History

1963

At a time when the coun­try was grap­pling with the stain of racial seg­re­ga­tion, Spon­sors for Edu­ca­tional Oppor­tu­nity (SEO) was founded as a men­tor­ing pro­gram to help under­served stu­dents gain admis­sion to largely-white pri­vate col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. Exec­u­tives at top firms in law, finance, adver­tis­ing and indus­try worked one-on-one with Schol­ars, help­ing them get into col­leges such as Har­vard, Dart­mouth, Williams, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Colum­bia and Brown as well as SUNY and CUNY colleges.

1980

SEO Career launches to bring promis­ing col­lege stu­dents of color into busi­nesses that want to increase their racial diver­sity. Eleven sum­mer interns are placed at five invest­ment banks.

2000

SEO Lon­don launches.

2006

SEO finds that their Schol­ars can gain access to top col­leges but are not always aca­d­e­m­i­cally pre­pared to thrive there. In fact, U.S. Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion research shows that “A” work in low-income schools equaled “C” work in afflu­ent schools. This sparks a trans­for­ma­tion of the SEO Schol­ars pro­gram from a mentor-centered expe­ri­ence to a more rig­or­ous out-of-school aca­d­e­mic pro­gram fea­tur­ing Sat­ur­day and sum­mer classes.

Grand open­ing of SEO head­quar­ters in the heart of the finan­cial dis­trict in New York City.

SEO Career launches in China.

2009

SEO Alter­na­tive Invest­ments launches to pro­vide edu­ca­tion, expo­sure, train­ing and men­tor­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to tal­ented pro­fes­sion­als tra­di­tion­ally under-represented in the alter­na­tive invest­ments sector.

SEO Career launches in Vietnam.

2010

SEO Schol­ars is inde­pen­dently rec­om­mended to donors as a high-performing orga­ni­za­tion in the Col­lege Access and Suc­cess field by Social Impact Research, an inde­pen­dent research depart­ment of Root Cause.

2011

The Col­lege Board rec­og­nizes SEO Schol­ars as one of the recip­i­ents of the 2011 Col­legeKeys Com­pact Inno­va­tion Awards. The $5,000 grant helps sus­tain the pro­gram, rec­og­niz­ing our “inno­va­tion and demon­strated effi­cacy in increas­ing the per­cent­age of low-income stu­dents who are ready for, get into or get through col­lege successfully.”

SEO Schol­ars expands to San Francisco.

2012

Over 1,000 New York City ris­ing 9th graders applied for 127 spots in SEO Schol­ars.

SEO Career places 321 col­lege interns at 55 part­ner com­pa­nies and organizations.

Char­ity Nav­i­ga­tor, America’s pre­mier char­ity eval­u­a­tor, awards SEO a cov­eted four-star rat­ing for its sound fis­cal management.

SEO is selected as one of the top-performing non­prof­its in the coun­try by Social Impact Exchange’s new giv­ing plat­form, S&I 100. Each of the 100 orga­ni­za­tions included has been rig­or­ously screened for proof of impact and abil­ity to expand.

2013

SEO cel­e­brates 50 years of match­ing tal­ent with opportunity!