Open Avenues Foundation

What Open Avenues Foundation does

Open Avenues Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation founded in 2018 and headquartered at 860 Broadway, 6th floor, New York. Its stated mission is to build pathways for global talent to contribute to the United States by preparing U.S. college and university students for careers in high-demand STEM and business fields through experiential training led by foreign national professionals, while simultaneously creating cap-exempt H-1B visa sponsorship routes for those international mentors. The organization serves five distinct stakeholder groups: U.S. college students seeking experiential learning, foreign national professionals seeking U.S. employment authorization, universities seeking diverse talent pipelines, U.S. companies seeking sponsored foreign talent, and immigration law firms seeking alternative visa pathways for clients.

The foundation's core product suite centers on two fellowship programs. The Open Avenues Build Fellowship is the flagship experiential program in which U.S. students complete project-based work under the mentorship of global talent fellows working at U.S. companies. The Global Talent Fellowship connects U.S. employers with foreign national professionals who receive visa sponsorship and serve as mentors. Supporting products include a Build Projects curriculum covering software development, data science, engineering, and business management; structured Immigration Resources covering DS-160 forms, H-1B sponsorship, Labor Condition Applications, and travel documentation; and virtual Information Sessions for employers, international employees, and immigration attorneys. There is no proprietary technology platform, API, or AI/ML capability; the foundation is a service-delivery organization rather than a technology vendor. As of available reporting, the organization has supported 5,000+ students, 400+ foreign national participants, maintains a 99% visa sponsorship approval rate, and reports 98% of students feeling more prepared for the workforce.

As a nonprofit, Open Avenues Foundation does not generate traditional commercial revenue. Its inflows come from donations, grants, and likely employer partner contributions, though no financial figures are publicly disclosed. The go-to-market model is mission-driven: content marketing through the openavenuesfoundation.org website and blog, earned media in outlets such as Bloomberg Law, TechCrunch, and Business Insider, direct outreach to universities and employers, and self-serve applications for students and foreign national candidates. The partnership ecosystem spans at least 13 employer partners across biotech (Foghorn Therapeutics, Dicerna), data infrastructure (Fivetran), travel (Hopper), cybersecurity (Forta), AI (Breinify, Telgorithm), energy (Clearway Energy Group), education technology (Camp4, Arist), Web3 (thirdweb), and autonomous vehicles (Outrider), plus university partners including Mass Bay Community College, Calvin University, and Franklin Tech.

Name

Open Avenues Foundation

Legal name

Open Avenues Foundation

Website

https://openavenuesfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Open Avenues Foundation is a 2018 nonprofit that runs Build Fellowship and Global Talent Fellowship programs, pairing U.S. college students with foreign national mentors while providing cap-exempt H-1B visa pathways for those international professionals working at U.S. employer partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development Fellowships

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Pathway & Foundation Providers (EDAIAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Foundation/NGO & Philanthropic Scholarships (EDAIAOAH), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Workforce development fellowships
• Career pathway programs
• Immigration sponsorship services
• Experiential learning programs
• Global talent pathways

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Open Avenues Foundation runs the Build Fellowship, an experiential training program that pairs U.S. college and university students with global talent mentors on real-world projects in STEM and business. It also runs the Global Talent Fellowship, which connects U.S. companies with skilled foreign-national professionals and secures cap-exempt H-1B visa sponsorship for them. Supporting offerings include Immigration Resources (visa guides) and virtual Information Sessions for employers and immigration attorneys.

