A third-generation Arizonan, Sam Alpert was the Chief Development Officer for Junior Achievement of Arizona (JA) when awarded his Piper Fellowship, which provides career and financial literacy education to 85,000 K-12 students annually, helping them build the foundation for future success. Since he joined the organization in 2013, he has led JA to some of its best fundraising years in its 65-year history. Previously, he spent 11 years in the marketing field including owning an advertising and PR agency where he represented Dunkin’ Donuts, Cox Communications, and KJZZ-NPR, among other brands. He was honored as one of the Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2016. His advertising agency won the Phoenix Chamber’s IMPACT Award for Best Company Culture and was also a finalist for ASU’s Spirit of Enterprise Awards. A proud father of two daughters, Alpert received an MBA and a BA in journalism from Arizona State University.

Alpert’s Fellowship plans focused on helping Junior Achievement continue to be innovative in all aspects—program delivery, community engagement, company culture, and branding—to help position the organization as the leader in educating young people on what it takes to become successful in work and life. He plans to attend the TED Summit, IBM Think Conference, and the SXSW EDU Conference & Festival, as well as the Berkley Executive Education “Innovation Organization” program.