When NEF established the practice of working in tandem with foreign governments and local organizations to improve the lives of citizens, it was nearly unprecedented. NEF has since provided the model for many of today's well-known development organizations, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps. It has also left a legacy of enduring development institutions it had helped create that continue as centers of innovation and service, including the American University of Beirut's Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, American University in Cairo's Desert Development Center, Agricultural College of Rezaiye and Ahwaz Agricultural College in Iran, Center for Development Services in Egypt, and dozens of others. As an example of its legacy, one of the oldest basketball teams in Greece, Near East B.C. took its name in order to honour the foundation, since it helped Greeks refugees after the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations.