Sye Initiative, Inc.

What Sye Initiative, Inc. does

SYE Initiative, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization (EIN 83-2030921) founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York City. The organization was established by George Batah and Majed Abdulsamad — themselves Syrian refugees who arrived in the U.S. through a Jusoor-supported scholarship at the Illinois Institute of Technology — to provide Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students in conflict zones with a path to higher education at English-language universities abroad. SYE operates three core programs: the Prep Program (10th-11th grade college readiness), the One Year Program (one-on-one mentoring plus comprehensive fee coverage for undergraduate applications), and the Grad Program (graduate school application support including GRE, GMAT, IELTS, and TOEFL preparation). A fourth partnership program with Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust (Rise) supports students aged 15-17 from Syria and Iraq.

The organization's service delivery is human-capital-intensive rather than technology-driven: a curriculum-based college access platform combining online materials, one-on-one volunteer mentoring, essay review workflows, and standardized exam preparation, supported by 100+ volunteer mentors and essay editors. No proprietary software platform is described. SYE covers application and testing fees (often exceeding $1,000 per student) through donations, secured fee waivers from Duolingo and College Board, and partnerships with admissions offices at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Brown, Amherst, and Rice.

SYE's go-to-market is community-led: student acquisition occurs via word-of-mouth within displaced communities, referrals through partner organizations (Rise/Schmidt Futures, Jusoor), organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), and university partner networks. The organization does not use paid advertising. SYE is funded entirely by donations and grants and does not charge students for any services. Cumulative outcomes since 2015 include 2,628 applicants, 300+ program completers, and $40M in scholarships placed at universities (a pass-through metric, not organizational revenue). Operating headcount is 1-10 with a broader board of 11 members based across New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Berlin.

Name

Sye Initiative, Inc.

Legal name

SYE Initiative, Inc.

Website

https://sye-initiative.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SYE Initiative, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that provides free one-on-one mentoring, exam preparation, and application fee coverage to Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students from conflict zones seeking admission to English-language undergraduate and graduate programs worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Education Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

University-Affiliated Pathway & Foundation Programs (EDAIAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Need-Based Grants & Bursaries (EDAIAOAB), Newcomer & Refugee Student Support Programs (EDAJAGAH), Pre-Sessional/Bridge Short Programs (Academic Prep Before Term) (EDAIAIAK), Online/Hybrid Overseas Pathway & Bridging Programs (EDAIAJAK)

Keywords

• Higher education access
• College application mentoring
• Refugee student support
• Scholarship application assistance
• Nonprofit youth education

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

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, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: SYE is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization funded entirely by donations and grants. The organization does not charge students for any services; instead, donations cover application testing fees, application costs, and related expenses for students from conflict zones. EIN: 83-2030921.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SYE Initiative delivers free, end-to-end college and graduate school application support to Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students from conflict zones. Services include one-on-one volunteer mentoring, standardized exam preparation (SAT, GRE, GMAT, IELTS, TOEFL), essay review, application fee waivers, and scholarship identification, delivered through three programs — Prep, One Year, and Grad — plus the Rise partnership pathway.

