JA Bulgaria Annual Report 2012

ANNUAL REPORT
JA360degreemodel
Skills for Employability | Entrepreneurship | Financial Literacy

3JA BULGARIA ANNUAL REPORT
When
I es-
tablished
Junior Achievement
Bulgaria in 1997, I was
talking about entre-
preneurship education,
innovations and coop-
eration between business
and schools. Most people
failed to see these as im-
portant issues. In 2012,
entrepreneurship is one
of the hottest topics in
Bulgaria and I see the
results of 16 years of
work. Nowadays there
are many non-profit
organizations in Bulgaria
which work in the area
of entrepreneurship and
I am proud that many
of them are established
by Junior Achievement
alumni or people inspired
by our programs and
events.
This year Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria reached
80% coverage in the
elementary schools in the
county. We trained more
than 1500 new teach-
ers who teach in our
programs now – it is a
300% growth compared
with 2011. Believing in
our model – full cycle of
education for students
from 5 to 25 years of
age, we ensured high-
quality courses in busi-
ness and innovations for
the youngest Bulgarians.
None of this would be
possible without the
support of our partners
from the business and
the government.
In 2012, we renewed
our agreement for
partnership with the
Ministry of Education
Youth and Science, as-
suring continuation of
the development of our
programs for the next 4
years. Recognition for
the importance of our
activities is the fact
that Junior Achievement
was the first non-profit
organization supported
by the President of Bul-
garia Mr. Rosen Plev-
neliev, who took part in
Manager for a Day 2012
and became a patron of
Youth Business Forum
Rising Stars and the
Global Entrepreneurship
Week, hosted by Junior
Achievement Bulgaria.
In
2012,
Junior
Achievement became one
of the main factors in
developing the emerging
entrepreneurial envi-
ronment in Bulgaria. I
am proud that Junior
Achievement became a co-
founder of the first Bul-
garian Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Cluster
(BEIC).
This year we reached a
great result in our key
partnership with Intel. A
lot of Bulgarian start-
ups took part in Intel
Business Challenge 2012
and one of them Imagga
– founded by Junior
Achievement alumni won
second place in Europe
and went to the finals in
the Silicon Valley, CAL,
USA.
Our work was recog-
nized by Junior Achieve-
ment Young Enterprise
Europe with the Role
Model Award that we
received for the 5th
year in a row. I am glad
that Junior Achievement
Bulgaria is not only a
Role Model because of
one award but because
of all of our success
and activities. In 2012,
we established a great
partnership with one of
the newest members of
the Junior Achievement
family – JA Albania. We
shared our experience
and best practices to
support the development
of JA in Albania.
Milena Stoycheva, Chief Executive Officer
Sasha Bezuhanova, Chairperson of the Board of Directors
LETTER OF THE CEO AND THE CHAIRMAN

4
JA BULGARIA ANNUAL REPORT
Sasha Bezuhanova
Chair
Hewlett-Packard
Director “Public Sector
for Emerging
Markets”
RALITZA AGAYN
Member
Financial Consultant
Barbara Lapini
Member
US Embassy in Sofia
Commercial Attaché
Nadya Vasileva
Member
Manpower Bulgaria
Country Managing
Director Bulgaria,
Serbia&Croatia
Andon Ichev
Member
GE International
National Adviser for
Bulgaria
Boni Bonev
Member
Nestle Bulgaria /
Vaprtzarov AD
Board Member/
Chairman
Nikolay Nedelchev
Member
Publicis/Marc
General Manager
Stefan Felstein
Member
Citibank Bulgaria
Country Officer
Georgi Randelov
Member
Microsoft Bulgaria
General Manager
Milena Stoycheva
Member
JA Bulgaria
CEO
List of the Board of Directors
“To be a leader you
need to know how
to manage a team.
For me teamwork is
the most important.”
George Randelov,
upon welcoming stu-
dents at Microsoft
for Manager for a
Day 2012

ACHIEVEMENTS
75% of all cities and
villages where JA
programs are taught
joined in 2012. 1705
teachers in primary
grades were trained
to implement JA pro-
grams in 2012 alone.
Their schools are
located in all 28 re-
gions of the country
and JA now reaches
even the most remote
areas in Bulgaria and
has the potential to
impact every young
person in the country.

6
ACHIEVEMENTS
Model Nation Award of JA-YE Europe winner
Co-founder of the Bulgarian Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cluster
Runner-up in the Virtual Business Challenge (Titan) Europe 2012 for GVR
team from Vocational School “Patriarch Evtimiy” – Plovdiv
JAB became an official partner of Intel
Business Challenge Europe
1705 trained teachers in primary GRADE
80% coverage in primary schools
19 universities working in JA StartUp program
President Rosen Plevneliev became patron of JAB events – Rising Stars, Global
Entrepreneurship Week
Runner-up at Intel Business Challenge Europe 2012 – Imagga (CEO
Georgi Kadrev)
First place at Innovation Camp European Finals 2012 -
Andrea Petrova from Vidin
Honorable award from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science for 3 JAB teachers –
Mrs. Maya Gesheva (National High School in Finance and Business), Mrs. Emiliya Palamarkova
(119 High School in Sofia) and Mrs. Sofia Ilieva (23 High School in Sofia)
Best JA-YE Europe Teacher of the Year Award
2012 – Lyudmila Rizhuk from General High
School “Vasil Levski”, Velingrad

