March 21, 2023 21st CCLC and JAKAPA: A Step By Step Guide
Youth Development and 21st CCLC Grant Programs Youth development is one of the four critical areas in any 21st CCLC grant program, and JAKAPA can
Dr. Lisa Riegel
May 25, 2023
JAKAPA received the prestigious honor of being selected as a winner of the UMSL Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Accelerator award and as part of that award, we are proud to welcome Divine Akinjiyan to our team for an internship this spring.
Growing up in a home with a family of entrepreneurs, Divine caught the bug and hopes to be an entrepreneur someday. “To start and grow a business idea and nurture it into a profitable company is the dream for me, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to work closely with a startup and get first-hand experience in the struggles and opportunities of building a company from scratch,” said Divine.
JAKAPA is thrilled to have her. She will be working closely with our content development and marketing teams to support the overall growth and success of the JAKAPA’s product. She will be creating a number of videos we will use for marketing and in our suite of resources. She also brings a valuable perspective, as her generation is a target market for us and her opinions and ideas are very valuable in helping JAKAPA create features that will engage people her age.
“I think JAKAPA did a good job of identifying a market need and providing a solution that addresses said need. The software is relatively easy to use and one of the most exciting things about JAKAPA is that it has the potential to revolutionize the way we develop and track soft skills. Soft skills are increasingly recognized as critical for success in the workplace and life, yet they can be difficult to measure and develop. With JAKAPA, individuals and organizations can gain insights into their strengths and weaknesses, and work to improve their skills over time. This leads to more effective communication, better teamwork, and improved overall performance. Additionally, JAKAPA helps to level the playing field by providing objective feedback and training on soft skills, which can be particularly important for individuals from underrepresented or marginalized groups who may face implicit biases in the workplace. Overall, JAKAPA has the potential to transform the way we think about and develop these critical skills and could have a significant impact on individual and organizational success,” said Divine.
Divine is currently a senior at UMSL and will graduate in May 2023 with two bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics as well as an honors minor in philosophy. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria and has secured full time employment with Meta after graduation. We are lucky to have her and hope to provide her valuable experience she can use as she launches into her career.