Product overview

Sye Initiative, Inc. operates a multi-program educational empowerment platform designed to help Syrian and conflict-affected students access higher education. The core offerings consist of three programs: the Prep Program (college readiness for 10th-11th graders), the One Year Program (comprehensive undergraduate application mentoring and financial support), and the Grad Program (graduate school application assistance). The organization also partners with the Rise initiative (Schmidt Futures/Rhodes Trust) as a referral pathway. All programs provide mentorship, application fee waivers, standardized test support, and scholarship guidance to guide students from conflict zones into universities worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prep Program A college readiness program for Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students in 10th and 11th grades that builds English skills, develops extracurricular and academic interests, and fosters leadership skills through classroom-based assignments and group work.
• One Year Program A comprehensive one-year program providing one-on-one mentoring and financial support to Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students navigating the college application process, preparing them for undergraduate degrees at competitive international universities. SYE comprehensively covers application expenses and supports students in identifying universities, preparing for standardized exams, writing application essays, and securing scholarship opportunities covering the full cost of attendance.
• Grad Program A graduate school application support program for Syrian and Palestinian-Syrian students that assists with standardized exam preparation (GRE, GMAT, IELTS, TOEFL), essay writing, application logistics, counselor/expert guidance connections, and scholarship opportunity identification for Master's degrees abroad at English-speaking universities.
• Rise Partnership Program A partnership program with the Rise Initiative of Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust, supporting brilliant students aged 15-17 from Syria and Iraq through SYE's One Year Program and providing access to global scholarships, mentorship, career development, and lifetime benefits for Rise Global Winners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,628 applicants since 2015, 300+ students completed programs, $40M in scholarships offered to students
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Schmidt Futures / Rhodes Trust (Rise Initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021SYE partners with Rise, an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, to identify and support brilliant students aged 15-17 from Syria and Iraq who need opportunity. Rise offers need-based scholarships, mentorship, career development, and lifetime benefits to Global Winners. SYE currently has three Rise finalists participating in its One Year Program. This is a GTM-style referral and support partnership.
• DuolingominorOthersSYE works with Duolingo to secure exam fee waivers for students, reducing the financial barrier to demonstrating English proficiency for university applications.
• College BoardminorOthersSYE partners with College Board to obtain fee waivers for SAT and other College Board assessments, enabling financially constrained students to take required standardized exams.
• International Universities (Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Brown, Amherst, Rice, others)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYE maintains relationships with universities worldwide to facilitate student admissions and scholarship placement. Students from SYE have been admitted to top-tier institutions including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Brown, Amherst, Rice, and others. SYE works closely with admissions offices to identify scholarship opportunities covering the full cost of attendance.
• JusoorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYE co-founders George Batah and Majed Abdulsamad were themselves scholarship recipients through Jusoor's supported scholarship program at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Jusoor is referenced as the foundational inspiration and partner organization that enabled the founders' own educational journeys, leading to the creation of SYE.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Questscope: Questscope works with displaced and conflict-affected youth in the Middle East to access education and livelihoods. It serves a similar conflict-zone youth demographic and overlaps on the mentorship-and-pathway model that SYE uses, though it operates more broadly across MENA.
• Karam Foundation: Karam Foundation is a Syrian-American nonprofit supporting Syrian refugee youth through education and innovation programming. Its founder (Lina Sergie Attar) sits on SYE's board, and the two organizations operate overlapping beneficiary populations and programming models.
• Jusoor: Jusoor is a Syrian-focused nonprofit that provides scholarships, mentorship, and educational programming for Syrian youth. It is the organization that funded the SYE co-founders' own undergraduate degrees and is explicitly named as SYE's foundational inspiration, making it the most directly comparable peer in mission and beneficiary profile.

Broad incumbents

• Schmidt Futures / Rhodes Trust Rise: Rise is a global scholarship and talent development program supporting exceptional young people ages 15-17, with a strategic partnership into SYE's One Year Program. It is comparable as an upstream pathway program feeding high-potential students into SYE's pipeline.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): IRC runs education and youth programming for refugees across multiple countries, including refugee college access components. It serves a comparable beneficiary population at substantially larger scale and serves as a broader incumbent in the refugee education space.
• Tent Partnership for Refugees: Tent mobilizes the private sector to integrate refugees economically, including through educational pathways. SYE board member Eva Hangartner works at Tent, and the two organizations share a refugee-serving mission, though Tent focuses on corporate hiring pathways rather than university access.
• Refugees International: Refugees International is an established advocacy and humanitarian nonprofit focused on displaced populations globally. While not a direct competitor, it operates in the same donor ecosystem and policy space as SYE and shares a beneficiary population.
• WUSC (World University Service of Canada): WUSC is a longstanding nonprofit that supports refugee and displaced students' access to higher education through scholarships and sponsorship programs in Canada. It is comparable to SYE as an institutional pathway provider, though it operates regionally in Canada rather than targeting MENA conflict zones.
• UNHCR Education Programs: UNHCR operates global education programming for refugees, including the DAFI scholarship program for refugee university students. It is a much larger institutional counterpart to SYE serving overlapping beneficiaries, but at multilateral scale rather than through bespoke mentoring.

Emerging players

• The Syria Campaign: The Syria Campaign is a nonprofit advocacy organization amplifying Syrian voices globally, with the Karam Foundation CEO on its board. It overlaps thematically with SYE on Syrian empowerment but is advocacy-focused rather than education-delivery-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SyrianYouthEmpowerment
• Instagraminstagram.com/syeinitiative
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/syrianyouthempowerment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sye Initiative, Inc.