Operation REACH’s Founder and CEO Kyshun Webster, Ph.D., started tutoring his peers in his garage in the Lower 9th Ward when he was in 4th grade. He officially incorporated Operation REACH in 1999 when organizing his fellow students at Xavier University to lead the Home for Homework tutoring program in the St. Bernard Housing Project where he grew up.
Operation REACH, Inc. has a strong track record of developing and delivering high-quality innovative programs that produce positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. This locally-grown non-profit has worked successfully with area universities, public schools, the Jefferson Parish President’s Office, the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) and public housing officials to provide quality educational enhancement programs for children and youth. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, ORI programs had been replicated across New Orleans through NORD because of the organization’s model management systems and accountability for producing meaningful program outcomes for the city’s youth. ORI has been recognized for its community leadership by numerous entities, ranging from Tiger Woods and Mayor Nagin to the Editorial Board of The Times Picayune.
As a result of its successful track record with at-risk urban youth, cultivating community and university partnerships and working with government agencies, Operation REACH was tapped in 2008 by the Corporation for National and Community Service to replicate nationally, beginning in the states of Alabama and Georgia. In the fall of 2009, Operation REACH celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
