Access Youth, Inc.

What Access Youth, Inc. does

Access Youth, Inc. is a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 that delivers school-embedded youth development programming to at-risk middle and high school students. The organization operates three core programs — Truancy Prevention, Restorative Justice in Schools, and M.A.D.E. (My Attitude Determines Everything), a girls' leadership program — through 12 full-time Program Managers embedded five days a week inside eight DC Public Schools in Wards 7 and 8 (four high schools: Anacostia, Ballou, Eastern, H.D. Woodson; four feeder middle schools: Hart, Johnson, Kelly Miller, Kramer). Services are provided at no cost to students or schools; the organization originated in 2009 at the request of the DC Office of the Attorney General as the district's first restorative justice-based alternative to prosecution, then pivoted in 2011 toward upstream school-based prevention, and in 2021 extended the continuum into 6th grade.

The business model is grant-funded and donation-supported rather than fee-based. Revenue streams comprise individual recurring donations through the Guiding Stars monthly giving program, grants from a cluster of named private foundations (Harman Family, Cafritz, Philip L. Graham, Fowler Memorial, Washington Community Foundation, Yield Giving, plus past supporters including Impact100 DC, Meyer Foundation, Marriott Foundation, and NBC/Comcast), and government funding from five DC agencies (DC Public Schools, Office of Victim Services & Justice Grants, Office of the State Superintendent for Education, DC Office of the Attorney General, and DC Department of Behavioral Health). Programs are outcomes-tracked, with reported metrics of 95% graduation/promotion, 85% increased pro-social behavior, 20-25% fewer unexcused absences than non-participating peers, and 85%+ of restorative justice participants avoiding suspension for similar offenses. The organization serves nearly 1,000 students annually and over 9,000 cumulatively since founding.

Operationally, Access Youth is governed by a 12-member board and led by Founder and Executive Director Jodi Ovca, with a leadership team including a Director of Finance and Operations, Senior Director of Programs, Assistant Director of Programs, Director of Grants & Development, and a Program Quality and Impact Manager. Headcount sits in the 51-100 range, with the bulk of staff deployed as school-embedded Program Managers rather than centralized administrative or technical roles. There is no technology product, platform, or SaaS component; the operating model is entirely human-delivered and relationship-centered.

Name

Access Youth, Inc.

Legal name

Access Youth, Inc.

Website

https://accessyouthinc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Access Youth, Inc. is a DC-based nonprofit founded in 2009 that embeds full-time staff in eight DC Public Schools to deliver truancy prevention, restorative justice, and girls' leadership programming to at-risk middle and high school students in Wards 7 and 8.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Development and Education Support Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Court/Community School Programs (Diversion, Probation-Linked, Community Day Schools) (EDAJAEAI), Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

Keywords

• Youth development programs
• Truancy prevention services
• Restorative justice education
• School-based mentoring
• Nonprofit student support

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations (Guiding Stars Monthly Giving): Monthly donor program called 'Guiding Stars' where individuals contribute recurring donations. When 100 people give $25/month, that generates $30,000/year.
2. Foundation and Corporate Grants: Funding from private foundations including The Harman Family Foundation, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Philip L. Graham Fund, The John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation, The Washington Community Foundation, and Yield Giving. Additional past supporters include Impact100 DC, The Meyer Foundation, The Marriott Foundation, and others.
3. Government Funding: Partnership with District agencies including DC Public Schools, Office of Victim Services & Justice Grants (OVSJG), Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE), DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG), and DC Department of Behavioral Health.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Access Youth, Inc. is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that provides full-time, in-school youth development programs for middle and high school students in DC Wards 7 and 8. The organization delivers three core programs — Truancy Prevention, Restorative Justice in Schools, and M.A.D.E. (My Attitude Determines Everything) — through dedicated staff embedded directly in eight DC public schools five days a week. Services focus on improving school attendance, reducing suspensions, and preventing juvenile justice involvement.

Product overview

Access Youth operates as a relationship-centered youth development organization offering three interconnected core programs: Truancy Prevention, Restorative Justice in Schools, and M.A.D.E. (My Attitude Determines Everything). These programs are delivered through full-time staff embedded in 8 DC public schools in Wards 7 and 8, serving middle and high school students facing attendance challenges, behavioral issues, or risk of disengagement. The programs share a four-component model built on Relationship-Building, Planning & Goal Setting, Accountability, and Opportunities & Incentives. Access Youth also operates a Guiding Stars monthly donor program that provides sustainable funding for the organization's operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• M.A.D.E. (My Attitude Determines Everything): Community-building and leadership program for girls, serving 250+ students across eight partner schools with weekly meetings, life skills curriculum, summer programming, and annual retreats.

