Behind the Brand®

Jeff Adamson: [00:00:00] Welcome to Behind the Brand presented by Neo. We take an inside look at the leaders behind today's most influential brands. I'm your host, Jeff Adamson. As co founder of Neo Financial and Skip the Dishes, I'm fascinated by what it takes to build great companies. On this podcast, we'll learn from leaders that are reimagining, transforming, and innovating in the financial and retail industries across Canada.
Let's get going.
So Erin, it's awesome to have you here. Pleasure to be here, Jeff. I want to start with some facts on junior achievement that I was blown away when I read them. So, this was a [00:01:00] study conducted by BCG, Boston Consulting Group. That talks about the direct impact that Junior Achievement has had on Canada.
So, a few of the stats are that the work that JA has done has a direct impact of over 105, 000, 000 on Canada's economy every single year. JA in Canada creates an annual return to society of $45 for every $1 received by supporters. Yes. Are these true numbers? This is real. Boston Consulting Group. This is Boston Consulting Group.
Is that a credible company? That's right. Um, so I'm not done here. Achievers, so these are folks in the junior achievement, are three times more likely to hold senior and middle management positions in their respective organizations. Last but not least, achievers are 50 percent more likely to open their own companies, which leads to innovation, new jobs.
That is correct. Well, I'm glad to hear you say so, and I think our partnership is [00:02:00] going to speak to that and how we can scale. The study that you're citing, Jeff, is Boston Consulting Group, and that was a study on the long term impacts, so really an evaluation based. And the social return on investment that comes from investing in young people when we equip them with career readiness skills with entrepreneurship skills and skills to ensure their financial health.
And so we're on a mission to scale that impact. Last year, we saw 340, 000 student experiences be delivered across the country, creating really incredible impact for young people, equipping them with the skill set and mindset to be successful. And to thrive in both our Canadian and global economy. So let's take a step back and let's talk about Junior Achievement.
What is Junior Achievement? Like growing up, like I had not heard of Junior Achievement. I wish I had. Maybe I would more likely to hold a management position. Uh, or start more companies. But what, what is it? Um, and is this a [00:03:00] Alberta thing, an Ontario thing, Canada thing or a global organization? Great question.
And Jeff, I, you already started a couple of companies. So if you were going to do more, that would be pretty impressive in its own right. But yes, our goal is to inspire young people with an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether they use that to lead, whether they use that to help to grow companies, or whether they use that to actually start up and make meaningful contributions, JA is a global organization with over a hundred member countries in existence for nearly a hundred years worldwide.
And our whole premise is about connecting youth with mentors, experiential learning opportunities, real life application, to help to fill a gap around financial literacy education, around entrepreneurship, that young people can see themselves, that they can build businesses, that they can be innovators, and equipping them for what the future of work is.
So those are our three major tenants. In Canada, um, I [00:04:00] have the pleasure of serving as the Chief Development Officer for Junior Achievement, working at the National Office, but connect with our 14 regional or local offices that we call charters. And the strength of our operations is that we're a federated network.
With Boots on Pavement in communities across Canada, where we can reach and touch and interact with schools. Um, we engage annually thousands of schools, tens of thousands of classrooms that we're delivering programs in, both through in person delivery. Using teachers and often with corporate volunteers.
We're looking forward to seeing many of your team members join us frontline here in Alberta. Um, but across the country, there's an ample opportunities for volunteer engagement because we want young people to see real mentors. So that's part of our secret sauce, but it's also critical to our scaling potential is providing digital
bite sized learning where we can be on the path of youth as they develop [00:05:00] their skills and make connections between financial learning and real life banking, be able to make connections with careers and continue to dive deep. So that's what our work is all about. That's incredible. And. Truthfully, I wish I had a time machine go back and actually be a part of Junior Achievement and we're looking forward to being involved at NEO.
But you mentioned, did I hear you right, it's a hundred years old? Yes. Like what's the origin story there? I'm interested because a hundred years ago that would have been heading into the Great Depression in the 1930s, lead up to World War II. Like who, or who were the people who got this started? Yeah, we actually saw it, it was groups of corporate leaders who decided that they needed to give back.
And work with youth and mentor them. Um, and we saw that emerge, uh, in the United States first and then came to Canada, you know, many years later. And in Canada, you know, we've seen these small chapters that emerged again of corporate leaders connecting with young people, offering support, helping to show them a path [00:06:00] to business.