Through the elementary
and middle grades pro-
grams, Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria is deliver-
ing the youngest members
of society a truly inno-
vative educational expe-
rience. Designed specifi-
cally for pupils aged 5
to 15, these programs
provide building blocks
for skills development
and understanding of the
‘world of work‘ – how
and why individuals, fami-
lies, communities and na-
tions work together. We
believe that the implemen-
tation of these programs
in the elementary and
middle grades greatly
enhances the quality of
business and economic
education in some of the
neediest areas of Bul-
garia. The programs also
supplement core elements
of the National Curricu-
lum, particularly with its
links to literacy, citizen-
ship and personal and so-
cial health education. As
we look to the future, we
know that it will greatly
depend on the efforts of
our youth and on us as we
strive to promote their
education, diligence and
career aspirations. JAB’s
programs encourage the
young generation’s eco-
nomic literacy, initiative
and independence and
teach them how they can
realize their ideas in
practice.
Programs:
• Ourselves
• Our Family
• Our Community
• Our City
• Europe and Me
• It’s My Business!
• Economics for Suc-
cess
Events:
• Juniors in Action
• Open Lessons
• Local Initiatives and
Trade Fairs
PROGRAMS
Elementary and middle grades programs

8
As high school students
begin to position them-
selves for their future,
there are many unan-
swered questions about
what lies ahead. Junior
Achievement’s high school
programs help students
make informed, intel-
ligent decisions about
their future, and foster
skills that will be high-
ly useful in the business
world. With a range of
different programs, Jun-
ior Achievement teaches
about concepts from mi-
croeconomics and mac-
roeconomics to free en-
terprise. The volunteers
bring real-life business
experience and guidance
into the classroom at a
time that represents an
essential crossroads for
young people.
Programs:
• Banks in Action
• Business Ethics
• JA Titan
• Economics
• Student Company
• Enterprise without
Borders
• Social Enterprise
Program
• Success Skills
• StartUp Program
Events:
• Youth Business Fo-
rum “Rising Stars”
• Manager For a Day
• National Competi-
tion “Virtual Enter-
prise”
• National Competi-
tion “Banks in Action”
• Smart Start Student
Conference
• Innovation camp
• Social Innovation
Relay
• Creativity Camp
• Global Entrepre-
neurship Week
• Intel Business Chal-
lenge Europe
PROGRAMS
High-school and universities programs

Innovation camp National Final
Manager for a Day
Smart Start Conference
“Juniors in Action” in Cherven Bryag
“Manager for a day” in Stara Zagora
Banks in Action National Final
StartUp program presentations at AUBG
Virtual Enterprise (Titan)
European Creativity & Innovation Challenge, European Finals
Youth Business Forum Rising Stars
Social Enterprise Competition
HP Social Innovation Relay National Final
National Competition for encouraging the mobility among the youth in Bulgaria
JA-YE Europe Enterprise Challenge 2012
HP Social Innovation Relay Global Final
European Company of the Year Competition
3 workshops for Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship
Intel Business Challenge Europe
Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley
Global Entrepreneurship Week
National Innovation Camp
First Creativity Camp
calendar of events
High-school and universities programs
March 1
March 19
March 20
April 19
April 20
April 20
April 24
April 28
May 21-23
June 8
June 8
June 18
June 30
July 4-6
July 12
July 22
September 24-28
September 26
November 9
November 12-18
November 17
December 9

10
The Bulgarian teacher
Lyudmila Rizhuk from the
Velingrad school “Vasil
Levski” became “Teacher
of the Year” for the pro-
gram “Enterprise with-
out Borders” of Junior
Achievement Europe for
2012.
The award is given to
teachers with an excep-
tional contribution to
the development of the
program who are creat-
ing innovative and crea-
tive opportunities for
the students they work
with. The people who
receive that award are a
role model for their col-
leagues in Europe with
their professionalism,
enthusiasm, attitude and
devotion to their pro-
fession. The award was
be handed to Lyudmila
Rizhuk at a ceremony in
Oslo, Norway.
This is the second
success for Lyudmila
Rizhuk after she be-
came “Teacher of
the Year” of Junior
Achievement Bulgaria
in 2011. She received
the distinction because
of her high standards
of work in the program
“Student Company”
and the successes of
her students. Her stu-
dent companies tradi-
tionally win awards at
national and interna-
tional JA competitions.
In 2010, students from
High School “Vasil Lev-
ski”, Velingrad, won the
first place at the com-
petition “Best Student
Company of Bulgaria”
and in 2011 they won
the award for “Best
enterprise without bor-
ders” of Europe, to-
gether with their part-
ners from Italy and
Denmark. The same
year Ms. Rizhuk initi-
ated an international
student eco camp that
gathered students
from Romania, Spain
and Bulgaria in Velin-
grad.
Congratulations, Ms.
Rizhuk, on behalf of
the whole JAB team!
We thank you for the
wonderful work and
we wish you even
more success!• Crea-
tivity Camp
• Global Entrepre-
neurship Week
• Intel Business Chal-
lenge Europe
jA - YE TEACHER OF THE YEAR
A Bulgarian teacher became “Teacher of the Year” of JA-YE
Europe

Students from all over the
country became managers and
senior state officials during
the “Manager for a Day” ini-
tiative on March 19, 2012.
The eleventh edition of the
event that took place under
the patronage of the Minis-
ter of Finance Mr. Simeon
Dyankov gave more than
1000 enterprising young-
sters the opportunity to
visit 270 leading companies,
organizations and state in-
stitutions.
The President of the Re-
public of Bulgaria Rosen
Plevneliev gave the official
start of the first working
day of the young people
by symbolically sound-
ing the bell of the Bul-
garian Stock Exchange.
Mr. Plevneliev hosted his
young President for a Day
Polina Nedelcheva from
the Technical University
in Sofia. She had the op-
portunity to participate
in working meetings and
to present her manage-
rial ideas to the Presi-
dent. The patron of the
initiative - Finance Minis-
ter Simeon Dyankov was
“shadowed” by Iva Pavlo-
va, fourth-year student at
the University of National
and World Economy who,
together with the Minis-
ter, took part in important
decision-making about
the economy of Bulgaria.
Among the official guests
of the initiative who also
hosted young managers
were H.E. James Warlick,
U.S. Ambassador, and
Ms. Yordanka Fandakova,
Mayor of Sofia.
During their one-day work
experience, the young
people have the chance
to develop business skills,
get to know different
market models and be
included in the working
process. The young lead-
ers participate in practical
activities, in idea-genera-
tion processes, as well as
in decision-making pro-
cesses in the organization
they manage for a day.
The current managers
can guide and mentor the
young students, share
their experience and tell
about the opportunities
for entrepreneurship and
new business ideas devel-
opment in Bulgaria.
The youngsters not only
met their mentors, but
also received valuable ad-
vice for career develop-
ment during the opening
ceremony. The guest-lec-
turer Prof. Charla Griffy-
Brown from Pepperdine
University in California
presented the contempo-
rary motivational theories
about business network-
ing and knowledge shar-
ing.on
manager for a day
More than a 1000 future leaders manage leading
companies during “Manager for a Day” 2012
10 students
from Stara
Zagora region
took on the
management of
AES Galabovo
Ten students from
Stara Zagora, Ka-
zanlak and Galabovo
took leading mana-
gerial positions at
AES-3C Maritsa Iztok
1 within the local edi-
tion of “Manager for a
Day” on April 20. The
company joined the
traditional JA Bulgaria
initiative for the first
time this year.
During their one-day
visit at AES Galabo-
vo, the youngsters
had the chance to
find out more about
the structure, specif-
ics and working pro-
cesses at the power
plant. They met with
the managers of the
company and shared
their plans and ideas
for the future. Their
more experienced
counterparts in turn
shared their experi-
ence and gave valu-
able advice for the
future professional
development of the
students.

