The Neighborhood Academic Initiative

The Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI) provides multiple educational opportunities for Scholars and their parents to gain an understanding of self, and obtain limitless capacity for skills enabling them to assume a measure of control over the direction and quality of life. The NAI staff interacts with participants-students, parents, guardians or advocates and community representatives-in a manner that conforms to the highest standards of honesty, compassion, dignity, and respect. These principals, permeating every aspect of the NAI theory and practice, seek to kindle motivation and hope, making the challenge of maximizing achievement pleasurable and rewarding. For Scholars living in the community surrounding the University of Southern California NAI turns dreams to reality for Scholars to attend major four-year universities.

The primary focus of the NAI program is to prepare students for entrance to USC. Students are eligible for a 4.5 year scholarship to the university when they meet a competitive GPA and reach a competitive score on the SAT.

NAI serves low economic, underrepresented, first-generation college-bound students and their families living in South Central Los Angeles
NAI scholars have improved English Language skills and reading, writing, math and study skills, as well as increased SAT 1 scores
NAI scholars maintain a working parental involvement relationship that changed the perspective views about college bound inner-city students and demonstrated a proven track record of developing Scholars who matriculate and graduate from major universities
NAI provides cultural activites such as the Bill Cosby Summer Youth Institute within the USC School of Cinema-Television
NAI provides English and Math tutoring, and Learning Enrichment Workshops: Power Reading; Writing Papers; Learning to Remember-Remember to Learn; Test-Taking Strategies; and Thinking Skills in Problem Solving
NAI supports INROADS, an internship program for inner city college bound students