So for the many years we've been identified as like the leading youth business education organization. And last year we went through, um, a brand refresh. Which was an opportunity to kind of recommit to our purpose and our mission, which is no longer just about business education, but it's about career skills.
It's about preparedness for future. It's about workforce readiness. So whether you want to be a social entrepreneur, whether you want to be working and, you know, innovating something and doing something as cool as what Nia was doing right now, um, Or that you did at Skip, or whether you're looking at that entrepreneurial spirit where you can add value and help to innovate a new company or innovate an existing company and do new things with them.
But we're not just about training youth for business. It could be for skilled trades careers, which is some of the work that we're doing. It's careers and technology. Um, beginning to think about how do we leverage and equip youth to use AI as a tool. Mm-Hmm. for what the future of work could be. So, um, it's really been a, a renewed.
Um, [00:07:00] opportunity around our brand promise that we're about the skill set and mindset for success and the mindset component, as you know, is really, really critical when we look at the well being of entrepreneurs too. Yeah, well, I love the fact that it's focused on success and again, whether you're in trades or you're in technology, like these are very.
I'd say capitalist, you know, bend to it. Why is it that it's more focused on careers in business versus, you know, preparing people to start their own charities perhaps or healthcare or social work? Not saying that people wouldn't go into that, but it seems to be more focused on, on the business side and success of people in different parts of business or entrepreneurship in general.
Why do you, like, why was that kind of part of the original charter and is still such a strong part of Junior Achievement? We're not abandoning that there's a social sector, you know, government sector work, non profit sector, and, you know, encouraging youth to pursue those. Next generation of politicians. [00:08:00] I don't know that we're necessarily a training grant for next generation of politicians, but certainly, hopefully some diplomats among them.
Um, we're looking at, um, economic growth. Economic development and also seeing that Canada as a leader on the global stage and being able to foster that connection and having our young people really equipped to make those contributions that help our country thrive, building thriving communities as a part of it.
And we believe that, you know, business sector, that jobs, employment is critical to that. And right now, I think what we need and see, and Jeff, you've seen this in your own career trajectory already is reinventing ourselves, you know, finding different pathways on average, we will see this current youth generation.
So our teens today will find themselves in five or more really quite different careers over the course of their lifetime. Fundamentally different from our parents who may have spent 20, 30 plus years within a single [00:09:00] organization or in a single role, how we equip youth with the skills to be able to transfer and adapt through their different career journeys and environments is really, really key to our work.
But underpinning them all is things like the fundamentals of financial literacy and health. It's great communication skills, it's problem solving skills, it's collaboration, um, so we've got a really big focus on those transferable skills that equip us for any discipline that we might be considering.
Some people might be listening to this and saying, Yeah, but Erin, isn't this what school is for? You know, why can't we just get the schools to do exactly what Junior Achievement is setting out to do? We are a partner with the school system, and we're proud to be a partner with the school system. And we've seen, you know, many, many years ago, JA's whole mandate was You know, filling a gap in the education system where financial literacy wasn't being taught.
Now we see our ministers of, ministries of education and school boards adopting and mandating financial literacy within the curriculum. But what we need is also [00:10:00] the opportunity for application of that learning for students. That how do we move from something being theoretical or just kind of within the academic space within your curriculum to connecting with it to understanding what it means to having an opportunity to practice to play with those concepts.
And that's a big part of what we have to offer as a partner to the education system. So we bring real life mentors into classrooms where, you know, your friend, peer, co founder, uh, Andrew Chow played a large role was actually as a mentor, um, an alumni of our JA company program, being able to give back and share real experience.
That's a value add both to the teacher, you know, at the helm of the classroom, but to the students where they can see people and they can see who they would like to be. So that's a big factor of it. And then on the digital front, it's the opportunity to actually interact with something, to model it. We're building tools that aren't about how to make a budget theoretically, you know, as part of a classroom assignment.
[00:11:00] But it's how to make your own personal budget, you know, that's going to help you achieve. How would that show up then, Erin, because we do, let's just say you've got a group of 10 kids that are in, uh, JA, they're in the class learning about financial literacy, they create a personal budget. Are they then held accountable to their own personal budget by the leaders within JA?
I find that sometimes when it's extracurricular. You know, you're not necessarily taking home your junior achievement report card to your parents versus your, you know, grade eight report card. And so a lot of them will not perhaps put the same level of importance because they're not really being measured in the same way.
