At Project Access, we believe that the current university application system must change and that we can help level the playing field for underprivileged students. Our mentors have recently been through the application process themselves and can therefore give tailored advice to their mentees. Mentors help applicants throughout the entire application process and provide support on everything from summer reading lists to their personal reflections on moving away from home.
A global community of …
5,400+
Amazing mentors
170+
Team members
6,000+
Mentees helped
Meet our trailblazers!
Campus Teams
We have amazing Campus Teams working at the following universities 🎓
Team
Meet our Board of Trustees
Emil Bender Lassen | Co-founder & Chair
Emil is a co-founder of Project Access and led our movement as its CEO from October 2017 to June 2020. He has since then chaired our Board of Trustees. After stepping back as PA CEO, Emil co-founded Home.Earth to demonstrate a more affordable and sustainable way forward for urban development. He and his team have raised $75mn to bring the vision to life and are busy building affordable and sustainable homes in Denmark. In the fall of 2023, he decided to go back to school and is currently pursuing an MPP at Harvard Kennedy School as the 2023 Crown Prince Frederik Fellow.
Dr. Emily Tomlinson | Trustee
Emily is the Director of Admissions at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. Prior to that, she worked full-time in the charity sector, serving as Head of Programme Strategy for Teach First, and worked at the University of London. Emily has been involved with Project Access in various capacities since 2016 and has, in her words, “loved every minute of it!”
Jesper With-Fogstrup | Trustee
Jesper is the Group CEO of Moneypenny and a passionate advocate for impact-driven leadership. He advises organizations such as Circl, a program bridging the gap between underprivileged youth and emerging professionals at leading companies. A dedicated impact investor, Jesper focuses on early-stage businesses addressing critical issues like diversity and homelessness. Jesper’s career spans travel, finance, and technology, Jesper has held pivotal roles, including CEO of Smoove, HSBC’s Global Head of Digital as a Channel, COO of CompareTheMarket, and senior positions in online travel.
Richard Probst | Trustee
Richard is a Director at Climeworks, which is empowering people and companies to fight global warming by offering carbon dioxide removal as a service via direct air capture technology. Prior to this, he was a Project Leader at BCG and member of BCG’s Social Impact practice area. He primarily focuses on supporting NGOs and non-profits in their strategy development to help maximize their impact. He holds a MSc from the Stockholm School of Economics and has been part of our network from the early days as a supporter and donor.
Lauri Löyttyniemi | Trustee
Lauri previously scaled the impact of Project Access as the Head of Team Finland, and he is now excited to contribute to PA International’s growth as a Trustee.
With a background in HR consulting at KPMG and headhunting, Lauri is driven by his curiosity about people. With a bachelor’s degree from Sciences Po Paris, Lauri is starting a master’s in social psychology and an ICF ACC coaching certificate. Outside of work, he is a passionate cyclist, chasing new personal records on the road.
Wil Del Pilar | Trustee
Wil Del Pilar serves as the senior vice president at the Education Trust where he works to advance Ed Trust’s mission nationally and the higher education advocacy agenda by developing and implementing strategies to leverage research, policy, and practice to improve accountability, affordability and student success for low-income students and students of color. Wil has experience at the federal, state and institutional levels. Prior to joining Ed Trust, he served as deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, where he implemented the strategic vision for higher education in the commonwealth. Additionally, he has worked at the University of Florida and Pennsylvania State University where he led development activities and also served in admissions and financial aid roles at Chapman University, the University of California Santa Cruz and Loyola Marymount University.
Nahyun Jennifer Lee | Trustee
Jennifer Lee (she/her) is the founder of the Asian Americans with Disabilities Initiative (AADI), amplifying the voices of disabled Asian Americans nationwide. She has previously worked at the White House during the Biden-Harris Administration, as well as national political advocacy projects at the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for American Progress, and the National Women’s Law Center. Jennifer is particularly passionate about the role intersectionality and inclusion play in disability justice: she serves as an Equity Advisor at the National Disability Institute, a 2023 NationSwell Fellow, 2022 ‘Youth to the Front Fund’ Frontliner from the We Are Family Foundation, and 2021 Heumann-Armstrong Award recipient from the American Association of People with Disabilities. She is a graduate of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and is pursuing her J.D. at Harvard Law School, where she will specialize in civil rights.
Erona Tasholli | Trustee
As a mentee and former team member for 5 years herself, Erona is the living proof of concept of Project Access. As the first academic of her family, she finished her Bachelor of Science at Kings College London at King’s College London, and her Masters in Public Policy at UCL with distinction. Having worked with over 10 NGOs for the past 10 years, she has extensive knowledge in communication, outreach and administration of non-profits. Today, she manages a global portfolio of clients for Gartner’s research and advisory, specialising in security.
Meet our Advisory Board
Kam Stylianou | Advisor
Kam has been an educator at The Grammar School in Nicosia since graduating from the University of East Anglia with a degree in English Literature with Film Studies. As Deputy Headmistress since 2006, she leads the Higher Education Advisory Team and has supported over 2,000 students with university applications. Her extensive travel to global education events has built her strong network and deep expertise in higher education systems, particularly in the UK. She also supports students applying to universities in Europe, the US, and Canada, contributes to The Counsellor, and serves on the BMI Global Ed | Times Higher Education Europe International Schools Advisory Board.
Aakeen Parik | Advisor
Dr Aakeen Parikh is a mechanical engineer with an Integrated Masters and PhD from Imperial College London, where she now works as Project Manager for the Vehicle Future Hub. She has taught across GCSEs, A-Levels, and university level, and has lectured in sustainable engineering and design. Passionate about social impact, sustainability, and global health, Aakeen founded The Minazi Impact, a social enterprise developing eco-friendly solutions for female health and well-being. In 2024, she was named a WISE100 Women in Enterprise, Equality and Empowerment Champion and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and an ambassador for the Queen Elizabeth’s Prize for Engineering.
The partners that make our work possible
The incredible organisations and funders that enable us to grow and keep our program free for students.
Want to help us fight inequalities in admissions to top universities? We would love to partner with you!
Reach us on partnerships@projectaccess.org
