Access Youth Academy

Founded in 2006, Access Youth Academy is an after-school life-skill and academic enrichment program for low-income San Diego youth aged 10-24+ designed to foster equal access to higher education, healthy lifestyle habits, and post-college graduation employment.We believe every child should have equal access to achieve their full potential.Access Youth Academys mission is to transform the lives of underserved youth through academic enrichment, health and wellness, social responsibility, critical thinking, and leadership development using the sport of squash as a catalyst.Access Youth Academy students are low-income as defined by Federal standards. Most currently come from high-need neighborhoods in Southeastern San Diego and strive to be the first in their families to attend college. Barriers to success include poverty, food insecurity, neighborhood violence, and family instability.Over 17 years, Access students have achieved a 100% high school graduation rate, a 100% college acceptance rate, secured over $10.8 Million in earned scholarships, and our student- athletes have won a total of 13 National Squash Titles. Access students have been accepted to and earned degrees from some of the nations top-rated schools including Columbia, Dartmouth, Amherst, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Trinity, Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCSD. Access program graduates have entered careers in biotechnology, structural engineering, cognitive science, medical fields, finance, and immigration law.