NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — May 24, 2026 — Motta Financial joined business leaders, educators, and students across Southern Massachusetts as a Connection Sponsor of the first annual Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts Youth Summit, held May 7, 2026 at UMass Dartmouth. The day-long event, themed “Impact Through Connection: The World of Tomorrow — Exploring AI as the Next World’s Fair Moment,” brought local high school students face-to-face with the people, ideas, and technologies shaping their future.

The Summit, presented by Title Sponsor Milestone Mortgage Solutions and hosted in partnership with UMass Dartmouth, featured a fireside chat with regional leaders, hands-on AI learning sessions, the JA Company Program Pitch Competition, and direct networking between students and professionals across finance, technology, education, and entrepreneurship.

Motta team member Caleb Long represented the firm on-site, joining mentors and sponsors throughout the day to talk with students about careers in accounting, financial planning, and AI-enabled advisory work.

“The students walking through that room are the accountants, founders, advisors, and engineers we will be working with in ten years — and the ones our clients will hire, fund, and partner with. Showing up early matters. Junior Achievement built exactly the kind of room where curiosity meets opportunity, and we wanted Motta in it.”— Dat Le, CPA, Managing Partner, Motta Financial

The 2026 theme — drawing inspiration from the 1964 New York World’s Fair vision of “The World of Tomorrow” — placed artificial intelligence at the center of student-led conversations about innovation, opportunity, and leadership. The framing aligns closely with Motta’s own approach to its industry: pairing modern technology with human judgment to deliver tax, advisory, and financial planning work that scales without losing nuance.

“We tell our clients that AI is the engine and judgment is the steering wheel,” Le added. “It was great to see hundreds of students engaging with that same idea on day one of their careers.”

Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts has empowered young people to own their economic success since 1919, delivering programs that reach students at no cost to schools or families. The Connection Sponsor level supports the Summit and JA’s year-round work across the region.

“Connection Sponsors like Motta Financial make this Summit, and all of JA’s programming, possible. Their support helps us keep our programs 100% free for the students and schools who need them most.”— Jeffrey Pelletier, President & CEO, Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts