Project 5:  MUA Community Ambassadors Project

USC Lead:   The Multimedia University Academy (MUA) Project

Community Partners:        The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, The Dolores Mission, The East Los Angeles Skills Center, The Gang Violence Bridges Project, The Pacific Asian Consortium for Employment, Fremont Senior High School, Jefferson High School, Locke Senior High School, Verbumdei High School, and Woodrow Wilson High School

The mission of the MUA is to create a “career pathway” in multimedia production technology for young people aged 17 to 23 years.  The MUA focuses its outreach on those young people “at risk” because of poverty, deficiencies in basic educational skills, and/or a lack of career goals.  The MUA is open to all who might benefit from it, particularly women and under-represented minorities.  The MUA program offers students an opportunity to acquire academic, learning, and social skills that will enable them to pursue advanced education, acquire advanced computer technology skills, and find gainful employment in the field of multimedia technology production.

             The MUA Community Ambassadors project will train MUA graduates to perform outreach in their own communities (e.g., high schools, community organizations) among other at-risk youth.  The Ambassadors will counsel students on employment prospects in information technology, the MUA, and other post-high school programs.  They will also serve as aides in computer labs and with non-profit organizations, and will teach classes in computer use and graphic arts at community organizations.  Ultimately, the MUA Ambassadors will recruit at-risk youth into the MUA program – students who will themselves have an opportunity to become MUA Ambassadors upon completing the program.

Major interim and final MUA Community Ambassadors project products will be: 

•      Presentations to community groups to increase student awareness, documented by surveys of presentation audiences.

•      A database of employers who will offer job shadowing and mentoring for project participants, and who agree to hire MUA graduates.

•      A database of contacts providing potential MUA students.

•      Skill inventories and surveys of prospective students; skill requirement and job location inventories of participating program employers.

•     An increase in the training hours MUA Community Ambassadors provide to students.

•     An increase in hours MUA Ambassadors spend helping prospective students complete applications to the MUA and other community outreach programs.