And perhaps even though I would argue that them actually figuring out how to manage their own personal budgets. Is more important in many ways than just getting an A plus in gym class. So like how do you hold, how do you hold the kids accountable to getting the work done? Like how does that actually manifest itself in these, in these teens lives?
Yeah, it's a great question. So within classroom there's activities [00:12:00] that they do. Our work is not intended to be graded or marked. So you're, you're doing it in the classroom as in like In the classroom we have two hour, four hour, six hour programs in classrooms. And then we have programs where students would log on.
Online, on their own time, where they may be encouraged by a teacher or parent to check out resources and programs, but increasingly, um, that they are self finding. They're asking these questions. How do I pay for things? So we've developed a module that allows them to understand that practically and see examples and scenarios of how other students are doing it.
What is credit? Literally Googling this question. Let's answer that question for them in a way that it's. Youth friendly and that you speak and they can see and they can go through a module in a demonstration and play a game with it. Um, so we see both demonstrations. We also have some extracurricular work.
So in particular, our signature program called J company program is like a four month significant [00:13:00] entrepreneurial journey where teams of students come together and they build the concept of an idea. They learn to run and manage those companies. They actually have to generate and raise shares. You guys are very familiar here at Neo with, uh, you know, fundraising efforts.
The students have to go through that same practice, run, operate their business. They have a VP of finance. They have a CEO. They'll have a VP of marketing or a chief marketing officer. And then at the end of a sort of 16, 18 week journey, they actually liquidate their business. And they, you know, Close it down and any of the revenues that they've generated cycle back and maybe, you know, capital for the, for the next cohort that comes after them and some go on to, to run these businesses.
But that's an example where the team of students is holding each other accountability for the real practice. The rest of it is about, we've got highly motivated students who are self selecting and a big focus of that transferable skills work is goal setting. How to set goals, how [00:14:00] to set them as smart goals that are measurable and that you're holding yourself to account.
As a parent, I've got two young kids. It sounds like such a no brainer. You know, like, why wouldn't you want your kids in this program, especially given How much more likely they are to succeed in their careers and just the skills that they learn and, and obviously if you can learn how to be financially literate, that's a lot less stress later on, like financial stress is amongst the most high forms of stress in people's lives.
What are some of the barriers that you're seeing from attracting more people into this program? Cause I, I'm just not getting, I mean, I didn't know about it growing up and maybe, and again, I, maybe I grew up under a rock. But rural Saskatchewan, you know, came into a large city later in my life, and so I just never had exposure to it, if I, I wish I had.
Is it an awareness thing, or is there, do you actually find that there's some people pushing back on it and saying, hey, like, this isn't aligned with what we want? Awareness is a big one. So we've been, you know, a very quiet nonprofit, you know, uh, strong, credible reputation, good partners to the education system, [00:15:00] but with a relatively quiet brand and footprint, you know, working kind of in a B2B model, if you will, you know, a nonprofit direct to schools and teachers.
Um, increasingly, and I'm hoping that everyone will hear more of JA, um, as we really look to unlock and share the message. Our model of delivery is also, and it has also had a cap on it in terms of our ability to scale when we're looking at in person, you know, classroom based, print based materials. As we have a parallel path of developing a digital strategy and to be on the course of youth where they're interacting in social spaces, in communication spaces, aligned with products that they're excited about, it You know, helps us to create scale, but also awareness.
So it's a kind of a best kept secret. Um, it has been a lot of our history with JA, um, but being able to communicate and share more about what we do, we hope can inspire others, um, that we hope can inspire young people and sharing the stories of our incredible alumni. [00:16:00] And one of the things I really like about what you're doing is I find that with a lot of nonprofits, they're very altruistic.
They seem very aspirational, but this is a nonprofit that is very much seems for profit in the sense that you want Canada to create more profitable companies. You want our future leaders to be successful in the workforce, like to advance our country as a nation by having people who can have a greater impact in such a wide variety of different walks of life.
And so it very much is more than just about like, hey, we're raising money to donate money to this thing. It's no, it's like we actually want to increase the quality of our human capital so that they can go and then have a huge impact and. Try to get Canada, I'd say, at an even better position of preeminence globally.
How do you think we're doing right now, uh, as a country? Like when you, if you were going to give a scorecard in terms of, you know, if you look at the, the different pillars that you stand for [00:17:00] at JA, And then you look at how we're performing as a country. Do you see those being really reflected in our performance as a nation?
