In winter of 2025, the USC Rossier School of Education welcomed (absorbed) the relationships and legacy of the Center for Third Space Thinking and its Third Space Youth Institute from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Dean Pedro Noguera and former Dean Ernest Wilson III contacted Professors Shafiqa Ahmadi and Darnell Cole. They entrusted the Rossier Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice with executing the summer programs with new staff and program leadership. Since 2019, the Third Space Youth Institute has hosted more than 800 high school students in our signature summer program. During the program, students learn the essential skills required to succeed in college and the workplace. Through Third Space, the Center now partners with the Los Angeles County Office of Education and  Riverside County Office of Education migrant education programs to create transformative experiences and residential programs for underserved youth. We look forward to introducing more students from California and beyond to this life-changing program.

Interactive workshops are led by USC faculty and expert instructors and include topics such as personal branding, college preparation and financial aid, the development of power skills, critical thinking, ethical AI use, and career development. Students learn the ACE-IT toolkit for problem-solving and work together in teams to develop presentations on important issues like homelessness, climate change, and the importance of voting to the democratic process.

During the program, students were introduced to the Third Space ACE-IT methodology, which is a communication tool used to frame and solve problems.  ACE-IT stands for:

Many students noted the fundamentals of the ACE-IT methodology as a key takeaway: