Providence Youth Student Movement

What Providence Youth Student Movement does

Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) is a nonprofit, youth-led community organization headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island that organizes Southeast Asian refugee communities — primarily Lao, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Hmong youth ages 13–19 — against the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline. The organization is part of the broader Providence student-of-color ecosystem, where it works alongside the PASS Coalition and Our Schools PVD. Mission delivery combines community organizing, leadership development, nonviolent direct-action training, legal support, and policy advocacy at the intersection of racial justice, immigration rights, and educational equity. The organization is currently searching for a new Executive Director and lists Deportation Defense Organizer Jenni Nguyen among its named staff.

PrYSM's core products are programs and resources rather than technology. Programmatic offerings include the Organizing Circle (a twice-weekly youth leadership development program featuring a 30-hour Nonviolent Direct Action training series with a $900 participant stipend) and RICE (Rhode Island Civic Engagement), which empowers Southeast Asian refugees with deportation orders through legal clinics with criminal defense and immigration attorneys, organizing resources, and mental health support. Educational resources include the Lao Deportation Toolkit, Know Your Rights: ICE, the Know Your Rights guide on the Providence Community Safety Act, and the PASS Coalition Plan for Police-Free Schools. Active campaigns include the multi-year SEARR Campaign (Southeast Asian Relief & Responsibility) tied to the 50-year milestone since the end of US wars in Southeast Asia and the Southeast Asian Defense Fund for deportation defense.

PrYSM operates as a donation- and grant-funded nonprofit with no formal pricing model, no proprietary technology platform, and a single domestic operating geography (Rhode Island). Its go-to-market is community-led organizing — outreach is conducted via Facebook, Instagram, a monthly Mailchimp newsletter, the prysm.us website (built on Squarespace), community events, marches, rallies, NVDA trainings, and direct partnerships with allied organizations including ARISE, PSU, YIA, RIUDL, Young Voices, SEAFN, the Center for Democratic Purposes, Brown University, Black Earth Lab, and Amor. Donations are processed via ActBlue.

Name

Providence Youth Student Movement

Legal name

Providence Youth Student Movement

Website

https://prysm.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PrYSM is a nonprofit, youth-led community organization in Providence, Rhode Island that empowers Southeast Asian refugee youth through leadership development, deportation defense, and campaigns for police-free schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Advocacy Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Individual and Family Services (6241), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Immigrant & Refugee Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI), Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE)

Keywords

• Community organizing services
• Youth leadership development
• Immigration advocacy programs
• Refugee support services
• Policy advocacy campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

Providence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: PrYSM operates as a nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations, including the Southeast Asian Defense Fund launched for deportation defense work.
2. Individual Donations: Accepts individual donations via ActBlue platform to support youth programming, campaigns, and deportation defense work.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PrYSM is a youth-led nonprofit that organizes Southeast Asian refugee communities through leadership development programs (Organizing Circle), refugee civic engagement and deportation defense (RICE program), and policy advocacy campaigns. The organization provides know-your-rights resources, legal clinics, and grassroots organizing training to combat the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline in Rhode Island.

Product overview

Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) is a youth-led community organization offering programs and resources rather than a unified technology product. The core programs include the Organizing Circle for youth leadership development (ages 13-19) and RICE (Rhode Island Civic Engagement) for Southeast Asian refugee empowerment. The organization provides educational resources including the Lao Deportation Toolkit, Know Your Rights guides, and Know Your Rights: ICE materials. PrYSM also leads advocacy campaigns including the PASS Coalition for police-free schools, the SEARR Campaign for Southeast Asian relief, and manages the Southeast Asian Defense Fund for deportation defense. These offerings work together to address the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline through youth empowerment, legal support, and systemic advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RICE (Rhode Island Civic Engagement): Program empowering Southeast Asian refugees with deportation orders to fight for their right to stay with their families
• Organizing Circle
• PASS Coalition (Providence Alliance for Student Safety)