12
manager for a day

As part of the Manager
for a Day initiative Jun-
ior Achievement Bulgaria
organized the student
conference “Smart Start”
for the third year in a
row whose target group
are college students. The
conference took place on
March 20, 2012 under the
patronage of the U.S. Em-
bassy in Bulgaria. The stu-
dents had the opportunity
to meet representatives of
different companies and to
develop solutions to real
business problems. The best
performing students were
appointed as interns in the
companies. The confer-
ence featured lectures and
workshops for high-school
students as well.
The keynote speaker of the
first part was the profes-
sor from Pepperdine Uni-
versity Mrs. Charla Grif-
fy-Brown who talked about
the development of entre-
preneurial environment.
One of the most memorable
speakers was Steve Keil
who presented his vision
about being an entrepre-
neur instead of working in
a corporation. The morn-
ing session also featured
a Q&A session with young
Bulgarian entrepreneurs
who shared their experience
and answered participants’
questions. Meanwhile, stu-
dents from grades 8-12,
participated in parallel ses-
sions on how to build your
CV and cover letter, how
to behave during a job in-
terview and how to work
successfully as a team.
In the second part of
the conference, the col-
lege students were di-
vided into 11 groups
and assigned to a spe-
cific company according
to their preference of
industry type that they
had specified in advance
when filling in their par-
ticipation forms. Thus,
students received the
rare opportunity to com-
municate in-depth for
a couple of hours with
representatives of 11
leading Bulgarian and
international companies
and organizations and
to impress them with
their ideas and sugges-
tions on how to solve
complicated challenges
from the business life
of companies. The par-
ticipating companies
and organizations were:
Nestle Bulgaria; U.S.
Embassy; ING Bank So-
fia Branch; Zagorka AD;
Hewlett Packard Bulgar-
ia; Address Real Estate;
SAP Labs Bulgaria; Bul-
garian Wind Energy As-
sociation; Publicis Marc
Group; Manpower Bul-
garia; Netinfo. Most of
them hired the best per-
forming students in their
groups as interns during
the summer.
A special focus of this
year’s events was the
involvement of 46 high
school students from
underserved communi-
ties who attended the
Manager for a Day and
Smart Start events.
These were students
of ethnic background,
mainly Roma and Turk-
ish, as well as students
of less favorable social
status who came from 7
schools in Sliven, Kotel,
Yambol and Samokov.
The main aim was to
give those students an
opportunity for better
orientation in their fu-
ture professional and
educational develop-
ment.el Business Chal-
lenge Europe
smart start
Third edition of Smart Start conference gives students a
chance to jumpstart their career
Sponsors for Manager for a Day and Smart Start

14
Smart start

The event was a joint
initiative of Regional In-
spectorate of Education
Pleven, Cherven bryag
Municipality and Junior
Achievement Bulgaria. It
was held on 19 April in
Cherven bryag.
The initiative was dedi-
cated to the 130th an-
niversary of pre-school
education in Bulgaria and
the National campaign “I
participate and I change”
announced by the Minis-
try of Education, Youth
and Science.
60 kids from the pre-
school kindergarden
groups in “Zora” and
“Borda smyana” kin-
dergardens in Cher-
ven bryag, “Prolet”
kindergarden in Koin-
are village and “Sne-
janka” kindergarden
in Radomirtsi village
demonstrated their
entrepreneurial skills
and self-initiative in
designing and model-
ling in one of the three
creative tasks that
were determined in
advance - “Our city”,
“Our neighborhood”
and “Our street”. The
chief architect of Cher-
ven bryag Municipality
drew the topic “Our
city” and all teams
worked on it.
Together with their
business mentors from
Junior Achievement
Bulgaria, Cherven bry-
ag Municipality, and
Regional inspectorate
of education Pleven the
kids showed incredible
team spirit and proved
themselves to be skillful
young entrepreneurs,
architects, designers
and construction engi-
neers. The teams had
the opportunity to pre-
sent the results of their
work and to share their
ideas about the place
and the environment
they would like to live
in, to play, to have fun
and to work. There
were some quite mod-
ern ideas about energy
supply in the city envi-
ronment through solar
panels, for instance.
The kids also shared
their determination
and concrete sugges-
tions to contribute to
the development of
their town or village.
juniors in action
Juniors in Action make their dreams come true -
Cherven bryag, 19.04.2012

