Prominent Tampa couple pledges at least $7M for educational program

Pam and Les Muma have yet another namesake institution in the Tampa Bay area.

Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay announced that its JA BizTown — an interactive field trip destination that’s taught fifth graders throughout the region about potential careers since 2005 — has been renamed Muma BizTown after years of financial support from the couple. 

The Mumas have been involved with both JA Tampa Bay for decades, according to a release, enriching its bizTown experience for more than 300,000 students. Now, the couple are planning to donate an additional $5 million to the program, as well as provide $2 million to $3 million in operational support. 

“We truly believe in Junior Achievement’s mission and the power of experiential learning to change lives,” Pam Muma says in the release. “After so many years, we’ve seen firsthand how BizTown, along with their other impactful education programs, sparks confidence and possibility. We look forward to what’s ahead for students.”

Renaming BizTown after the Mumas also helps keep the organization’s mock community aligned with surrounding Tampa Bay, where the philanthropists’ names can be found on an ever growing list of institutions they have supported financially, the release says. Just a few of the institutions bearing the Muma name are the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business and Muma Basketball Center, the Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive care unit at Tampa General Hospital and the Muma Children’s Hospital at TGH. 

Founded in 1965, Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay is a nonprofit that provides educational programs for kindergarten through 12th grade students on entrepreneurship, financial literacy and career readiness. Its JA Finance Park and Muma BizTown are two of its key initiatives: interactive, mock cities where students can try on different professions from journalist to firefighter or learn about personal finances and the connection between careers, salaries and costs of living. 

At Muma BizTown, elementary students spend a day in a simulated city where they take on real-world roles, running businesses and managing finances while also making civic decisions and experiencing first hand the connections between education and their future careers.