AAMI was established in 2001 by the Board of Regents following a benchmark study that identified extensive gaps in postsecondary attainment between African-American men and peer groups of African-American women and other student populations.

Over the years the program has evolved from a 3-campus qualitative and quantitative research study; to a 6-campus pilot program serving African-American male middle school, high school, and college students throughout Georgia; to a program co-located at Kennesaw State University focused on undergraduate students.

When program management returned to the System Office in 2017, AAMI implemented a new phase known as AAMI 2.0 in 2018. Currently, AAMI has thriving programs on 25 campuses.

African-American Male Initiative is a legacy name based on the initial purpose of the program to recruit, retain and graduate more African-American males to close the postsecondary achievement gap.

Of note, AAMI is a comprehensive program open to students who choose to embrace AAMI’s four key components of: Academic Skills Enrichment, Student Support Services, Adult & Peer Mentoring, and Leadership Development.