Or do you think that we've got a lot of work to do? Wow. It's a really, um, it's a really big question and, uh, an incredible. incredibly important one. Um, and I would hardly say that I'm much of an authority on sort of youth economic global participation, but I have spent time recently with colleagues from our JA Worldwide organization where we're exchanging notes and tips and what do the prospects look like for the youth in each of our countries around the world where we're delivering programs.
And I was inspired by meeting With colleagues in Bahrain, um, and throughout the Middle East, um, where one of the biggest factors for them is because of the oil rich countries and so forth. They're all about entrepreneurship. They're going to find this huge gap of youth who will, you know, there's just not the employment opportunities in their market.
So helping them to start Businesses to be able to contribute to that next echelon of where the [00:18:00] economy needs to grow was an anchor piece of their work. What we were finding and hearing from colleagues in Europe with the refugee crisis was actually just foundational education components for the Ukrainian students who are finding themselves out of education and migrating in to all of the countries through Europe.
Being able to find and reach those youth and to provide core foundational education. Was where they were looking to focus and that that was going to be key to making sure that they could stay within a cycle that would, you know, ultimately lead itself to economic opportunity and to cultural integration even within those markets was a key driver for them.
When we look in Canada, we are still seeing gaps in financial education among Canadians. And in financial health, whether that be debt, whether that's understanding of systems, we have a very high, you know, banked population. You guys know that best, um, as you're looking at kind of growth within the Canadian market, but [00:19:00] presenting options and awareness and understanding to reduce debt levels.
And some of our data with JA is that's a big factor for us is that we can reduce the debt load and what that can represent in terms of, you know, carrying forward for generations with Canadians through our work, through early education about credit, about saving, about spending responsibly, about how to set your goals.
So that's um, that's some of the work that we have to do. And I think to your question Jeff on, you know, JA is a non profit. We've got a mission to equip and empower youth. All of our programming is free and accessible and we're looking to continue to build the resources and Innovate delivery mechanisms to be able to scale that.
But I believe as a nonprofit leader, I've been working in nonprofit sector for 25 years that we need to think and act. Like smart businesses, like efficient businesses, like startups, we need to mobilize our people to think differently, to challenge, you know, norms, the status quo, [00:20:00] and that that's where really our growth can come, and where we can thrive, and I think that's been a huge contributor to Jay's own success through different series and different decades and recessions in the Canadian economy, the swing and pendulum of the way that, uh, donations and contributions can go.
Um, through the pandemic, we were able to continue to thrive and continue to build in scale because we think and act like a smart business and innovate and embrace the very principles that we're looking to teach youth. That's amazing. And I'm a huge fan of what you guys are doing. I'm curious to know. So we're launching a partnership with you guys.
Yes. We're super excited about it. Um, we really believe in your mission. If we can, if we can make Canadians more financially illiterate, even if we can play a small part in doing that, I think that's a huge win. Walk me through how this partnership kind of came to be. I mean, I'd love to hear a bit of the story.
And kind of why you guys ultimately landed on partnering up with NEO. It's wonderful. So, JA has a, you know, extensive [00:21:00] roster of partners from the big five FIs to professional services groups to technology firms. Uh, recently we have some quick serve restaurants that we're starting to partner with on different kinds of campaigns.
Who's that? Um, Taco Bell Foundation actually just joined us. Um, but we're looking at how do we really see diversification, um, in terms of the partner mix and part of that is to present the opportunities to youth, but also to come up with really innovative ways in which we can grow and scale. So, um, Andrew Chau
has been a wonderful, uh, champion of JA from being an alumni of the program and a mentor. So we were able to kind of reconnect through our local office here in Alberta with Andrew to learn a little bit about what was happening with Neo early stages, and that sparked a conversation and an opportunity, but one that where Neo's own growth is at wasn't just about let's make, you know, a community investment and a donation, but how do we fundamentally make cause
and education [00:22:00] part of the product offering. That was innovative. Again, a different way of thinking about it. And for a company who's young, you know, in these early years and growing rapidly, um, merging to be, you know, a leader, to partner with an organization where you're making cause right from inception of kind of looking at youth banking strategy and what would be a youth product offering.
To have that coupled with education, um, from inception, I think is powerful and profound. So we were really, um, inspired by what the opportunity could be. So together, you know, we've just, just, just launched kind of hot, uh, they're still, the cards are still hot in the mail. The JA money card, powered by Neo, which is a youth prepaid card, a debit card alternative, let's call it that, that has the give back component.
