About — Barrier Breakers®, Inc.

Every student can achieve amazing things
when given the opportunity.

Breaking Barriers Nationwide, Strengthening Communities Locally!

Our Mission

Barrier Breakers is dedicated to increasing access to and success in higher education for first-generation students and others facing barriers to education. We define first-generation students as those who do not have at least one parent who attended college traditionally in the United States. This includes students whose parents did not attend college, attended college in another country, or pursued their education later in life through adult or online programs. These students often face unique challenges in navigating the college and law school admissions process, securing financial aid, and making informed academic and career decisions.

Our Vision

At Barrier Breakers, we believe that first-generation and low-income students should have access to expert college and career guidance—no matter where they live. Our virtual advising model ensures that students across the country receive personalized mentorship, college admissions support, and career coaching, no matter where they live.

But we also know that deep, local engagement creates lasting change. That’s why we are developing Barrier Breakers Impact Hubs—strategic partnerships in key cities where we:

Provide full-scale college counseling to students through partner nonprofits and schools
Build a network of mentors, professionals, and supporters to guide students through college and beyond
Host regional meet-ups to connect our college and graduate school students for community and career growth
Create internship pipelines with local businesses to equip students for success

Our vision is to expand these Impact Hubs across the country—ensuring that first-gen students have the guidance, community, and career opportunities they need to thrive.

This expansion is made possible through generous philanthropic support. If you're interested in partnering with us to bring a Barrier Breakers Impact Hub to your city, we’d love to connect.

Our History

Barrier Breakers® founder, Sydney Montgomery, became the first person from her high school to attend Princeton University and later Harvard Law School. The daughter of military parents and a Jamaican immigrant mother, she became passionate about supporting other students on their educational journey. She started working with students on the college application process in 2012 and later the law school application process in 2015. You can learn more about Sydney's story and dedication to first-generation students in her latest TEDx talk: First-Generation Graduates Drive Business Success.

Barrier Breakers® was first born as S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting in 2018, a for-profit admissions consulting company that specialized in working with marginalized students. After rapid growth and realizing that she could serve more students in ways that aligned with her mission and values as a non-profit organization, Sydney converted her entire for-profit company into a non-profit organization in December 2022.

Since becoming a non-profit organization in 2022, Barrier Breakers® has been able to:

Provide free college counseling to high school students who qualify for Free and Reduced Meal Services.
Provice free law school advising to law school applicants who qualify for an income-based fee waiver through the Law School Admission Council
Partner with non-profit organizations and Title I high schools in Trenton, NJ, and Philadelphia, PA.
Create a free asynchronous online writing course and curriculum for thousands of law school applicants.
Collaborate to provide free law school support to 5,000+ students in the Writing for Impact Program run by the Law School Admission Council.
Launch free podcasts providing expert admissions information to students: Break into College and Break into Law School.
Create and expand virtual free conferences for first-generation students, with 2,000+ students registering every year.
Give away $8,000+ in scholarship money to aspiring students.
Provide sliding scale discounts to 97% of our students.
Create and expand our Outreach and Wellness Program, offering free continued mentorship, wellness checks, guidance, and career support throughout college and law school for our students.

Still, we have a goal to do more.

As we continue to grow as a non-profit organization, we aim to increase donations and funding to expand our free services to more students and expand our Barrier Breakers Impact Hubs to strategic cities across the country. On average, it costs us $50,000-100,000 to fully launch an impact hub of support in each new city. But we know that with your support, we can achieve our goals of robust wraparound support for first-generation students.

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