Simplify immigration for the next billion Americans

We want to make immigration simple and universally accessible. This is our mission, and it’s why working at Ellis means so much more than a job.

Our Mission

We believe that America's competitive advantage has been its historical stance on immigration. What many fail to realize is that college campuses are the modern day Ellis Islands for high-skilled immigrants and entrepreneurs into the US. We believe that at the current rate of immigration, America will lose its grasp as the world leader–although it's up to the regulators in the public sector to decide immigration policy, we believe the private sector, particularly a company like Ellis, can simplify the transition for immigrants into the US to maintain the global brain-drain of ambitious, high-skilled foreign talent.

Our mission is to simplify the immigration journey for the next One Billion Americans.

We serve international students in

25+

colleges and universities

Our team collectively speaks

9

languages

Get To Know The Team

Sampei Omichi 🇯🇵🇻🇳

founder & CEO

Sampei brings his deep expertise in fin-tech to Ellis where he oversees corporate strategy, business development, and product. Sampei holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Babson College.

Christopher Kelley 🇺🇸

Head of engineering

Chris brings 10+ years of experience in software engineering where he oversees design, engineering, and security. Chris holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.

William Trevillien 🇦🇺

Head of global partnerships

William brings 18 years of experience in international education to Ellis where he oversees strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Ellis, William was the Director of Beijing WZT Overseas Education & Consulting. William holds a MSc of International Business with Law from The University of Salford.

Henry Lam 🇺🇸🇻🇳

Chief of staff

Henry oversees customer operations, finance, and special projects. Prior to joining the Ellis team, Henry was at Forward Kitchens (YC W19) where he was responsible for launching 175 brands for the company.

Kirill Chernik

founding engineer

Kirill is Ellis's founding engineer. Prior to joining the Ellis team, Kirill was a Software Engineer at Landis, where he worked to build out the infrastructure, product, and team as the second engineering hire.

Faith Ching 🇺🇸

member operations

Faith oversees Ellis's Client Success and Member Operations. Prior to joining the Ellis team, Faith was a Customer Success Manager at healthtech unicorn Athelas.

Skye Zhang 🇨🇳

Regional manager, china

Skye brings 5 years of experience in international education. Skye previously worked as an International Recruitment Manager, based in China.

Benjamin Donnelly 🇬🇧

Regional manager, southeast asia

Benjamin brings 15 years of experience in international education. Benjamin has extensive experience in student recruitment, education sales, marketing, and management across Asia.

Alexandre Feres 🇧🇷

regional manager, Latin america

Alexandre brings 4 years of experience in international education and empowering agencies. Alexandre is a former international student and holds a B.A in Advertising.

Sehaj Khanna 🇮🇳

regional manager, South Asia

Sehaj brings 8+ years of experience in consulting and advising students for higher education abroad.

Ezekiel Baiye 🇳🇬

regional manager, africa

Prior to joining Ellis, Ezekiel was an International Recruitment Manager at ApplyBoard. Ezekiel holds a B.S. and M.S. in Statistics.

Mahmoud Elliethy 🇪🇬

regional manager, middle east & North africa

Mahmoud brings 6+ years of experience in student recruitment to Ellis where he manages the Middle East & North Africa regions. Mahmoud holds a BA of Commerce from Alexandria University, Egypt.

Yana Markedonova 🇨🇳🇷🇺

Digital marketing intern

Yana oversees Ellis's digital content and marketing.

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Ellis is a technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Blue Ridge Bank N.A.; Member FDIC. The Ellis Visa® Debit Card is issued by Blue Ridge Bank N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.

Payment services are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England No. 06323311. Registered Office: The Steward Building 1st Floor, 12 Steward Street London E1 6FQ. The Currency Cloud Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199). In the US Currency Cloud operates in partnership with CFSB. CFSB fully owns the bank program and services are provided by The Currency Cloud Inc.

Ellis is not a law firm and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Ellis is not affiliated with or endorsed by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or any other government agency. Blank immigration forms with written instructions are available for free at the USCIS website.