And so with every one of these cards, it triggers a donation to JA. But it's not just that, it's that it's built in on a long term basis for mission sustainability. So at no cost to the customer. As a young person spends and saves on [00:23:00] the card, it has a give back that's fueling opportunities for ongoing education, entrepreneurship programs for other youth and or for themselves.
So it's pretty powerful. And then coupling that with the build of new best in class, short form, bite sized learning that's directly answering the questions. that young Canadians have about how to manage their money, how to make different kinds of transactions and making sure that this is available on their path and to NEO's customer base.
So it's an innovative model of partnership, uh, with a great promise, um, and one that yes is going to see tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of engagements, even in these very early years. So we're super proud and excited and just kind of on an upward climb, but I believe that. Corporations who embed cause in products, not just as a giving platform or a foundation platform, but integral to their business, to the framework that that's a real differentiating value proposition [00:24:00] and that's what's fun about what we're doing together.
Yeah, the way you guys have approached partnership, I think is really different than many other organizations to it. I think. Partnerships kind of gets thrown around as a bit of a buzzword nowadays, sometimes it's really just a vendor supplier relationship and people will call it a partnership, but when you're both putting skin in the game, when you have both of exposure upside and downside, when you're really sharing a lot, whether it be your brands or a customer economics, whatever it might be, and then when it's centered around value creation, and I think that's really how you guys have done it differently.
And part of it is as well as walking the talk. You know, we talk about doing things differently, taking a different approach to things, um, helping Canadians, and I think it has to start very, very early on. And when I think about where we are starting right now, I mean, I think it's quite, quite simple, you know, it's a very simple product, it's easy to get, it can help teach people the very basics of financial literacy.
In conjunction with the financial literacy modules where I'm excited about is where does it go because we're [00:25:00] really talking about, you know, one product at the moment, but if we can really create, if we can simplify. Financial services for Canadians and help be transparent on how it works because it's actually, I mean, I didn't grow up in banking, my last company was a food delivery startup, so I've learned a ton about financial services.
I'm learning too. It is incredibly complicated, Erin, and I don't think the incumbents in the banking industry really are making it. Simpler for people. I think that there's often a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot of friction, like for, so for example, like if you want to close an account, oftentimes it's very, very challenging to do that.
Or if you want to understand, like, how are you being charged? When are you being charged? How much? Those things are very difficult. And because I think it's a lot of, it has to do with a lot of misaligned incentives, whereas I think we're taking a lot of a different approach where we want to be transparent with the customer.
We want to create value for the end customer so that if they are using products, whether it be for savings or spending or investing or buying a home, we want [00:26:00] the way that we make money to be in a way that actually helps create value for that end customer and not in just some hidden gotcha fees. And so it could start out right now with the way we are going, but later on, it's about, okay, well, how do we help be this person's first mortgage for a home and how do we actually be transparent on what type of mortgage that they should get or what type of strategy they should have on paying down their mortgage over time?
What's their saving strategy? How much money, like, is he, is he buying a house even a good idea for them? Maybe they should rent for a while because buying home isn't always a good idea, especially when houses are very, very expensive in Canada. So I think, um, we're really excited to be on this journey with you guys and, um, really excited to see how, you know, where it goes.
Thank you, Jeff. And that's what it is. It's a journey, you know, and we want to be part of the journey of learning about how to manage money about, you know, what does all of this mean for young people throughout their life cycle? And into adulthood and to offer resources and tools and yes, great products that can kind of [00:27:00] fit them along the journey.
So that's, I think, um, at the essence and the heart of what we can do. And it's, uh, not even just about a triple bottom line, but it's a quadruple. We all win. Corporate partners win, NEO wins, uh, when we see great customer adoption and when we're bringing a product to life that gets great usage, uh, JA wins and you know, when we're building partnerships that are cause marketing and have social impact and social purpose that can fuel our mission, um, when we bring great products to life.
They offer a ton of value to the customer and that life value, um, but in this case, our whole community and our ecosystem wins when we're looking at education being baked into that. So I think, um, you know, it's really that, that combined proposition that is the real opportunity that we have ahead of us.
I believe fundamentally in. Business, nonprofit, social impact partnerships, looking at different ways to generate revenue and that, you know, push us all to be innovative and cutting edge and deliver [00:28:00] better. How can people get involved? So what do you have to say to corporate partners, teachers, volunteers, and students?
