Our Work

Build community. Open networks. Challenge barriers.

The first-generation community knows where opportunity breaks down: in an unanswered question, a missing introduction, or a rule no one explains. EdMobilizer responds with national convenings, admissions campaigns, and professional networks.

Different forms. A consistent method: start with lived experience, organize across institutions, and make access less dependent on inheritance.

A shared approach

Listen closely. Build collectively. Leave something others can use.

Each effort begins with the need: a summit for honest exchange, a coalition around a shared proposal, or a network that makes introductions easier.

National convening

Founded 2014 · first summit 2015

1vyG

National student network

The context

At Brown, first-generation students recognized that the isolation and unwritten rules they were navigating were not theirs alone. The same questions were surfacing on campuses across the country.

The barrier: Students lacked a shared forum for comparing campus practices, trading practical knowledge, and organizing around common challenges.
The response: 1vyG convenes student-led summits across campuses, combining candid peer exchange with workshops, speakers, and institutional dialogue.
The coalition: Campus organizers work alongside first-generation student groups, university administrators, alumni, and national education leaders.
The result: The conference has reached six Ivy League host campuses, with regional gatherings at Duke and Stanford linking more local student leaders to the national network.
The larger lesson: As 1vyG moves from campus to campus, each host makes the program its own while keeping the wider community connected.

Explore the 1vyG history

Access campaign

2017

No Apologies

Automatic fee waivers

The context

For low-income applicants, a fee can close off an option before an admissions office ever considers their potential.

The barrier: Existing waiver processes often depended on extra paperwork—or simply knowing that help was available.
The response: EdMobilizer organized at least 14 student councils and first-generation student groups around a direct ask: identify qualifying applicants and waive the fee automatically.
The coalition: Student-government leaders and first-generation organizers worked across campuses to present the same demand.
The result: Brown adopted an automatic application-fee waiver for qualifying low-income applicants, removing an avoidable step from the application process.
The larger lesson: An access policy only works when students can use it without first decoding the system.

Read the Brown Daily Herald report

Transparency campaign

2018

Full Disclosure

Legacy admissions transparency

The context

Legacy preference can shape who gains admission while remaining largely invisible to the public.

The barrier: Without consistent disclosure, students could not compare policies or hold institutions accountable for them.
The response: Student groups at 12 colleges called on their institutions to publish, explain, and review how legacy preference operated.
The coalition: First-generation groups and student governments coordinated the campaign across campuses.
The result: At Brown, 81% of students who voted supported disclosure and review of the University’s legacy-admissions policy.
The larger lesson: Accountability begins with making the rules visible.

Read the Brown Daily Herald report

Coalition advocacy

Launched 2021

Leave Your Legacy

Legacy admissions advocacy

The context

Legacy admissions policies give additional consideration to applicants with family ties to a college. Leave Your Legacy focuses on what those policies mean for first-generation access.

The barrier: Students and alumni seeking changes to legacy policies had few ways to coordinate across institutions.
The response: EdMobilizer and Education Reform Now launched a public pledge asking students and alumni to pause donations until their colleges end legacy preference.
The coalition: The campaign brought together hundreds of students and alumni across 30 colleges.
The result: The pledge made support for ending legacy preference visible across campuses.
The larger lesson: Students and alumni have a voice in how colleges admit the next generation.

Read the Associated Press report

Professional network

Introduced 2020

Next Frontier

Professional connections

The context

Graduation does not erase the network gap; it moves it into hiring, mentorship, and professional advancement.

The barrier: Professional introductions and workplace knowledge often move through inherited networks that are less accessible to the first-generation community.
The response: Next Frontier created a free directory where first-generation community members and allies could find one another across career stages.
The coalition: D. E. Shaw & Co. and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity supported fundraising for the launch.
The result: It gave students, graduates, and experienced professionals a shared place to connect beyond campus.
The larger lesson: Economic mobility depends on access to relationships after college as well as during it.

Explore the full timeline

Five initiatives. One organizing instinct.

See how conferences, campaigns, and networks unfolded over time.

Explore our story