EXP is the opportunity engine
EXP helps young people gain experience, unlock doors and build the confidence they need to succeed in school, career and life.
EXP is a Southern California 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our programs help schools deliver an innovative, career-based curriculum that makes classroom learning relevant and exciting. During the 2023-2024 school year, EXP programs are made available to nearly 8,200 high school students at 16 Southern California high schools and select OC Pathway schools.
Our success is driven by our expertise in bringing industry and schools together to solve problems and overcome obstacles so that students from underserved communities receive access to education, experience, and opportunities. More than 400 industry leaders served as EXP volunteers, mentors, and internship hosts and contributed more than 1,400 volunteer hours.
By helping schools and industry work together, EXP is changing how society prepares students for life and bringing genuine opportunity to every young person we can reach. Read our story here.
Our Vision
Every student having equal access to education, experiences, and career opportunities that will help them reach their full potential.
Our Mission
EXP prepares students for a better life. Our programs help young people gain experience, unlock doors and build the confidence they need to succeed in school, career and life.
Our Goals
EXP brings industry and schools together to build tomorrow’s workforce and provide career opportunities to students from underserved communities in Southern California.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
EXP works to reduce racial and gender disparities across the justice continuum affecting all underrepresented youth and communities. The goal of EXP is to deliver effective programs, resources and support that help advance our mission of educational access and career opportunities.
Who We Serve
We seek to expand every student’s potential. By bringing schools and industry together, we create new ways of learning, knock down barriers and provide genuine opportunity to every student we can reach.
Partnering with schools and colleges
EXP works both virtually and on-campus with schools throughout Southern California. Our programs gradually expose students to greater opportunities and more challenging experiences that prepare them for college, career and life through enhancing career pathways, small learning communities, Linked Learning initiatives and other career-based educational programs.
Unleashing the power of business to do good
We don’t just help students reach their full potential. We help businesses and industry unlock their potential, too. Their potential to do more for their communities. Their potential to shape and develop their future employees. Their potential to reignite their employees by giving them real opportunities to change a young person’s life.
Each year, more than 400 industry volunteers from across the spectrum of career professions advise our participating schools, mentor students, provide summer internship experiences for our students, as well as offer vital corporate sponsorship and individual donation funding to help EXP sustain its high quality work-based learning programs for all of our students. We invite you to join them!
Helping schools and industry work together
We bring business into the classroom and education into the boardroom. By connecting these twin drivers of our society and helping them work together, we create brighter futures for our youth and stronger communities for all of us. Our programs include:
Power Breakfasts: Industry leaders connect with community college and high school faculty to discuss key business trends and share ideas for connecting employer needs to effective training programs.
Advisory Meetings: Customizable advisory meetings that align with Ed Code requirements and bring together pathway faculty and industry leaders for a day of collaboration and discussion.
2023-2024 Participating Schools and Pathways
Barstow USD
Barstow High School
Mojave Express Logistics Academy (MXP)
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)
Central High School
Compton
Manuel Dominguez High School
CTE Business Pathway
CTE Culinary Pathway
Long Beach
Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM)
LA Harbor
Nathaniel Narbonne High School (Harbor City)
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics Magnet (STEAM)
Phineas Banning High School (Wilmington)
Global Environmental Science Academy (GESA)
Global Safety and Security Academy (GSS)
International Trade Academy (ITA)
Maritime, Agriculture, Tourism, Cuisine, and Hospitality (MATCH)
Maritime Scholars
Pilot Academy of Technology and Health Sciences (PATHS)
Firefighter Magnet Academy
Police Magnet Academy
San Pedro High School
Orange County
Arnold O. Beckman High School
Tustin High School
Hillview High School
Foothill High School (Santa Ana)
Selected schools in OC Pathways
South Bay
Carson High School
Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology (ESET)
Global Business, Law, and Government (GBLG)
Performing Arts and Media Arts (PAMA)
Gardena High School
Global Business Magnet (GBM)
Lawndale High School
Biomed Careers Academy
Marine Science Academy (MSA)
Leuzinger High School (Lawndale)
Environmental Careers Academy
Our Annual Impact
Programs Made Available for 8,400+ Students
School Year 2023-2024
78 Paid Internships in Summer 2023
2400+ Students Attended Career Discovery Events
School Year 2022-2023
800+ Volunteers Contributed 3,600+ Hours
School Year 2022-2023
99% Graduation Rate for Summer 2022 EXP Interns
86.1% LAUSD Average
90% of EXP Seniors Plan to Attend College
Senior Survey. School Year 2021-2022.
Our Story
Established in 1999 as International Trade Education Programs (ITEP) and rebranded in 2018, EXP The Opportunity Engine® represents the organization’s legacy of strength in bringing industry and schools together to prepare young people for a better life.
A 501(c)3 organization, EXP was established by maritime industry leaders and founded by a former Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner to bridge the gap between the port industry's need for a skilled workforce and the local high school's struggle to graduate students.
EXP has grown from one academy, the International Trade Academy at Phineas Banning High School in Wilmington. We now serve schools beyond our original radius of the Port of Los Angeles harbor area and engage industry sectors beyond maritime and international trade.
With our tagline “The opportunity engine,” the EXP brand builds on all ITEP has done, captures the organization’s entrepreneurial drive, honors its enduring legacy in the Port of Los Angeles, and remains true to its core goal: to help young people gain experience, unlock doors and build the confidence they need to succeed in school, career and life.