Having developed the concept of Tenacity, Ned is highly committed to Tenacity’s mission to improve the academic, character and physical development of urban youth by combining tennis and literacy instruction, with a focus on life-skills. This vision is achieved through intensive school-year and summer programs which currently serve 6,500 Boston and Worcester youth per year between the ages of 6 and 22. Tenacity has grown to become one of the top non-profit partners to Boston’s Public Schools and Parks and Recreation Departments, and second largest organization of its kind across the nation.Ned believes firmly in the power of providing a truly supportive environment for youth and teaching the value of academic achievement, putting forth one’s full effort on- and off-court, and building resilience. The success of Tenacity’s sustained 3-year Middle School Academy (MSA), the backbone of Tenacity’s Pathway to Post-Secondary Success, is highlighted by the 2012 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results of its 8th grade students who by the 3rd year in MSA are scoring 35% higher English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency levels than their Boston Public Schools counterparts, and are also outpacing their peers in terms of year to year ELA MCAS proficiency gain.In Boston, where approximately 40% of public school students drop out, 95% of Tenacity’s school-year students go on to succeed in and graduate from high school. As part of Tenacity’s Next Chapter capacity building service plan, the organization has set a goal of doubling the number of school-year students served to 2,000+ and to ensuring that 75+% of these youth not only obtain a high school diploma, but graduate from a 2- or 4-year college or an approved post-secondary program. Ned sees the value of tennis as a life-long sport and that when combined with intensive academic and life-skills development, it represents a superb vehicle enabling urban youth to ultimately become productive adult citizens.