Meet Amarinder
Amarinder Syan
Incoming Chief Impact Officer & Mentor
Meet Amarinder, our incoming Co-Chief Impact Officer and long-time volunteer!
“MMSF has allowed me to carry out my father’s legacy and work toward equal opportunity and access to education.”
What Are Your Relationships Like With the Students You Work With? It’s been an absolute pleasure working with my mentee (Annie Xu) these past 3 years and watching her grow into the incredible (almost adult) she is! I still recall our first session—observing a shy and timid sophomore unsure of where to begin when it came to college and continued studies. Flash forward, she is now set on contributing to the world as a nurse working with underserved populations. And she's already received acceptances from several direct-admit nursing school programs!
What Is Your Favorite Part of Minds Matter? The community. MMSF volunteers are so invested in college, career and all-around healthy student outcomes, and likewise, our students are some of the best and brightest minds out there. I love the way we collaborate to add enrichment to each others’ lives, close the opportunity gap for our students and do all that it takes to help them succeed!
What Is Your Favorite Minds Matter Memory? I remember accompanying my mentee to her SAT exam. She went back and forth about taking it since it's now "optional" and my fellow Mentor and I discussed how it'd be helpful in keeping all her options open for college. Thus, we weren't able to secure a seat for the exam nearby, and had to travel ~45 mins. My mentee could not commute via car (due to car sickness) and had never taken the BART and any other public transportation outside of the city so she was feeling very nervous. So we got up at 5 am, bright and early on a Saturday, and rode on BART with our mentee to her exam. I remember feeling like proud parents as we were waiting in line with her at the school, and then seeing her off and she was ushered inside.
How Have You Benefited Personally From Your Experience at Minds Matter? For me, being a part of MMSF has been coming full circle. I grew up in an immigrant household and lost my dad to cancer at 16—he was the only one in my family to pursue post-secondary and graduate degrees, and offer guidance when it came to the importance of education and building a career. Now, I’m able to share his wisdom (and some that I’ve collected over the years) to enable high school students to live out their potential and take steps to ensure they don't miss out!
What Is a Fun Fact About You? I’ve lived in almost all time zones in the US—born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, moved to the Bay Area to finish up high school and attended college in the Midwest!