JA Ottawa Company Graduates Use Technology to Pair Local Babysitters with Parents

As technology continues to evolve, companies are finding new ways to adopt technology in their business models. Local high school students Jenny Hua, Andrea Herscovich and Jenny Shen were tasked with solving a problem in their own community using technology. That’s the story behind SitterNextDoor, an online platform that matches parents with local vetted babysitters.
Jenny Hua and Andrea Herscovich are both JA Ottawa alumni. Throughout the launch of their business, these entrepreneurs applied what they learned in the JA Company program. Jenny on the benefits of her JA Ottawa experience: “This program taught me skills that cannot be learned from a textbook. There was a lot of value in being able to perform a large amount of hands-on tasks such as doing our own production, planning and executing marketing and sales tactics, as well as building our own website.” Andrea also highlights the opportunity to meet with volunteer mentors as one of the positive aspects of her JA Ottawa experience.

Connecting aspiring entrepreneurs with established leaders from Ottawa’s business, government and education sectors is an essential component of the JA Company experience. Andrea loved this aspect of the program: “Speaking with mentors allowed me to learn about the benefits of networking. While Junior Achievement Companies are managed by a team of students, the mentor is there to help the students and can be a valuable resource both within the program and available outside of the program. In running any business, it is very important to have the guidance and the opinions of an experienced mentor.”
The trio was featured in the Ottawa Business Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, CTV Morning Live and CFRA Radio. We can’t wait to see what’s next on the horizon. It’s always inspiring to see JA Ottawa students thrive!

To find out more about the impact of JA Ottawa, check out our website: onfe-rope.ca/our-work/ja-ottawa/
Find out more about SitterNextDoor here: yoursitternextdoor.com/
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