How can they get involved in junior achievement? Thank you for that opportunity. Um, well, number one, everyone is welcome. All adults are welcome to volunteer. And we count on volunteers, uh, it's our life bread of being able, as I've talked a lot about, you know, experiential learning and real mentorship and real life examples.
So, volunteer, um, come, come, come check us out at JACanada. satsimplejcanada. org and you'll find your pathway to volunteerism. What kind of commitment is that though? Is it a. All right. You got to sign up for like 30 hours a week or can they do an hour here and there? A couple of hours at a time, joining for an event as a career mentor, uh, signing up to deliver a program in a classroom.
Or if you are really looking for that longterm kind of, I want to steady weekly commitment. We have those opportunities as well, but this can be team builders. It could be individuals going out, you know, volunteer along with your [00:29:00] partner or a colleague. It's a great team builder. So volunteer. Um, that would be one of really for universally for everyone.
Um, I know you have a great corporate partner kind of audience and a lot of business leaders are tuning in to this podcast. Um, invest, but really consider it an investment. You know, we're not just looking for your donations or gives, but really a way in which it's helping the organization be better. And that can be through in kind, uh, support.
It's through skilled volunteerism and subject matter expertise. It's through building and creating innovative opportunities, whether those be Roundup programs, or whether they be products that we can bring to life and to market. It's about social impact, investment, um, and saying, You know, we're going to commit ourselves to supporting this number of classrooms or helping to innovate and develop a program, but we welcome investment and partnership.
And our corporate sector in Canada has been very generous. Um, and we hope that all will continue to be, um, and we want to be great partners, uh, to this business community as well and offer brand [00:30:00] value and social impact value against goals. And I can speak firsthand on that because I think a lot of people are always looking at this as saying like, Oh, we already have a charitable strategy and we're donating to.
This cause and that cause, for anyone who's looking at this and saying, Hey, I don't know if they can, they can help out. I'd say just bring your strengths to the table and say, Hey, here's, here's what we can do. Are you guys interested in, in us helping out in these ways? And, and then at least then you guys can look at it and say, actually, that works out really, really well.
And I feel like that's how this got going is, is just looking at what does each party, are you able to bring to the table? And where's that overlapping Venn diagram? It's about architecting something new, you know, um, there's always a menu to choose from and things that you can immediately adopt and give to.
But I think we're really at a point where figuring out new ways to architect, again, mutually beneficial or quadra beneficial partnerships that are good for, good for all stakeholders is a big part of kind of my mission and mandate at JA and that of our colleagues who are doing fundraising and [00:31:00] partnership development across the country.
And for parents, you and I both as parents, yours are in the littler end of the spectrum. I'm in the tweens and teens. Um, there's great resources. Uh, we're here to support you and be partners in equipping your students or your kids for what's to come next in life and in work and knowing that you're not alone.
We had a little candid conversation earlier, Jeff, about parenting woes and worries and concerns about the future. Jay wants to be a partner to you and, and that's what we're here for with resources that are easily accessible. You know, it can be, uh. As we're in hockey season, you're parenting hat trick right now.
So, uh, you can check them all out on our website and linked through, um, our campus environment. We call it jacampus. org where it's bite sized digital ready to go for you. So, and hold me accountable to this too, Erin. Like, I'm getting my kids in as soon as I can. What's the What's the bottom age? Like how, how young can I get them in?
I mean, I'm, I've got a two year old and a four year old. They can't read or write. Can I get them in yet or not? [00:32:00] Um, we might be a little on the early side. JA Canada serves, uh, students grades three all the way to grade 12. And then of course we have alumni, um, in the university demo that, that come back and volunteer.
So you've got a couple years to go, but I promise you will be on their path. Well, um, we're super excited and proud to be a partner of Junior Achievement Canada. And really excited to, to see this partnership continue to grow. Uh, I just want to say how grateful I am that you, uh, are our partner and that you've taken the time to come on and chat today.
Well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for having me for helping to spread the word about our organization and the work that we can do together. Very, very excited about what we're building with Neo and the incredible. Dynamic, young, energizing team that's here. So looking forward to spending some more time with your team while I'm in Alberta for the next little bit.
Thank you for tuning into Behind the Brand. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you're interested in learning [00:33:00] more about Neo Financial, visit us at neofinancial. com. Behind the Brand is a production of Neo Financial and Media Lab YYC, hosted by Jeff Adamson.
Strategy, research, and production by Keegan Sharp, Alena Tafelchuk, and Kyle Marshall.