In 2015, Parisa Kor was a young Tajik-Canadian who dreamed of an international degree but could not afford to study in Canada. While searching for another path, she discovered something that changed everything: public universities in Italy, with tuition at 0 euro and scholarships that could even help with living costs.
She moved to Rome, completed her Masters in Finance at the University of Tor Vergata, and went on to work for the United Nations in Rome.
Along the way, she helped friends and students from the Middle East, Canada, the USA and beyond do the same thing: study in Italy without drowning in debt.
What started as replying to a few messages after class slowly turned into a real mission. In her own language, through her page @apply_parisa, Parisa began to break down every detail of Italian admissions, scholarships and daily life in Italy. Step by step she became one of the first recognizable figures in the Middle East showing that you can study in Europe with 0 euro tuition and real scholarship support, not just marketing promises.
As her community grew, more students from South Asia began reaching out. Parisa invited other Indian students in Italy like Reeya, who had walked similar paths and together they built a wider team, shaping the same Italian routes for South Asian students with clear explanations so families could compare Italy with the usual choices like Canada, the UK or Australia.
Over time, Parisa brought together people who had built successful education platforms, led technology teams and grown companies across Europe and North America. On the strategic side, they are advised by Sina Sadeghian, ApplyBoard Co-Founder and former CTO who exited in 2018, bringing deep experience in building and scaling a global education platform. Everyone shared the same belief she had as a student, that the system could be fairer and more transparent. Together they brought years of hands on experience in counselling, product, operations and engineering. Under the umbrella of ApplyAZ, this group now works as one team with a shared goal: to change how study abroad works by moving the focus away from selling expensive private universities and toward opening the doors of public universities where tuition can be zero and real scholarships help students study what they love without lifelong debt.
Early days at ApplyBoard, with Sina Sadeghian and Basiri brothers as the founding team opening their first office and growing a small room of engineers and advisors into a global study abroad platform. The experience Sina gained in building and scaling this company now guides ApplyAZ at a strategic level.
As strategic advisor to ApplyAZ, Sina Sadeghian works side by side the team to redesign how study abroad works, using their combined expertise in counseling, engineering and operations to open more tuition-free paths for students worldwide.
ApplyAZ leadership on a rare day off by the lake. Rahul Menon Admissions Strategy Manager, Neha Verma Student Success Manager, Sara Dian Scholarship Strategy Lead, Parisa Kor Co-Founder and Head of Student Journey, Vishal Patel Product and Technology Lead, Aisha Khan Visa and Compliance Manager, Reeya Sharma Parent Relations and Partnerships Manager, Arjun Iyer Pre Arrival Support Manager, Fatima Ali Community and Content Manager, Soroush Shayan Senior Admissions Advisor, and Sam Ramezanpour Operations Lead.
Each of them manages one part of the path admissions, scholarships, visas and arrival but before anything else we are a group of friends and family who chose to build ApplyAZ together so every student’s journey feels supported from start to finish.
