On April 13, 2026, Ivan Soto-Wright took the stage at Miami-Dade College to deliver the keynote address at Junior Achievement of Greater Miami's 4th Annual Company Program Competition. The event marked the culmination of a record-breaking year for JA Miami, with 2,054 students across 20 schools creating 70 student-run companies.
For Ivan, the moment was personal. As a teenager in Boston, he participated in the Junior Achievement program himself. It was one of his first exposures to the mechanics of starting a business — learning how to identify a market, build a product, manage money, and work as a team. Those early lessons stuck with him through college and into his career, eventually informing the founding of MoonPay, the financial technology company he built to make cryptocurrency payments accessible to everyone.
Ivan (right) at age 17, participating in the Junior Achievement program in Boston.
"Junior Achievement gave me a framework for thinking about business before I even knew what entrepreneurship really meant. Seeing these students go through the same process — building something real, pitching it, competing — that's where it starts."
Ivan Soto-Wright
A Record Year for Student Entrepreneurship in Miami
The JA Company Program is one of the largest in the United States. Students go through every stage of building a business: choosing a concept, researching their market, creating a budget and prototypes, marketing, selling, and closing out their books with a profit-loss statement at the end of the school year.
This year's field of 70 companies was narrowed down to 10 finalists from six Miami-Dade County high schools. Each team presented to a panel of judges that included JA Miami board members, local entrepreneurs, and community leaders. The winning team receives $400 per student and a recommendation to compete at Junior Achievement USA's national competition.
The program has a strong track record. Last year, the top two Miami teams were selected to present at the national Future Bound Summit. A team from Coral Gables Senior High School won the ICE Best Financial Performance Award, and a team from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School took home the Student Choice Award.
Why the Soto-Wright Foundation Supports JA Miami
Ivan serves on the Junior Achievement Miami board, and the Soto-Wright Foundation has supported JA's work in South Florida as part of its broader focus on entrepreneurship education. The foundation was established by Ivan, Adrianna, and Natalie Soto-Wright with a straightforward goal: give young people the mentorship, resources, and real-world exposure they need to build something of their own.
Programs like JA's Company Program are a direct reflection of that mission. Students don't just learn about business in a textbook — they run one. They deal with the same challenges any founder faces: making decisions with limited information, managing a team, staying within a budget, and selling a product people actually want.
Lourdes Diaz, Chief Academic Officer of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, also spoke at the event. Lourdes de la Mata Little, JA Miami's President and CEO, noted that the program connects students with local mentors and business leaders while building a talent pipeline for Miami's growing tech and innovation community.
About Junior Achievement of Greater Miami
Junior Achievement of Greater Miami reaches over 38,000 public school students across Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties each year with free programs in financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship. JA Miami earned Five Star Status from JA USA for 2023–2024 and the 2024 NOVO Award from the Miami Chamber of Commerce.
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