In 2008, Leaders in Training was the classroom theme of Clark County School District 5th grade teacher Erica V. Mosca. As a first-generation college graduate herself, Mosca joined Teach For America after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Boston University in order to empower students like herself to have an equitable opportunity to succeed.

In 2012, students in Mosca’s 5th grade class were entering the 9th grade in an East Las Vegas community where students have a greater chance of dropping out of high school than earning a college degree. Between 2008-2012 Mosca finished her Teach For America commitment, earned a Master’s Degree in Curriculum & Instruction from UNLV, earned a Master’s Degree in Education Policy & Management from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and worked as a Special Project Manager in the Clark County School District’s Superintendent’s Office.

During this time, Mosca was saving her money to start Leaders in Training as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in order to start in 2012 when her first class of fifth graders could be able  to join as Cohort 1 students in Year 1 of the High School Program.

Now formally known as “LIT,” from 2012-2017 LIT has empowered 80+ students with a 100% four-year college acceptance rate, 100% college persistence rate and 100% of students committing to use their education and success to empower oppressed communities. During the 2017-2018 school year, LIT will expand to 3 sites and over 140 students with Cohort 1+, 1 and 2 students in the College Program and Cohorts 3, 4, 5 & 6 in the High School Program.