16
Junior Achievement Bul-
garia was the official host
of Global Entrepreneurship
Week 2012 in Bulgaria
for the 5th year in a row.
Traditionally Junior
Achievement initiates open
classes and innovation
camps where schools pro-
mote their work on entre-
preneurship education pro-
grams.
The aim of this global ini-
tiative is to inspire young
people to explore their
potential and develop
through innovations, im-
agination and creativity, to
encourage entrepreneurs
to think globally, turning
their ideas into action.
In 2012, 131 countries
and 7.5 million people
organized 20 000 activi-
ties during GEW. GEW
was supported by the U.S.
President Barack Obama,
the Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom James
Cameron and many other
global leaders.
As the host of GEW for
Bulgaria Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria coordi-
nated 141 initiatives in
22 regions of Bulgaria!
More than 5000 young
people took part in
these events. We thank
and greet all schools
and kindergardens that
responded to the chal-
lenge and organized
their own initiative to
mark GEW in Bulgaria!
The patron of GEW for
Bulgaria was the Presi-
dent Rosen Plevneliev.
Leading events during
GEW 2012:
• Open class in 119th
High School in Sofia on
12.11.2012 - with the
participation of Milena
Damyanova, Deputy
Minister of Education,
as a consultant of the
students. Topic of the
class: “The road of the
textbook”.
• Open class in 23rd
High School in Sofia on
14.11.2012 - with the
participation of the Dep-
uty Minister of Education
and the Deputy Minister
of Sports, as jury for
projects that were pre-
sented by 2nd-graders,
6th-graders and their
parents.
• National competition
“Innovation camp” 2012-
2013 on 17.11.2012
- 60 students from the
whole country aged
15-19 took part in it.
For the first time this
year, Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria was col-
laborating with the fol-
lowing organizations
for the Global Entrepre-
neurship Week:
• StartUP Foundation
• Sofia Architecture
Week - the annual edi-
tion of the initiative will
be held in the period
26.11-02.12.2012. Jun-
ior Achievement Bul-
garia partnered with its
organizers in carrying
out the initiative “Back
to School”, part of the
Kids’ program. Archi-
tects from 8 Sofia studi-
os made 16 visits to dif-
ferent Sofia schools and
worked together with
the students in architec-
tural workshops show-
ing them how much fun
architecture can be.
• Franchising.bg
global entrepreneurship week
Global Entrepreneurship Week 12 – 18 November 2012
141 events in 22 regions
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global entrepreneurship week

18
The idea behind the crea-
tivity camp was to provide
an environment where stu-
dents and teachers would
feel safe, have fun, get
out of the box and gener-
ate fresh ideas that would
enable their student com-
panies to be more innova-
tive during the school
year. It was open only for
students and teachers in
the Student Company pro-
gram. The event took place
on December 18-20, 2012
in Borovets.
This was the first
event where not only
students were at the
center. We provided a
separate parallel pro-
gram for teachers. It
was focused on pre-
disposing them to look
into themselves, get to
know themselves better
and find the leadership
qualities that they have.
The two facilitators
based their approach on
the coaching techniques
and did a great job in
making teachers open
up to share personal
opinions and emotions.
As a result, in the end,
everyone felt strong
ties to the rest of the
group and they all left
the training very posi-
tive. The students had
trainings in leadership
skills and inspirational
lecture and group work
in innovation. In the fi-
nal task, all participants
were divided into mixed
groups of teachers and
students and received
creativity tasks that
they had to solve to-
gether. Every team had
to think of all kinds of
crazy and creative solu-
tions and present them
to the rest.
The feedback from the
creativity camp was ex-
tremely positive from
all participants. In the
end of the school year,
they confirmed that this
camp helped them de-
velop more innovative
business ideas for their
student companies.
Numbers from the crea-
tivity camp:
Number of students: 62
Number of teachers: 40
Number of trainers and
lecturers: 6
The Creativity Camp was
realized with the finan-
cial support of America
for Bulgaria Foundation.
creativity camp
First creative camp for student companies

The initiative was held for
the 5th year in a row by
Junior Achievement Bul-
garia and Citibank Bulgaria
40 students from the coun-
try demonstrated their
economic knowledge during
the final round of the na-
tional competition “Banks
in Action” which took part
on April 20 in Sofia. The
contest which runs in the
form of a bank management
simulation game challenged
the young economists to
think as financial direc-
tors and to make decisions
about the successful devel-
opment of a virtual bank in
competitive environment.
“Banks in Action” was or-
ganized for the 5-th year
in a row by Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria and Citibank
Bulgaria. A total of 10
teams from Varna, Gorna
Oriahovitsa, Isperih, Mon-
tana, Pleven and Plovdiv
qualified for the final
round of the race after 2
preliminary online rounds.
The participants had to
make management decisions
such as setting interest
rates for bank deposits and
credits, investment plan-
ning. Consultants from
Citibank supported the
young economists in deter-
mining the correct strategy
for their bank.
Mr. Stefan Felstein,
Business manager of
Citibank Bulgaria, and
Mrs. Milena Stoycheva,
CEO of Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria, awarded
the winning team - Ti-
ger Bank from the High
School of Mathematics
“Acad. Kiril Popov”, Plov-
div. The team reached
the highest Bank Per-
formance Index which is
calculated on the basis
of factors such as net
profit, return of assets
and liabilities, share of
credits and deposits,
etc.
The Bulgarian teams
also have the opportu-
nity to participate at the
annual European online
competition. The teams
that successfully go
through the European
qualifying rounds will
compete for the prize
“Best student bank of
Europe”. Last year, the
Bulgarian teams did ex-
ceptionally well, winning
first, second and fourth
place in Europe.
“With “Banks in Action”
our goal is to help stu-
dents gain precious
knowledge about the
banking sphere and
its management”, Mrs.
Stoycheva said. “Im-
mersed into a simula-
tion of a real banking
environment, the par-
ticipants train their skills
to analyze the processes
and manage effectively”,
she added.
The bank management
competition is held as
an extension to the fi-
nancial literacy educa-
tional program “Banks
in Action”. This year,
1500 students aged 16-
19 benefited from edu-
cation in banking and
bank management. 325
students took part in the
preliminary rounds of
the competition.
banks in action
40 young economists took part in the national “Banks in
Action” competition

