Our team

Led by people who’ve sat in your seat.

Meet the founders and the counselors behind Passage Global.

Umer Ijaz
Co-Founder
Kellogg MBA, Northwestern · MS, U. of Illinois
Umer grew up in Lahore and graduated as a Gold Medalist, then went on to a Master’s at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He has spent seven years as a product manager across fintech and AI, at companies including Amount and Amazon, a career built in the United States that began with the same international application our students are filling in now. He co-founded Passage Global to give ambitious students the guidance he wishes he’d had: expert, honest, and entirely on their side.
Connect with Umer on LinkedIn
Ali Azeem
Co-Founder
Vanderbilt Owen MBA (Merit Scholar) · LUMS
Ali graduated from LUMS in Accounting and Finance, then earned a merit scholarship to Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management, having navigated the US admissions process the hard way, without a guide. He is now a senior leader at Amazon, with nearly a decade of experience advising at the highest levels of one of the world’s most demanding companies. He co-founded Passage Global to be the expert in a student’s corner that he never had: someone who has made the journey and knows exactly where it gets hard.
Connect with Ali on LinkedIn

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