Delta has expanded its global partnership with Junior Achievement to include JA Europe as it launched the Delta Innovation Award at the Company of the Year finals in Belgrade, Serbia.

"Team Create" from Israel scooped the trophy for its cellphone mount that automatically blocks distracting alerts, such as SMS messaging, when driving, while enabling voice calls and navigation apps, thereby significantly reducing driver distraction and the risk of traffic accidents.

Presenting the award, Shane Spyak, Delta's Staff Vice President - Sales - EMEAI, and new board member of JA Europe said: "The Delta Innovation Award offers a great opportunity for us to inspire and be inspired by these young and brilliant minds. Create blew us away. For a group of teenagers to think of this product and take it through right to the manufacturing stage is incredibly impressive. And what's more important is that it's a product that can save lives too."

Create fought off competition from 39 other companies to win the Delta Innovation Award. This was one of eight accolades presented on the night with students from 36 countries represented in Serbia.

The addition of JA Europe brings Delta's sponsorship of the organization to nearly 31 divisions on four continents – North America, Africa, Asia and Europe.

The European final came just 10 days after its sister organization in the U.K., Young Enterprise held its annual awards where Delta presented the Pursuit of Opportunity Award.

In a nod to Delta's strategy of global partnerships, Paul Buckley, Delta's General Manager - Airport Customer Service - EMEAI, presented The Pursuit of Opportunity Award which recognizes excellence a company's approach to create partnerships with organizations who will be instrumental in the advancement of their business and have been innovative in securing these opportunities.

More than 16,500 students aged 15-19 from the UK, Channel Islands and Gibraltar have set up and run student businesses throughout the year, and have battled it out in local and regional competitions to make it through to the final. Among the 14 teams that made to The UK Company of the Year Awards in London, "MindSight" of Northern Ireland, received the award for their app that aims to breakdown the stigma surrounding the sensitive topic of mental well-being.

All the students who pitched their products at the JA Europe and Young Enterprise Company of the Year Competitions were part of JA and YE's flagship Company Programs, which has been running over the past academic year. The Company Program empowers young people to set up and run a real business, making all the decisions from deciding on the company name and product, to creating a business plan, managing their finances and selling their products.

Through a partnership that now spans over 30 chapters on four continents (North America, South America, Europe, and Africa), Delta helps ignite an educational spark in more than 810,000 Junior Achievement students each year.