Products and services

• Truancy Prevention An in-school program that identifies middle and high school students with chronic attendance challenges and provides intensive, personalized support including one-on-one meetings, individualized attendance improvement plans, incentives, consistent monitoring, check-ins, and connection to resources to remove barriers to school attendance.
• Restorative Justice in Schools A school-based program that addresses harmful student behavior while keeping students engaged and connected to their school community through restorative conferences, re-entry support after suspension, conflict resolution skill teaching, personalized behavior improvement plans, and mentoring.
• M.A.D.E. (My Attitude Determines Everything) A community-building and leadership program for girls serving 250+ students across eight partner schools, featuring weekly groups with journaling, book clubs, accountability circles, life skills curriculum covering financial literacy and college/career readiness, summer programming, middle school conferences, and annual retreats.
• Guiding Stars Monthly Giving Program A monthly donor program that provides predictable funding for Access Youth programs, offering quarterly newsletters, exclusive insights from Program Managers, recognition based on giving level, and special gifts after 12 consecutive months of support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of Access Youth students graduate or promote to the next grade level each year
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• DC Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary institutional partner providing access to schools and student populations. Access Youth embeds full-time staff in 8 DC public schools in Wards 7 & 8.
• Office of Victim Services & Justice Grants (OVSJG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict agency partner providing funding and alignment with victim services and justice grant programs.
• Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict education agency partner supporting educational programming and alignment with state education standards.
• DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAt the request of OAG, Access Youth became DC's first restorative justice-based alternative to prosecution in 2009 using victim-offender mediation and family group conferences.
• DC Department of Behavioral HealthsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict agency partner providing alignment with behavioral health services for students.
• Anacostia High SchoolcoreOthersOne of four partner high schools in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth embeds full-time Program Managers to provide Truancy Prevention and Restorative Justice services.
• Ballou High SchoolcoreOthersOne of four partner high schools in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth embeds full-time Program Managers to provide Truancy Prevention and Restorative Justice services.
• Eastern High SchoolcoreOthersOne of four partner high schools in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth embeds full-time Program Managers to provide Truancy Prevention and Restorative Justice services.
• H.D. Woodson High SchoolcoreOthersOne of four partner high schools in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth embeds full-time Program Managers to provide Truancy Prevention and Restorative Justice services.
• Hart Middle SchoolcoreOthersFeeder middle school partner in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth expanded programming in 2021 to reach students starting in 6th grade.
• Johnson Middle SchoolcoreOthersFeeder middle school partner in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth expanded programming in 2021 to reach students starting in 6th grade.
• Kelly Miller Middle SchoolcoreOthersFeeder middle school partner in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth expanded programming in 2021 to reach students starting in 6th grade.
• Kramer Middle SchoolcoreOthersFeeder middle school partner in Ward 7 & 8 where Access Youth expanded programming in 2021 to reach students starting in 6th grade.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Large national youth development nonprofit serving millions of children across school-age and teen programming. Comparable in its at-risk youth mission but operates through club facilities and broader programming rather than school-embedded staff.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National youth mentoring nonprofit pairing adults with at-risk youth. Comparable in its relationship-centered mentoring thesis for at-risk youth, though delivered via community mentors rather than embedded school staff.

Emerging players

• iMentor: Nonprofit pairing college-educated mentors with high school students from low-income communities, with embedded school-based program staff. Comparable in pairing sustained mentoring with school-embedded delivery to drive college readiness and graduation.
• Urban Alliance: Washington, DC-based nonprofit providing high school students from underserved communities with paid internships, mentoring, and workforce development. Comparable as a DC-focused youth development nonprofit targeting high-need students, though focused on workforce pathways rather than attendance/behavior.

Direct peers

• City Year: National nonprofit that deploys near-peer AmeriCorps mentors inside high-need public schools to improve attendance, behavior, and course performance. Comparable to Access Youth in its school-embedded youth development approach and K-12 focus.
• Communities In Schools: National nonprofit that places full-time site coordinators inside public schools to provide case management, attendance, and behavioral support for at-risk K-12 students. Closely comparable to Access Youth's embedded school-based model and target population.
• Youth Guidance: Chicago-based nonprofit providing school-based counseling, mentoring, and restorative justice programs (Becoming a Man, Working on Womanhood) to at-risk youth. Highly comparable in its in-school restorative practice focus and urban at-risk youth mission.
• Roca: Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on violence interruption, restorative justice, and reentry support for high-risk young men. Comparable in its justice-diversion DNA and intensive relationship-based model targeting urban youth most at risk of incarceration.
• Turnaround for Children: Nonprofit that works inside high-need public schools to build whole-school support systems addressing trauma, chronic stress, and barriers to learning. Comparable to Access Youth's in-school wraparound support for vulnerable student populations.
• The Brotherhood/Sister Sol: NYC-based youth development nonprofit offering rites-of-passage, leadership, and educational programs for Black and Latinx youth. Comparable in its youth-led programming model and community-based wraparound approach to at-risk urban youth.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/accessshelter
• Facebookfacebook.com/accessyouthinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/access-youth-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Access Youth, Inc.