Junior Achievement of Dallas announced today that Chris LaTurno, past Region Senior Vice President of the Dallas Division at the American Heart Association, has been
named President as of May 1, 2024. As President of the Junior Achievement office, LaTurno will manage the organization’s work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy programs that reached over 156,000 K-12 students last year.
“We are pleased to welcome Chris LaTurno to Junior Achievement,” stated Beth Garvey, Board Chair of the Junior Achievement of Dallas Board of Directors. “Chris brings a great deal of nonprofit leadership, fundraising expertise, enthusiasm for the JA mission, and strong management skills to JA,” said Garvey.
LaTurno joins the Junior Achievement of Dallas organization bringing nine years of non-profit fundraising and leadership success advocating for the needs of the community. For the past three years, LaTurno led the Dallas Division of the American Heart Association to its most successful fundraising revenue ($40M) in a three-year time period and delivered exceptional community impact.
During his tenure, both the Cotes du Coeur (Gala) and the Dallas Heart Walk each raised over $5 million in a single fiscal year and Go Red for Women raised over $2 million in a single fiscal year. Prior to the American Heart Association (AHA) in Dallas, Chris successfully led the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) chapters in Greater Fort Worth, TX and Raleigh, NC Chapters. During a six-year time frame, each chapter experienced tremendous revenue growth and research funding.
“I am proud and honored to join a prominent organization like JA with such an important mission,” commented Chris LaTurno. “JA educates and inspires young people to value free enterprise, business, and economics to improve the quality of their lives. I will work hard to ensure students experience JA’s high-quality programs so they can gain the skills relevant to success in their future careers and in their lives.”
Junior Achievement of Dallas (JA Dallas), a nonprofit organization, impacts the lives of students by teaching life skills in budgeting, careers, and business start-ups. JA Dallas’ mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy through educational partnerships and proven curriculum. The organization has been in Dallas for more than 65 years and has reached over 1.5 million students.
JA Dallas is committed to serving students in under-resourced areas to grow diversity, be more inclusive, and ensure students have equitable access to JA resources. Last year, over 2,000 volunteers helped change the lives of more than 156,000 Dallas area students through JA programs. Surveys show that students who take JA have a high school graduation rate of 93% compared to 85% for the general population, and 67% have an advanced post-secondary degree. Visit www.jadallas.org for more information.
