Save Our Syrian Freedom
Founded at ASU in 2012, the initiative raised awareness of the Syrian Revolution, promoted philanthropy, supported humanitarian aid, and connected student activists nationally.
Students shaping Syria’s futureJoin the movement
Organize
for Syria
01About SOS
Born from urgency.
Built for what’s next.
Students Organize For Syria is a national, student-led movement rooted in advocacy, solidarity, and action for Syria.
Our mission
Mobilize the diaspora.
Shape Syria’s future.
Students Organize for Syria’s ultimate goal is to effectively mobilize for Syria from within the diaspora. We are committed to sustaining a strong, united student network that honors the Syrian revolution, champions advocacy, and empowers a new generation to take part in rebuilding and shaping Syria’s future.
Our evolution
From response
to power.
SOS began with students refusing to let Syria disappear from public conversation. That same conviction now drives something larger: a generation building the relationships, skills, and community power to shape the future.
We remain rooted in student organizing. Conferences, training, partnerships, and professional pathways strengthen our organizers; they are infrastructure for the movement, not the movement’s identity.
2012—2014Our beginnings
Students for Syrian Relief
Founded in 2013 after a student fundraising trip to the Turkey–Syria border, SSR connected students with relief projects, awareness work, and fundraising opportunities.
Students Organize for Syria grew from these two efforts to build a unified, nationwide student network.
How the original network worked
Student leadership
at every level.
The legacy structure placed a Student Director above operations and national outreach, supported by finance, policy and education, communications, organizational liaison, and regional coordinator roles. It is preserved here as history—not presented as the current org chart.
Student DirectorOperations ManagerNational Outreach ManagerFinancePolicy / EducationCommunicationsRegional coordination
Student-led
Young people own the agenda, organize the work, and speak for themselves.
Syria-focused
We center informed Syrian voices without reducing Syria to crisis alone.
Community-powered
Lasting change is built through chapters, relationships, and collective action.
Built to last
We develop the people and partnerships that sustain organizing over time.
ArchiveMeet the founders
ZA
Zana Alattar
Founded Save Our Syrian Freedom at Arizona State University in 2012 and used that experience as a foundation for the national SOS network.
OB
Omar Bailony
A Syrian American advocate whose work included youth mentorship, asylum representation, and legal scholarship.
NH
Nada Hashem
An organizer committed to freedom, justice, and human rights who served Syrian community and advocacy organizations.
DJ
Dina Jaber
A Syrian American student organizer whose education and human-rights work shaped her activism during the Arab Spring.
KR
Kenan Rahmani
A Syrian American political and human-rights activist with experience across grassroots and civil-society organizations.
SY
Sarah Yazji
A Yale organizer who helped lead relief and fundraising efforts and traveled to Syria’s northern border and Za’atari Refugee Camp.
These biographies honor the organizers who helped build the early SOS network.
Rooted in historyBuilding forward