Rising Star: Joe Meade
Name: Joe Meade Age: 49 Hometown: A Bronx native ("and proud of it"), he lives in Milford with wife Soledad and daughters Isabela, 4, and Soledad, 3. Occupation: Since July 2005, district manager, greater New Haven, for Junior Achievement (JA) of Southwest New England. "I find and train volunteers to teach our [economic and business education] curriculum in grades K-12," he says. Biography: New York City transit cop, athletic coach, college administrator, finance instructor what I do now," he says, "all the pieces fit. Growing up in the Bronx, I learned how to deal with people with all kinds of backgrounds. As a cop for eight years, I was involved with the community. As a coach I learned about recruitment, and as a college teacher I taught business education."Achievements: In just one year, Meade has been able to expand JA's reach from 3,500 to 5,500 kids in greater New Haven, and from 300 to 900 kids in the city of New Haven alone. "I have a great passion for the kids of the inner city because I am one," he says.
Meade has focused on growing JA activities such as its "JA in a day" in-school program. "We bring in an army of volunteers and train them," he says. "Then we take over the school for four hours. [The volunteers] teach activities related to free enterprise, financial responsibility and the relationship between education and earnings."
His recruiting background has been a boon for the JA job-shadowing program. "We found organizations willing to host students from the [New Haven] Metropolitan Business Academy [high school]. These workplaces included a call center, the UNH [University of New Haven] radio/TV station and City Hall," he says.
Describing another achievement, Meade says he "proudly completed" the executive leadership program of the Leadership Center at the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. "He's got such tremendous energy and eagerness," says Patti Scussel, the center's executive director. "He's not afraid to take chances, and with his diverse background, he can look at things differently."
Goals: Meade's goal for JA is simple: to make financial literacy a priority in greater New Haven.
How?
"By creating a partnership with key players - the business community, educators and local organizations such as PTOs, Rotary clubs and chambers of commerce.
"By gaining people's trust through our existing programs.
"By educating the public about what JA has evolved into."
Ten years ago, JA introduced what it calls "a fully integrated, sequential kindergarten-through-ninth grade curriculum."
Economic trends such as disappearing pensions and increased bankruptcies have increased the need to raise the levels of financial literacy in the United States. JA is in the right place at the right time to address this need, says Meade.
"In my humble opinion, [parents] living in some economic conditions don't understand simple economic concepts. They're waiting for the schools to [teach their kids]."
He observes that the New Haven area requires a special strategy, focusing on developing relationships with more businesses. "We're learning that Hartford and New Haven are different markets," he explains. "We can't use the same model for both communities because New Haven does not have a lot of big corporate partners like Hartford."
