2023 Tribute Journal

USC McMorrow NAI 2023 Gala & Awards Recap

NAI Scholar Spotlight Video

2023 Community Impact Award

USC McMorrow NAI 2022 Gala & Awards Highlights

USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative Scholar Highlights

USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI) Data Points (Since first Graduating Class, 1997)

1501 total graduates from NAI, including the class of 2023 (96 scholars)
100% High School Graduation Rate
100% College Acceptance Rate
99% College-Going Rate

Overall College Admissions and Graduation Rates 1997-2022

33% of NAI Graduates attended USC as first-year students
7% of NAI Graduates attended USC as transfer students
92% overall USC graduation rate (5-year)
72 % average graduation rate for all colleges (5-year)
300+ current undergraduates in college

Fall 2022 College Cohort

50% accepted to and 48 % attending USC
6% attending other private colleges or universities
7% attending University of California (UC) campuses
29% attending California State University (CSU) campuses
10% attending Community College Campuses with the intent to transfer to USC or another 4-year college or university

Sponsorship and Tickets

SPONSORSHIP MENU

$50,000 – Signature Diamond Sponsor

• Twelve NAI student scholarships in your name

• Recognition from the podium

• Prominent seating for 18 guests*

• Full-page color advertisement in the Diamond section of the printed Tribute Journal

• Diamond full-page in the digital Gala Program**

• Logo Recognition: event website, social media, Tribute Journal advertisement, digital program, event signage, and all event collaterals

$25,000 – Platinum Sponsor

• Eight NAI student scholarships in your name

• Prominent seating for 9 guests*

• Full-page color advertisement in the Platinum section of the printed Tribute Journal

• Platinum full-page in the digital Gala Program**

• Recognition: website, social media, Tribute Journal advertisement, digital program, event signage, and all event collaterals

$15,000 – Gold Sponsor

• Six NAI student scholarships in your name

• Premier seating for 9 guests*

• Full-page color advertisement in the Gold section of the printed Tribute Journal

• Gold full-page in the digital Gala Program**

• Recognition: website, social media, Tribute Journal advertisement, digital program, event signage, and all event collaterals

$10,000 – Silver Sponsor

• Four NAI student scholarships in your name

• Preferred seating for 7 guests*

• Full-page black & white advertisement in the digital Gala Program**

• Recognition: social media, digital program, event signage, and all event collaterals

$5,000 – Cardinal Sponsor

• Two NAI student scholarships in your name

• Preferred seating for 7 guests*

• Half-page color advertisement in the digital Gala Program**

• Recognition: digital program and event signage

$3,500 – Friends of NAI

• One NAI student scholarship in your name

• Seating for 4 Guests

• Half-page black & white advertisement in the digital Gala Program**

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS

• Single Ticket $500

* Table sponsors will host one (1) NAI Scholar and their parents or guardians at their table

**Digital program will be shared during dinner

Dinner contributions are tax-deductible except for $150 per person

USC NAI Community Impact Award

Lizette Zarate, Ed.D.

Lizette Zarate, Ed.D., a college access and success leader, has been working the service of students for 20 years. Her passion for college access stems from her journey as an underrepresented student from South Los Angeles, who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, and master’s and doctorate degrees from Loyola Marymount University. Lizette is program director, and proud alumna, of the USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative. Her research focuses on the impact of college access programming on the academic trajectories of underrepresented students. A lifelong resident of South LA, Lizette is committed to serving as a social justice leader by mentoring underrepresented students, guiding them along the college pathway, and working to amplify their voices.

Mistress of Ceremony

Alysha Del Valle

Southern California residents are familiar with Alysha Del Valle because of her presence on both television and radio. The media personality is one of the prominent faces on L.A.’s broadcast scene, alongside being a noteworthy figure in the local Latino community.

Since her grade school years, Alysha held big dreams of being the first in her family to graduate college, and also to anchor the morning news for her parent’s favorite news channel! Del Valle graduated from the University of Southern California with honors, earning a BA in Communication. She has since embarked on a local broadcast career spanning more than 18 years.

Her career began at USC developing and hosting her own show ‘LA Odds & Ends’ on Annenberg TV, while also interning for LA’s hottest morning radio show ‘Big Boy’s Neighborhood’ on POWER 106. Alysha was now also a single mother, and determined to carve out her own path within the local media landscape, so she rejected offers to work in smaller markets outside of Los Angeles. Instead she landed on-air hosting gigs at cable television shows such as LATv and nationally broadcasted SiTv, worked part-time on Channel 13’s (UPN) Assignment Desk, meanwhile holding down multiple serving jobs, continuing to manifesting her dream job.

The following years included on-air and production gigs with ‘The George Lopez Morning Show’, ‘Rick Dees In the Morning’, ‘On-Air with Ryan Seacrest’, which in turn led to co-hosting her own groundbreaking bi-lingual radio show, ‘The Morning Invasion’ on LATINO 96.3.

Along with a strong work ethic, Alysha attributes her passion for volunteering, community and social justice to her parents. While mentoring at a young women’s conference at Pasadena City College, Alysha was asked to meet with the News Director of her dream station, which resulted in finally living her dream of anchoring on ABC7’s Eyewitness News into reality. For the next 9 years Alysha earned accolades as the morning Traffic Anchor, produced and co-hosted many of ABC7’s most popular segments on Southern California Lifestyle for VISTA LA, co-hosted their weekend LA RAMS variety show, while also using her platform to focus attention on multiple underserved communities through various non-profits such as USC’s Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI).

From there, Alysha moved into the morning Traffic Anchor chair for NBC4’s emmy winning ‘Today in LA’, and for the next 3 years she also co-hosted NFL’s Sunday night post game show ‘The Challenge’ with Fred Roggin and Petros Papadakis (USC ’00). Like so many others, the year of 2021 brought on a significant career change in Alysha’s life, with the desire to pursue her own storytelling, her way. Using her popular social media platforms, Alysha focuses on highlighting community philanthropy, Latino and Latina trailblazers, her beloved LA sports teams, the gorgeous hiking trails of the Pacific Northwest and Mexico, and where to score some of the best meals in the southland! You can listen to Alysha talk all things DODGERS baseball and tacos on the ‘Bleed Los Podcast’, and she just joined Arash Markazi (USC ’04) and Chriss Mattaman’s (USC ’07) media venture ‘The Sporting Tribune’, delivering daily updates from LA, Las Vegas and Hawaiian sports teams. Coming soon, look for Alysha’s food and travel reviews with on-line channels FOODBEAST and COOKS n TRAVEL.

2023 Champion Award

Byron Allen

The “Great American Success Story” is seen in the life and work of the 2023 recipient of the USC NAI Champion Award – Byron Allen. His mantra is “Grow and Be your Best” and he acts on these words in both his extraordinary professional achievements and his far-reaching humanitarianism.

Byron is the Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group (Entertainment Studios) which he founded in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC, and owns Allen Media Group owns 36 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers including THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, THEGRIO.TV, and JUSTICECENTRAL.TV.

With all of his incredible accomplishments, Byron is most committed to paying his good fortune forward, quite notably by providing kids from underserved communities in LA with academic and athletic opportunities, and by raising money and awareness for vital research and patient programs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

The USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative is proud to present its 2023 Champion Award to Byron Allen.

2023 Sponsors