Products and services

• Rhode Island Civic Engagement (RICE) Program empowering Southeast Asian refugees with deportation orders to fight for their right to stay with their families through legal clinics with criminal defense and immigration attorneys, organizing resources, and mental health support.
• Organizing Circle Youth leadership development and mentorship program that empowers Southeast Asian youth and youth of color (ages 13-19) to create and lead community organizing campaigns for policy change.
• Lao Deportation Toolkit Resource guide designed to support Lao refugees and their families facing detention, deportation, and resettlement in Laos, covering family preparedness, community support, citizenship, and sponsorship.
• Know Your Rights: ICE Immigration rights resource providing information about ICE home visits, detention protocols, and legal protections for immigrant communities.
• Know Your Rights (Community Safety Act) Resource explaining the Community Safety Act, a Providence ordinance that determines how police should function and how to hold them accountable, including provisions on racial profiling, surveillance, and youth rights.
• PASS Coalition Plan for Student Safety Coalition plan for police-free schools and racial equity transformation in Providence Public Schools, demanding removal of School Resource Officers and investment in counselors, social workers, and restorative practices.
• SEARR Campaign (Southeast Asian Relief & Responsibility) Multi-year campaign aiming to win concrete relief for Southeast Asian communities by 2025, marking 50 years since the end of US wars in Southeast Asia, seeking to hold the US accountable for harm and violence inflicted on these communities.
• Southeast Asian Defense Fund Community resource launched to meet immediate and long-term needs of Southeast Asian individuals facing detention, deportation, and forced separation, covering legal fees and connecting impacted members with attorneys and advocates.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PASS Coalition (Providence Alliance for Student Safety)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition launched December 2018 comprising youth-led organizations working to end the school-to-prison pipeline. Member organizations include PrYSM, ARISE, PSU, YIA, RIUDL, and Young Voices. Coalition led Juneteenth 2020 march demanding police removal from schools.
• Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoutheast Asian education advocacy organization partnered through PASS Coalition and other organizing efforts
• Providence Student Union (PSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth-led student organization partnered through PASS Coalition focused on educational justice in Providence schools
• Youth In Action (YIA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth organization that joined PASS Coalition in late 2020
• Rhode Island Urban Debate League (RIUDL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth organization that joined PASS Coalition in late 2020
• Young VoicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth advocacy organization that joined PASS Coalition in late 2020
• Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional network partner working to dismantle the deportation machine through cross-state organizing and solidarity
• Center for Democratic Purposes (CDP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization collaborating with RICE program to hold legal clinics with criminal defense and immigration attorneys
• Brown UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner that has hosted deportation panels and community events with PrYSM
• Black Earth LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeaching artists who facilitate content creation workshops as part of the nonviolent direct action training series
• AmorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting RICE program and deportation defense efforts
• Our Schools PVDminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of youth-led organizations fighting for educational justice and ethnic studies in Providence Public School District

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Young Voices: Providence youth advocacy organization and PASS Coalition member that joined in late 2020. Directly comparable as a youth-led organizing nonprofit serving Providence students with similar grassroots campaign and policy advocacy approach.
• Providence Student Union (PSU): Youth-led student organization and PASS Coalition co-founder focused on educational justice in Providence Public Schools. Directly comparable as a youth-organizing nonprofit serving Providence students with similar organizing, campaign, and coalition models.
• Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE): SE Asian education advocacy organization and founding PASS Coalition member alongside PrYSM. Operates in the same Rhode Island geography with overlapping SE Asian youth and education justice focus, making it the most directly comparable peer.
• Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN): Regional SE Asian organizing network that PrYSM explicitly partners with to dismantle the deportation machine through cross-state organizing. Directly comparable as a SE Asian refugee justice network with shared campaign, mutual aid, and policy advocacy focus.
• Youth In Action (Providence): Providence youth organization and PASS Coalition member. Directly comparable as a youth-led community organizing nonprofit serving similar age demographics in the same geography with overlapping educational justice and racial equity mission.

Broad incumbents

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice: National Asian American civil rights coalition with chapters providing direct legal services, advocacy, and community education. Comparable in mission around immigrant rights and Asian American community empowerment, though broader in scope and significantly larger in scale.
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP): National policy organization focused on immigration, youth justice, and economic security for low-income communities. Comparable as a policy advocacy organization working at the intersection of immigration and youth justice, though operating at national policy level rather than grassroots organizing.
• Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC): National SE Asian American advocacy organization headquartered in DC operating at federal policy level on refugee, immigration, and education issues. Comparable as the national-level counterpart to PrYSM's SE Asian justice work, with broader policy scope but less grassroots youth-organizing depth.
• United We Dream: Largest immigrant youth-led network in the US, organizing for immigration reform and deportation defense. Comparable in mission around immigrant youth organizing and deportation defense but operates nationally with significantly larger scale and broader demographic focus.

Regional players

• International Institute of Rhode Island: Rhode Island-based refugee and immigrant services organization providing resettlement, case management, and legal services. Comparable as a refugee services organization in the same geography, though focused on direct resettlement services rather than youth-led organizing and advocacy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PrYSMProvidence
• Instagraminstagram.com/prysmfam
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/providence-youth-student-movement-prysm-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Providence Youth Student Movement