About Global Mentorship Initiative
Global Mentorship Initiative (GMI) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that provides structured, one‑to‑one career mentorship to first‑generation, low‑income, and refugee students worldwide. Our virtual program helps underrepresented graduates build the skills, confidence, and professional networks needed to secure their first job.
Every year, 45 million students complete degree programs, yet many remain unemployed due to limited career exposure and lack of professional connections. GMI addresses this gap by pairing students with volunteer mentors who guide them through resume and CV writing, job search strategies, interviewing, LinkedIn optimization, and essential workplace skills.
Our model works: 74% of GMI graduates secure a job within six months, and 88% within one year. Since 2019, more than 35,000 students and mentors have joined our global community across 150+ countries and 8 refugee camps.
Global, Built for Easy Adoption and Self-Renewing
GMI’s mentorship program is free, fully virtual and accessible to graduates anywhere in the world. The program is powered by GMI’s global network of over 15,000 skilled volunteer mentors, united in a shared passion to open doors for underrepresented graduates.
Our turnkey, low-lift model lets youth-serving organizations anywhere in the world make one-to-one career mentorship available to their learners quickly and with minimal resource investment. GMI complements any existing youth intervention system or career readiness systems rather than replacing it, enabling partners to tap into 1:1 mentorship wherever it’s needed.
Many GMI graduates return to mentor the next generation, keeping the cycle in motion and turning every graduate into a potential change agent in their community. For our mentors, volunteering with GMI gives them a meaningful way to give back, while sharpening their own leadership and coaching skills.
Our Origin Story
GMI began as part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Initiative, which aimed to create career opportunities for young graduates in high-unemployment areas. GMI’s founder, Jon Browning, served in a strategic leadership role with the initiative after a 24-year career at Microsoft.
He later co-launched the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition with the Rockefeller Foundation to promote digital job opportunities for youth in underserved communities. Jon developed the idea for GMI while working with job recruiters in Johannesburg, where first-generation graduates in high-unemployment areas struggled to find meaningful employment. Those with robust support networks, business connections and access to mentors had the advantage, leaving others behind. GMI aims to close this gap.
The GMI Difference
GMI’s structured career readiness mentorship is designed to equip first-generation, low-income and refugee students with the essential skills to stand out in the job market. The mentorship curriculum is highly practical, developed in partnership with industry practitioners, and continuously refined to match the evolving expectations of today’s employers. Through weekly one-to-one sessions, students receive real-time insights and confidence-building encouragement from their mentors.
The program is easy to implement, scalable and accessible anywhere in the world, ensuring that geographic location is never a barrier to mentorship. At under $300 per student, it is one of the most cost-effective career mentorship programs in the world.
