SYE Initiative

The Elevate Prize would allow SYE Initiative to radically expand its outreach, programs, and administrative capacity using our established mentoring model, to support displaced students in Syria and neighboring countries at an earlier age.

With the support of a small yet incredible lean group of staff, and a large group of dedicated volunteers, we’ve built SYE’s four programs focusing on supporting high school and undergraduate students from two conflict countries: Syria and Iraq. Our mission is to empower students from conflict zones  to realize their potential and define their roles in their countries, and societies by allowing them to pursue higher education opportunities around the world. 

At present, our budgetary constraints limit the number of students we are able to support in each of our programs and the type of support we can offer, which leaves out the less-prepared and most impacted students and also limits our ability to expand our services to students in other conflict zones. The Elevate Prize would give us the ability to send out more acceptances and guide a higher number of students in their educational goals, starting at an even earlier age which would increase the likelihood of their academic success.

Being a refugee myself, I have experienced firsthand the enormous challenges associated with continuing higher education both inside and outside of Syria. I am equally aware of the opportunities higher education offers to students like me allowing us to live normal lives, realize our full potentials, and find our voice in rebuilding our countries. 

When the Syrian war started, I felt so powerless. That powerlessness prompted me to envision SYE, an organization that helps students to succeed in their chosen fields while simultaneously building a strong network of empathetic and inclusive future leaders who have the skills, expertise, empathy, and passion to rebuild their countries. 

After years in operations, my vision grew to include not only Syria but to envision a world in which all students from conflict zones have the opportunity to pursue their dreams of higher education, regardless of barriers posed by conflict. Through SYE and its incredible team and volunteers, I am determined to empower youth in conflict zones by providing a path to higher education to realize their potential and define their roles in their countries, societies, and the world.

Applying to college requires specific steps, such as writing essays, taking standardized tests and requesting financial aid. This process can be complex for all students, but the challenges are elevated for students in conflict areas. Educational infrastructure at all levels within Syria and Iraq has been weakened through years of conflict. Furthermore, disruptions to learning, lack of testing centers, sanctions limiting the ability to pay for application fees, and more, restrict access. 

SYE provides one-on-one mentoring and a curriculum for Syrian and Iraqi students to help students overcome these barriers, focused on writing strong application essays, selecting colleges that provide generous scholarships, and preparing for the required tests such as TOEFL and SAT.. Most importantly, we support students from conflict zones by covering prohibitive application and standardized test fees and advocating on their behalf to universities. 

Despite the challenges present, each year we send our students off to universities around the world, and many return to mentor future generations. Some of the acceptances for this year’s class include Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Carleton, Northwestern, George Washington, Vanderbilt, and the University of Rochester. In addition, so far for this year, our students have collectively received over $13 million in scholarships.

SYE Initiative is innovative through the involvement of people personally affected by these conflicts and its localized mentorship model.

The origins of SYE Initiative are personal, for I am Syrian and came to the U.S. to further my education in the midst of the ongoing conflict in my country. The majority of our team, as well as many of our mentors and volunteers, are Syrian or Iraqi themselves. This representation means that we are collectively able to further empathize with our student's experiences and advocate for them. There is a significant impact on students who see someone with a similar background not only having a successful career (our mentors work in a diverse array of fields) but also dedicating time to supporting them. It makes sense, then, that a number of our alums who are now in college rejoined SYE Initiative as mentors.

Our mentorship model also uses a localized approach. From communicating through WhatsApp instead of email to factoring in the local school calendar and exam in our timeline, to explaining some aspects of the program to parents in their local language, we have gained the trust of the local communities which strengthen our impact. 

For direct impact: 

Each student we mentor pursues an academic and professional trajectory that otherwise may have been unfeasible. Based on the selective nature of SYE Initiative, many of our students enter our programs with subjects and issues they are quite passionate about, and it shows!. Members of the first SYE class are graduating this year, with a sample of their postgraduate paths including careers in data science, sustainability, and medicine. 

But, SYE is a social equity project, not just a college access program. 

So, our work goes beyond us: 

Many of our students support fellow students upon graduation. One developed his own YouTube to teach other students about STEM. Another developed a web program for students in Syria to access educational resources remotely. This same student also developed a channel to inform the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The college application process itself has a way of asserting self-realizations, particularly in the essay writing component that we dedicate significant time to in our curriculum. But, we actively provide a student-driven space that is responsive to local needs, along with direct and thoughtful mentorship. Through this, we help our students realize their potential.