Presenter Bio - Dr. Sylvia Symonds

Dr. Sylvia Symonds is currently the Associate Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University.

In this role, she oversees outreach efforts for Access ASU, whose mission is to increase the number of students prepared to enroll and succeed in higher education. In 2019-2021, Access ASU engaged with over 85,000 student and families. Sylvia also serves as the Principal Investigator for several grants totaling over $17 million in funding, including ASU GEAR UP funded by the Department of Education, the Arizona Meta Network for School Improvement, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ask Benji funded by the Schmidt Futures Foundation. In all, she has over 20 years of experience working on college access and student success. An Arizona native and a first-generation college student, she earned her undergraduate degree from ASU and a master’s degree from California State University Fullerton. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Educational Policy & Evaluation from ASU.