An SIUE Alumni Spotlight: From Housing Instability to EDUrain

An SIUE Alumni Spotlight: From Housing Instability to EDUrain

Growing up in foster care, Bryon Pierson Jr. learned early how fragile stability can be, and by the time he reached college, that lesson had only deepened. During his years at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he moved seven times lived with 22 different roommates. Pierson says he became heavily in debt just to stay housed and enrolled. Those experiences, along with his leadership of the Gay-Straight Alliance and his senior capstone on student support systems, led him to found EDUrain-a housing technology company now serving more than 100,000 students and partners with colleges across the country.

Today, EDUrain colleges manage off-campus and on campus housing, giving students verified listings, roommate matching and financial resources. EDUrain has raised more than $476,000 and secured more than $3 million in signed contracts, and the organization recently earned first place at DePaul University's Purpose Pitch Competition.

Pierson initially began his SIUE career wanting to become a nurse, and believing healthcare was how he would help people. Academic suspension at SIUE ended that path.

"At the time, it felt like one of the most difficult setbacks of my life," Pierson said. "Looking back, it became one of the turning points that forced me to ask a bigger question: How do I really want to make an impact?"

He switched to political science with a minor in psychology, graduating from SIUE in 2018 with a bachelor's degree.

Housing instability was not something Pierson studied, it was something he experienced. While a student, he waited tables at Red Lobster and The Pasta House Co. to cover rent, and still struggled to qualify for leases without a co-signer. That taught him that achieving success is not just about grades and motivation. It depends on whether a student has a safe place to sleep.

That thought changed his life at the University. Pierson served as president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, advocating for LGBTQIA+ students on campus. Around the same time, he created his senior assignment, The Serenity Plan, named for his late sister, Serenity-Rain, examining how colleges could improve retention and support for LGBTQIA+ and other underserved students. Through collaboration with Blackburn College's LGBTQ+ student organization, The Serenity Plan was adopted on their campus.

"As I researched student success, one issue kept appearing over and over again: housing," Pierson said. That realization became the foundation for EDUrain. Some people doubted that colleges would ever work with a new startup, or that housing was really a tech problem at all. Pierson kept going. He joined startup programs and pitch contests, including 4.0 Schools, TechRise by P33, Techstars, the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition, Pharrell Williams' Black Ambition, the Rice Business Plan Competition and DePaul University's Purpose Pitch Competition, and used them to turn his idea into a real company.

None of it happened alone. Mentors like his professors Laurie Rice, PhD, Andrew Theising, PhD, and Timothy Lewis, PhD, have shaped his thinking, leadership and vision.

"Their example is why my advice is simple," Pierson said. "Ask for help, build a circle of people you trust, and say yes to opportunities before you feel ready. No one ever knows which project or setback is preparing you for the work you are meant to do."

Photos by EDUrain.