20
29 students set their
watches right in running
virtual companies during
the finals of the national
competition “Virtual En-
terprise”. The race was or-
ganized for the 15th year
in a row by Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria and Micro-
soft Bulgaria and took
place in Sofia. The young
managers who achieved the
best results received prizes
from the Ministry of Edu-
cation, Youth and Science
and from Microsoft Bul-
garia.
“Virtual Enterprise” is
an educational online
competition organized on
national, European and
global level. This year,
734 students from 24 cit-
ies in Bulgaria took part in
the contest and competed
for 2 months. The partici-
pants in the virtual game
started online companies
under equal conditions
and made decisions about
five main indicators of the
product: price, production
volume, marketing, capi-
tal investment, and R&D.
Their decisions should take
into consideration the real
market environment and
the macroeconomic policy.
A total of 8 teams from
Plovdiv, Samokov, Gorna
Oriahovitsa, Kazanlak and
Pleven reached this year’s
final after outrivaling 212
teams in the first online
phase of the game. In the
final round the teams had
to create virtual compa-
nies that compete with each
other in the production
and sales of a hologenera-
tor - an imaginary innova-
tive product invented for
the purposes of the compe-
tition.
Apart from taking part
in the team race, the
students had to fill in
an individual econom-
ics test which, together
with the team ranking,
determined individual
winners in the game.
They received diplomas
that gave them the op-
portunity to apply for a
scholarship to the mu-
nicipality they live in.
The program “Virtual
enterprise” is designed
for students aged 15
and 19. It gives them
the chance to test and
develop their business
skills by making deci-
sions that have a real
impact on the company
they manage. In Bulgar-
ia, “Virtual enterprise” is
included in the official
calendar of educational
competitions of the Min-
istry of Education, Youth
and Science.
ja titan
Young managers competed for best virtual enterprise
of Bulgaria

T h e
wi n n e r s
were determined after the
final of the national ini-
tiative “Innovation Camp”
in Sofia on March 1 2012.
The competition was organ-
ized by Junior Achievement
Bulgaria and provoked 100
young students to create a
vision and marketing strat-
egy for a new hi-tech prod-
uct.
The members of the winning
team were: Andrea Petrova
from Vidin, Ivona Velkova
from Vratsa, Vanya Hris-
tova from Veliko Tarnovo,
Mehmed Kyuchukov from
Ruse and Tsvetan Miniovski
from Vratsa. They created
a concept for an innovative
portable device called Flex
Case. This product of the
future is actually a combined
laptop-case made of plastic
matter with a stretchable
screen that can take any
dimensions set by the user.
The processor, li-ion bat-
tery, and wi-fi and blue-
tooth antennas are embed-
ded into the case, while the
screen can be taken out and
put on different places. The
main goal of the technol-
ogy is to make the dynamic
life of the modern business
consumer easier. With their
idea, the students earned
the honor to represent Bul-
garia in the European round
of the competition on May
21-23, 2012 in Brussels
with participants from 13
countries.
The runner-up award
was given to Team 8 for
the device “Hemera” - a
mini computer (10 x 5
cm) which can be placed
on smooth surface (e.g.
a table) and can project
a laser keyboard on one
side and a screen on the
other side. A special sen-
sor locates which key-
board keys are pressed
and they automatically
appear on the screen.
The third place went to
Team 20 who proposed
the product Tabset - a
mobile roll tablet device
for blind people. The
device works with voice
commands and can read
different materials from
the Internet according
to the orders given by
the user. The device also
has GPRS, parktronics
and infrared camera that
guide the movement of
the blind person both in
daytime and in the night.
One hundred students
from 29 schools in the
country took part in the
one-day competition “In-
novation Camp”. They
had to show teamwork
and creativity skills in or-
der to solve a challenge
posed by Intel. Divided
into 20 teams the par-
ticipants had the task
to create a project for
new hi-tech product that
could change the future
of the hi-tech sector.
Nineteen business volun-
teers helped the young
innovators to create a
business model, mar-
keting strategy, pricing,
competition analysis and
visualization of the new
product. A five-member
jury evaluated all 20 solu-
tion and chose the most
innovative, effective and
applicable technological
concept with high social
benefit.
This final edition of the
Innovation Camp under
the European Creativity
and Innovation Challenge
project was realized with
the financial help of the
European Commission
(DG Education and Cul-
ture), Microsoft Bulgaria
and Intel, and in part-
nership of the Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sci-
ence.
Innovation camps
Five talented students won the honor to represent Bulgar-
ia at a European competition for innovative thinking

22
T h e
final of
the National Competition
“Innovation Camp” 2012-
2013 was held at Betahaus,
Sofia, on 17.11.2012 as
part of the Global Entre-
preneurship Week. 60 stu-
dents from schools in the
whole country participated
in it. They were selected in
a preliminary round on the
basis of the solutions they
provided to a challenge re-
lated to the development of
business in space.
The competition challenged
the youngsters who were
divided into 12 teams of 5
people to propose an innova-
tive, creative but also real-
istic solution to the problem
below:
Show us the ideal school
- what will be the physi-
cal environment, how
and what will be learned
and done in it so that stu-
dents are motivated to go
there with desire.
During their work the
teams had access to
computers and Internet.
With these resources
they had to develop their
solution within 5-6 hours.
The jury criteria included:
innovativeness of the so-
lution, applicability, social
benefits, stage presen-
tation and quality of an-
swers to jury questions.
Another resoource the
teams could use were
the advice of 8 volunteer
business consultants.
The winning team pre-
sented an idea based
on the vision of a more
accessible approach to
education through prac-
tice called “learning by
moving”. The overarching
principle is learning in an
environment that is close
to the real which will pro-
voke students to observe,
explore, try and find pro-
cesses, phenomena, to
determine the composi-
tion, functions and other
characteristics of objects
and to connect them with
the theoretical founda-
tions from the respective
school subjects that they
already know. The team
also proposed a very well
developed specific physi-
cal environment and ar-
chitecture of the school
of the future. The archi-
tecture and facilities have
a unique form resembling
the sign for infinity. This
style expresses the idea
that knowledge is infi-
nite and can bring us to
new horizons. The ideal
school is S-shaped in or-
der to suggest harmony
and tranquility because it
has been psychologically
ascertained that rounded
shapes decreased ag-
gression.
Innovation camps
National Competition “Innovation camp” 2012
SPONSORS

