spur volunteerism, and drive voter registration on and off their high school campuses.

Our Drivers

JSA is driven by a set of fundamental principles to move our mission forward.

Purpose

We’re on a mission. Our democracy requires respectful citizen participation and ethical stewardship, and JSA exists to empower new generations of responsible leaders.

Our Mission

People

We’re diverse and unified. The passion and unique perspectives our student leaders, staff, board members, and trustees bring to JSA remind us of our responsibilities to each other.

Meet Our Team

Partnerships

We’re better together. Our relationships with corporate and community partners help extend JSA’s vision for an engaged citizenry to students across the country.

Meet Our Partners

Impact

We’re a force for good. JSA unlocks positive outcomes in our communities, our democracy, and in the lives of our students by fueling civic participation, volunteerism, and activism.

See the Data

Our Community

All are welcome to participate in the future of our democracy.

Students

Students

JSA students have an interest in engaged citizenship. They’re tomorrow’s leaders who are ready to shape their communities today.

Teachers

Educators

Our Teacher Advisors provide mentorship for our students and engage them with real-life lessons of civics, service, and activism.

Parents

Parents

Parents provide support for their child’s interest in politics and civic leadership while building skills for their future success.

Group of adult alumni of youth leadership program smiling and standing with their arms around one another at an evening event.

Alumni

Our alumni network of more than 170,000 provides guidance and inspiration for a new generation of JSAers.

Group of smiling adult democracy and school civics teachers sitting on a bench and standing outside in the sun, surrounded by trees in the summer.

Partners

We work with organizations that are committed to bridging the political gap through non-partisanship.

  • Mike McCurry's headshot

    I really look back on my days of JSA as being probably—even more so than college or anything else I did—the thing that really prepared me for a career at the top levels of national politics here in Washington, D.C.

    Mike McCurry
    Former White House Director of Communications