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  • Blog > Majors, Undeclared

Empowerly CEO and CTO Named Forbes 30 Under 30

Picture of Madeleine Karydes

Madeleine Karydes

  • December 9, 2021

When founders Hanmei Wu and Changxiao Xie founded Empowerly in 2018, they wanted to democratize the college admissions process by making it more available and affordable to everyone. Now, only three short years later, they have made such an impact on the college admissions industry that they’ve been featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2022.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to both Hanmei and Changxiao for revolutionizing the college admissions process and not only making it accessible to more families, but offering cutting-edge, data-driven technology, best-in-class customer service and former Ivy League Admissions Officers as Empowerly counselors.

As a team, we are honored that our technology-driven model has been recognized for the difference it’s making in the education world. At a time when students are most in need of counseling, our services were able to rise to the occasion. By blending the qualitative and quantitative elements of the college admissions criteria into one holistic set of resources, the Empowerly Score® and Empowerly Portal are uniquely positioned to help families through this challenging process.

In their Forbes 30 Under 30 profile, the duo are introduced to the audience:

After helping her students apply to colleges when she taught high school math as a Teach for America corps member in San Francisco, Hanmei Wu (pictured right) wanted to offer students more than overworked school counselors can provide. Her startup Empowerly, launched in 2017 with CTO Changxiao Xie (pictured left), presents students with a numerical score evaluating their strength as an applicant, taking grades, test scores, essays and extracurriculars into account. Empowerly combines automated software with feedback from former admissions officers to give students tips to boost their resumes. It raised $1.6 million in 2020 and has generated more than $3 million in revenue this year.

Empowerly Co-Founders

To learn more about Empowerly, visit our website. Feel free to send us a message while you’re there; we would love to get to know you. 

And if you’re interested in working with Empowerly for your student’s college admissions, give us a call at (800) 419-6920. Not a good time to talk? Choose a later time that works for you to meet on our calendar right here. 

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Madeleine Karydes

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