T h e
team of
Andrea Petrova from Vidin
impressed the international
jury with a ring of the fu-
ture.
The innovation camp pushes
students to come up with
realistic product and ser-
vice concepts against a tight
deadline of 24 hours. They
must work in an internation-
al team, communicate in dif-
ferent languages with other
young people they have never
met. The process promotes
innovative thinking and the
improvement of collabora-
tion skills; students work
closely with a wide range of
business people as mentors
to help shape their ideas.
10000 students par-
ticipated in 78 camps
across Europe under the
European Creativity and
Innovation Challenge
Network funded by Leon-
ardo da Vinci Networks
Programme over the
last 3 years. Every camp
focused on a different
challenge and this time
students were asked to
improve Europe’s com-
petitiveness. This year’s
final had 78 students
from 14 European coun-
tries supported by 27
mentors from INTEL, GE
and EUROCHAMBRES.
The winning team, called
the “Gloring”, developed
the concept of a ring with
a chip that will contain all
the necessary informa-
tion and data substitut-
ing an identity card and a
wallet, hence facilitating
everyday life. Ninth-grad-
er Andrea Petrova from
Vocational High School
“Asen Zlatarov” in Vidin
was a member of the
winning team and the
first one from her school
to win such an important
European entrepreneur-
ship competition.
Students trying to enter
today’s highly competi-
tive labour market need
to improve their talent for
innovation and improve
their entrepreneurial skills
if they are not going to
join the swelling ranks of
unemployed youth. JA-YE
Alumni, on average, are
more employable and are
more passionate and mo-
tivated in their careers.
Amongst them there are
50% more startups with
higher survival rates that
generate higher revenues
and create more jobs.
Innovation camps
A student from Bulgaria won the first place in a European
innovation competition

24
Innovation camps

O n
June 30,
2012, in Bansko, was held
the final of the national
competition “Creation of
an information product
to encourage mobility of
young people in Bulgaria”.
The competition is a joint
initiative of the Human Re-
sources Development Cent-
er, Euroguidance Bulgaria,
Europass Bulgaria, Junior
Achievement Bulgaria and
the European information
center Europe Direct Sofia.
Bansko was chosen to
be the host town of the
event because of the
250-th anniversary of the
creation of “Slav-Bulgar-
ian History” by the Bul-
garian Revival harbinger
Paisiy Hilendarski, born in
Bansko in 18th century.
The participants in the
seminar were welcomed
by the deputy mayor of
Bansko, Alexander Mat-
surev.
During the event, the
6 best students teams
went through a presen-
tation skills training and
presented their project
ideas to the competition
jury:
• Fiesta Mobile Travel
• Poslanik Group
• I study in Europe
• Eurobook
• Bulgarian talents
• Boyar Dreams
After a close contest and
the deciding vote of the
audience, the win was
taken home by Boyar
Dreams, Veliko Tarnovo,
with their project for
an information Internet
website with elements of
an online game for young
people who are interest-
ed to travel abroad.
The official presentation
of the winning website
is planned for the begin-
ning of December.
More information and
videos from the competi-
tion: www.euroguidance.
hrdc.bg.
other achievements
“Boyar Dreams” from Veliko Tarnovo won the national
competition for encouragement of mobility
Work-
ing with
global partner HP, Junior
Achievement – Young En-
terprise has developed the
Social Innovation Relay to
encourage students aged
15-18 to develop concepts
that are socially innovative
and could have a signficant
positive social impact.
The interactive web-based
learning programme is de-
signed to encourage stu-
dents to think like Social
Innovators whilst devel-
oping a host of skills that
will help them be innovative,
entrepreneurial and socially
responsible employees and
business people in the fu-
ture.
The winner in the na-
tional round of the online
competition “Social In-
novation” 2012 was the
team Optimum (General
High School “Ekzarh An-
tim I”, Kazanlak) with the
idea for a ship that sails
in its own fuel.
As runners-up the jury
determined the following
teams (alphabetically or-
dered):
• Bonida
• Hello Kitty
• SUNRISE
The winning team Op-
timum qualified for the
global round of the com-
petition and also won the
big prize in the national
round.
The runners-up received
special certificates for
their achievement.
National final of online competition “Social Innovation” 2012
sponsor:

