Prior to coming to Oxford, Sydney served as the Co-founder and Executive Director of Kujali International, a US 501c3 nonprofit that worked to expand educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth in East Africa. Under her leadership, Kujali co-founded and operated a free private boarding school for orphaned and vulnerable teens that featured youth-led enterprises in horticulture, poultry farming, solar energy, music and the arts. She also led an Adventure Travel portfolio to help financially sustain school operations while engaging international stakeholders in cross-cultural learning and purposeful tourism in Tanzania.

Since completing her Oxford MBA, Sydney has returned to the U.S. to work in urban education and serves as the Director of Learning Strategies in the Office of New School Models, School District of Philadelphia. In her current role, Sydney supports the design and launch of innovative, evidence-based school models in Philadelphia that expand choice and equity in school options for low-income youth, and leads a knowledge management function for the new schools network. Sydney is also working on her doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.