Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay has gotten into the tech world with cybersecurity and boosting entrepreneurship and now it is dipping its toe into blockchain with the help of a local organization.
Junior Achievement has teamed up with BlockSpaces, which does everything from host panels on how to use blockchain within specific sectors to meetups for tech professionals. The duo will kick off its partnership with a Blockchain for Teens workshop on Feb. 20, 2020 at the #PAY Tampa Bay fintech event.
"We see nearly every major company across multiple industries interested in hiring blockchain talent in some form," Rosa Shores, co-founder and CEO of BlockSpaces, said in a statement. "These are incredibly high-paying jobs and we want to inspire the youth of Tampa Bay to pursue this exciting field of study. We also know that blockchain spurs the imagination of so many, and we hope to ignite a new generation of entrepreneurs to change the world in ways that maybe we can’t even conceive of today.”
Shores has evolved BlockSpaces the organization from a meetup facilitator to an all-encompassing educator on blockchain. While many are using blockchain as a form of cryptocurrency, it is a ledger that can be used to record transactions and payment processing.
Florida as a whole has been getting behind blockchain in recent months. In September, the state senate passed a bill to create the Florida Blockchain Task Force which is now within the Florida Department of Financial Services. Shores is vice president of the Florida Blockchain Business Association which helped push for the creation of the task force.
“We want our talent to stay here instead of leaving the state for high-paying jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities," Shores said. "That starts with a diverse talent pool both current and future. We hope to send a clear message to the youth of Tampa Bay that they have support here with the most cutting edge tech there is right now: blockchain.”
And the latest partnership from Junior Achievement follows several tech-focused ones in recent months. In August, ReliaQuest announced a partnership to bring cybersecurity training to high school students with ReliaQuest and, most recently, teamed up with Embarc Collective to create an entrepreneur lab.
“Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay understands that the world is constantly evolving and changing," Anna Ryan, director of programs for Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay, said in a release. “New technologies such as blockchain are a testament to that ever-changing environment in businesses and industries.”