26
T h e
President
of Bulgaria, Rosen Plev-
neliev, opened the Youth
Business Forum “Rising
Stars” on June 7 at Inter
Expo Center Sofia. Dur-
ing the one-day event, more
than 500 students in high
schools and universities
presented their companies
which they developed during
the academic 2011-2012.
The audience consisted of
top managers and represent-
atives of state institutions.
Two juries determined the
winners in the categories
“Best student company of
Bulgaria 2012” and “Best
graduate student company
of Bulgaria 2012”.
The fourth edition of the
large-scale business forum
gathered 45 student and
27 graduate student com-
panies from all over the
country. During the open-
ing ceremony Mr. Plevneliev
welcomed the participants
and greeted them for their
entrepreneurial spirit. He
also shared valuable advice
from his own experience as a
businessman. The Mayor of
Sofia Yordanka Fandakova
and the chief secretary of
the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Science Krasimir
Valchev also welcomed the
young people and bestowed
awards for “Contribution
in forming and developing
entrepreneurial competences
on the territory of Sofia
Municipality” and “Teacher
of the year”. The Sofia Mu-
nicipality award went to 23
General High School “Joli-
ot Curie” for the scope and
wide reach of the entrepre-
neurship education programs
that the school implements
in both primary and second-
ary grades. Two prizes were
awarded for “Teacher of
the Year” - one for overall
work and achievements in
the implementation of entre-
preneurship programs which
went to Ivan Benkov from
General High School “Peyo
Yavorov”, Pleven - one of
the teachers that intro-
duced Junior Achievement
programs in Pleven; and a
second prize for community
vote determined by a Face-
book vote - this award went
to Stefka Atanasova from
Foreign Languages High
School “Aleko Konstanti-
nov” in Pravets.
This year most students
proposed projects that
had a social benefit ele-
ment, such as accessories
that help disabled peo-
ple, educational games,
charitable events, train-
ings in sexual and repro-
ductive health, etc. Oth-
ers had chosen products
with guaranteed market
demand such as food
production, souvenirs
production, newspapers
and books publishing and
distribution.
On the university level,
the most popular prod-
ucts were online solu-
tions, among which edu-
cational platforms and
social media, fun games,
applications that make
the dynamic lifestyle of
people easier. Some of
the companies work in
the sphere of services
such as team buildings,
events, trainings, HR ser-
vices, etc.
At the end of the event, an
independent jury, made
up of representatives of
business, NGOs and state
institutions that have a
relation to the youth en-
trepreneurship sphere,
assessed the participants’
performance and chose
the best teams.
BEST STUDENT COMPA-
NY OF BULGARIA:
No Excuse, Mathemati-
cal School “Petar Beron”,
Varna - they won with the
idea for an online school
organizer that contrib-
utes to the better aware-
ness of the students in
the school about differ-
ent social, cultural, sports
events, civil initiatives
and organizations and
encourages the involve-
ment of the students.
BEST START-UP COMPA-
NY OF BULGARIA:
Olive Mobile, Sofia Uni-
versity “St. Kliment
Ohridski” - for “What to
Eat” - mobile phone ap-
plication which makes
the dynamic lifestyle of
young people easier by
enabling them to choose
their personalized menu
of healthy food.
Rising stars
The President Rosen Plevneliev opened Youth Business Fo-
rum “Rising Stars” 2012
sponsorS:

rising stars

28
Six ideas for new business
start-ups were presented
by students at the Ameri-
can University in Bulgar-
ia. The business contest
was organized within the
entrepreneurship educa-
tion program of AUBG
which is based on Junior
Achievement methodology
and supported by Citibank
Bulgaria.
The entrepreneurship edu-
cation program at AUBG
is based on real busi-
ness experience and gives
a selected group of stu-
dents the opportunity to
put into practice what
they learned during the
classes, as well as to test
their business ideas. The
program launched in Oc-
tober 2011 when AUBG
students took part in a se-
ries of lectures, with more
than 80 students signing
up for the very first lec-
ture. Later, 22 students
were selected to continue
their education in a special
entrepreneurship course.
During the course, the
participants formed teams,
chose business ideas and
developed the business
plans that they presented
at the April 24, 2012,
event. The business ad-
ministration professor at
AUBG, Veneta Andonova,
who coordinates the en-
trepreneurship program,
explained: “This program
enables students to draw
first-hand experience
which really changes their
way of thinking. They even
think how to turn their
ideas into a real success-
ful business.”
A special jury deter-
mined the best perform-
ing team which received
a financial award. All
top projects will have
the opportunity to com-
pete on national level in
June 2012. The mem-
bers of the jury were:
Mr. Stefan Felstein,
Business Manager of
Citibank Bulgaria, Ms.
Milena Stoycheva, CEO
of Junior Achievement
Bulgaria, and Mr. Dilyan
Pavlov, AUBG alumnus,
successful entrepreneur
who cofounded and has
run several leading soft-
ware companies.
AUBG & JA Enterprise Startup Program
AUBG students present business projects in a Citibank
Bulgaria-supported program

The Bulgarian startup Im-
agga won second place and
award of $15 000 for
their innovative product
for pictures within cloud
technologies. Imagga is a
company established by JA
Alumnus Georgi Kadrev
and his team present a
decision for automated
analysis of pictures in the
cloud. Imagga went to the
finals of Intel Business
Challenge in US Berkeley,
California.
Intel Business Challenge
Europe 2012 is a competi-
tion for innovative prod-
ucts, smart technologies
and interactive web & mo-
bile applications in differ-
ent areas.
- Healthcare & Medical
devices
- Energy and Cleantech
- People & Society
- ICT
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
The competition is an
excellent opportunity
for teams to learn about
how to start a company
as well as a chance to
promote their project to
a valuable network of
entrepreneurs, academ-
ics, and investors.
IBC Europe participants
had the opportunity to
receive advice from ex-
perts, mentors, meet
other entrepreneurs,
and receive feedback
from the jury. These op-
portunities were avail-
able to the teams that
advance to the second
round.
intel buisness challenge
Imagga won second place at Intel Business Challenge
Europe 2012
J u n -
ior Achievement Alumni
Business Club has 24 ac-
tive members. During the
year, the JA Alumni club
worked in the develop-
ment of activities within
high schools. 10 new mem-
bers from high schools
joined the club in 2012.
At the end of the year
JA Alumni Bulgaria has
joined the JA-YE Alumni
project Changing Lives.
The project was launched
in November 2012 and it
involves Changing Lives
open lectures and Chang-
ing Lives cafes aiming to
promote Junior Achieve-
ment among the students.
The Changing Lives
campaign is an initiative
spear headed by JA-YE
Alumni Europe, which
aims to spread aware-
ness about entrepre-
neurship among youth
of Europe.
The idea of the project
is to encourage former
students from the edu-
cational entrepreneur-
ship programs of Junior
Achievement – Young
Enterprise to pass their
inspiration forward by
going back to school.
The message that
Alumni want all the for-
mer students to share is
threefold:
- Inspire: sharing their
personal story.
- Empower: talking
about entrepreneurship
as a career path.
- Challenge: bringing
an interactive ‘learning-
by-doing’ challenge into
the classroom.
The Campaign began in
2012 and the aim is to
reach 100.000 students
in Europe within a little
over a year.
JA Alumni Business Club in 2012
To find out more about
Georgi Kadrev and the
success of Imagga, you
can watch a JA movie
presenting his person-
ality:
https://vimeo.com/73845603