Product overview

Open Avenues Foundation operates a unified fellowship ecosystem centered on the Open Avenues Build Fellowship and Global Talent Fellowship programs. The Build Fellowship connects U.S. students with global talent mentors for experiential project-based learning, while the Global Talent Fellowship provides foreign nationals with visa sponsorship pathways through employer partnerships. Supporting services include Immigration Resources (guides on DS-160, visa appointments, H-1B, LCAs) and Information Sessions for employers and immigration attorneys. The organization does not offer separate modules or standalone technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Open Avenues Build Fellowship Experiential training fellowship that prepares U.S. college and university students for careers in high-demand STEM and business fields through project-based learning led by global talent mentors, while providing visa sponsorship pathways for international talent.
• Global Talent Fellowship Fellowship program for skilled foreign-national professionals that provides cap-exempt H-1B visa sponsorship through U.S. employer partners while placing fellows in mentorship and project-based work with U.S. students in STEM and business fields.
• Build Projects Hands-on, project-based industry engagements in which students work alongside global talent mentors on real-world challenges in software development, data science, engineering, and business management, building technical skills and professional networks.
• Immigration Resources Educational guides and resources covering U.S. visa processes including DS-160 forms, visa appointments, H-1B sponsorship, Labor Condition Applications, international travel documentation, and address-change procedures, provided to support foreign nationals navigating the U.S. immigration system.
• Information Sessions Virtual information sessions for employers, international employees, and immigration attorneys that explain the Global Talent Fellowship, visa sponsorship options, and cap-exempt H-1B opportunities as alternatives to the H-1B lottery.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% visa sponsorship approval rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mass Bay Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 December 2021Formal partnership launch announced December 2021. Mass Bay Community College and Open Avenues Foundation partnered to offer programming to students, bringing global talent into the educational ecosystem.
• FivetranminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website. Fellows from the program may be employed at Fivetran.
• KoodosminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website. Mathilde Øllgaard-Ussing serves as Head of Marketing at koodos labs.
• HopperminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner for the fellowship program.
• FortaminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• BreinifyminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• Camp4minorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• thirdwebminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• DicernaminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• Clearway Energy GroupminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• AristminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• OutriderminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.
• TelgalgorithmminorOthersCompany partner listed on the Open Avenues Foundation website as an employer partner.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Talent Beyond Boundaries: Nonprofit that builds skilled-migration pathways for displaced professionals into employer-sponsored roles. Directly comparable in connecting foreign talent with U.S. employers through specialized visa mechanisms.
• Upwardly Global: Nonprofit focused on skilled immigrant professional workforce integration in the U.S. Highly comparable mission - helping foreign-trained professionals contribute to the U.S. economy - but with an adult-job-seeker audience rather than a student/fellow audience.
• ScholarMatch: Nonprofit scholarship foundation supporting first-generation and low-income college students through financial aid and mentorship. Comparable foundation-driven scholarship/fellowship model for student career pathways.

Broad incumbents

• CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange): Established international education and exchange organization operating work-study, internship, and pathway programs for global students. Comparable cross-border career-pathway mission with much longer operating history.
• Per Scholas: National nonprofit providing tuition-free tech workforce training and employer connections, focused on underserved populations. Comparable in bridging experiential learning and employer hiring, though not specifically immigration-focused.
• Welcome.US: High-profile nonprofit mobilizing the private sector to support refugee resettlement and integration in the U.S. Operates at a much larger scale and broader political sponsorship; adjacent to Open Avenues' global-talent-integration mission.
• Year Up: Large workforce-development nonprofit combining skills training, mentoring, and employer partnerships for young adults into corporate roles. Comparable experiential-learning-plus-hiring model, though U.S.-born talent focus rather than foreign-national.

Emerging players

• Break Through Tech: Cornell Tech-led initiative expanding talent pipelines in AI, data science, and tech for women and underrepresented students. Comparable project-based STEM learning plus industry mentor placement for U.S. students.
• Welcoming America: Nonprofit network supporting immigrant-integration initiatives across U.S. cities. Adjacent mission of welcoming foreign talent; operates at policy/community level rather than direct fellowship placement.
• Parker Dewey: Micro-internship platform connecting college students with paid project-based work at companies. Comparable project-based experiential learning plus employer matching model, operating as a for-profit rather than nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/open_avenues

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Open Avenues Foundation