30
As part of the national
educational strategy for
further implementation of
entrepreneurship
programs and educating
young people in financial
literacy and economics, JA
Bulgaria
targeted 134 SOU “Dim-
cho Debelyanov” in Sofia
as one of the pilot schools
to implement all
educational entrepreneuri-
al programs in each educa-
tional level – elementary,
middle grades
and high school. This hap-
pens with the support of
the Jewish community in
Bulgaria through Shalom
– the organization of Jew-
ish people in Bulgaria.
We launched the project in
January with a training of
teachers. 6 teachers from
the school were trained to
deliver “Our Community”
(for 4th grade), “It’s my
Business” (for 6th grade),
Company Program (for
10-12th grade) and Titan
(for 9-12th grade).
One of the volunteers
that supported the ed-
ucational activity with
hands-on experience in
134 SOU “Dimcho De-
belyanov” was Mr. Eli
Anavi, State Expert in
the SME Policy Unit in
the Ministry of Econo-
my, Energy and Tour-
ism. He was invited to
visit 9th grade students
and help the young en-
trepreneurs run their
startup company bet-
ter. During his stay Mr.
Anavi was given a short
presentation about the
main activity of the mini
company “Mejducha-
sie” – pre-press, publi-
cation and distribution
of school newspaper
“3,14”. The students ex-
plained how they came
up with the idea for the
newspaper, what kind
of obstacles they met
during the release of
the first issue and what
their future plans were.
Eli Anavi discussed with
them why SMEs are im-
portant for the econo-
my, what company bal-
ance and basic structure
of a business plan is.
After the lesson, Mr.
Anavi shared: “The
work of students as em-
ployees and managers
of the student company
is impressive. The pro-
duced newspaper has
all features of a real
newspaper and corre-
sponds to the interests
of the targeted readers
– the whole school com-
munity. Everyone on
the team knows which
are his/her responsibili-
ties and gives a contri-
bution to the common
business. The pupils un-
derstand the economic
logic of the enterprise
and prepared a realis-
tic business plan. I do
believe that the accu-
mulated experience will
be useful for all of them
as future entrepreneurs
and/or active members
of our community”.
For the current project,
we engaged all young-
sters from 134 School
in the activities that co-
incide with the major
activities in the annual
calendar of JA Bulgaria.
The key activities were
the national Manager
for a Day initiative, the
National competition
“JA Titan” and Youth
Business Forum “Ris-
ing Stars” in June. The
student company from
134th High School won
the award for best de-
but during Rising Stars.
The results from the pi-
lot project proved the
potential for develop-
ment of entrepreneurial
education in concrete
schools with the sup-
port of local communi-
ties who actively get in-
volved as mentors and
champions of entrepre-
neurship and creativity
education.
adopt-a-school project
INTRODUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EDU-
CATION IN 134 “DIMCHO DEBELYANOV”SCHOOL SOFIA

Three
workshops
were held in Sofia in the
period 24-28.09.2012 in
which 90 students from 8
Sofia schools took part.
The workshops were part
of the project “The place of
young people in the future
of Sofia” of Junior Achieve-
ment Bulgaria which was
realized with the financial
support of Sofia Municipal-
ity through the “Europe”
Program. Their idea was
to connect young people
with several cultural insti-
tutions in Sofia and show
them different aspects of
cultural activity combined
with business approaches
to its financing. The three
institutions were: House-
museum of composer Pancho
Vladigerov, University of
Architecture, Construction
and Geodesy, and “Rakursi”
Art Gallery. The topic is
especially important in rela-
tion to Sofia’s application
for European Capital of
Culture 2019.
During the workshops
the students could work
in groups trying to solve
different challenges, to
give their ideas about
how cultural institutions
can attract more people,
how they can structure
their cultural events, how
to involve architecture
in help of culture. They
could also test their pres-
entation skills. Among
the interesting sugges-
tions for the craziest cul-
tural place in Sofia was
the idea for signposted
open-air places in the
shape of a guitar where
street musicians could
perform. Other students
insisted that Sofia Munici-
pality provide a special
place for 3D street art.
In order to promote a
forthcoming exhibition of
painter Vladimir Dimitrov-
Maistora students from
First English Language
School and the National
High School of Business
and Finance suggested
that the metro railcars be
painted on the outside
by promising young art-
ists with chronologically
arranged motifs from
Bulgarian history, thus
giving people opportu-
nity to learn something
new while waiting at the
metro station. The muse-
um of Pancho Vladigerov
received valuable advice
how to use the potential
of social media to attract
interest to its activities.
Theplaceofyoungpeopleinthefuture of Sofia
Students from Sofia explored the business-culture rela-
tionship in the capital
sponsor:

32
bulgarian teams @ competitions

SUPPORTERS & CONTIBUTORS
America for Bulgaria Foundation
Citi Foundation
U.S. Embassy
Hewlett Packard Bulgaria
Porsche Inter Auto BG
Nestle Bulgaria
Elin Guri and Ralitsa Agayn
Human Resources Development Center
Publicis / MARC
Manpower Bulgaria
Sofia Municipality
AES Bulgaria
Microsoft Bulgaria
GE Foundation
Boni Bonev / Vaptzarov AD
Kempinski Hotel Zografski
Inter Expo Center Sofia
Ministry of Education, Youth and
Science
SAP
European Lifelong Learning Pro-
gramme
Dundee Precious Metals
Andon Ichev
Economedia
Balkan News Corporation
Emmis Bulgaria
Manager Magazine
Darik Radio
Karieri.bg
PC World
Investor
Netinfo
Novinite.com
Expert.bg
Actualno.com
BIGTHANK YOU!

34
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JA Bulgaria Annual Report 2012

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