For Sam Hanna, getting involved with Global Mentorship Initiative (GMI) started with something simple: a LinkedIn post that made him stop scrolling.
“Honestly, it was a happy accident,” he says. “It felt like the ground floor of something meaningful, and I knew I wanted to be part of it.”
As a senior executive who has built teams, scaled organizations, and coached talent throughout his career, GMI’s model made immediate sense in a way other mentorship programs hadn’t.
“I’ve always worked across time zones and cultures, and I’ve witnessed so many talented people who were looking for a chance to shine but didn’t have anyone to guide them,” he says. “I know firsthand how much a single conversation with the right person at the right time can change your trajectory. GMI is building the framework for meaningful exchanges like this to happen at scale, across borders, industries, and backgrounds.”
In the years since that fateful LinkedIn post, Hanna joined the ranks of GMI Gold Mentors—a distinction reserved for mentors who have guided three or more students.
“I went in thinking I’d be the one doing the teaching,” Hanna says. “What I didn’t expect was how much the students would challenge me with their questions, perspectives, and hunger to learn. It reminded me to stay curious and humble.”
Some moments remain impossible to forget.
“There was a young man from Nigeria, based in a rural area with constant power outages. Rather than miss our sessions, he’d quietly problem-solve his way through every obstacle, relying on his phone battery and data to stay connected, or walking to a friend’s place in a nearby village just to have a signal. He never once made it seem like a big deal. That kind of self-driven dedication, with zero resources and zero excuses, was genuinely humbling,” he shares.
He continues, “Then there was a student from Rwanda who was sharing a small, noisy room with others. His solution? He’d get underneath his bed with his phone to find just enough quiet and focus to be present. No complaints, no cancellations, just someone who wanted it badly enough to literally carve out his own space to grow.”
These experiences pushed Hanna to do more than just show up for calls. He soon joined GMI’s community of donors, multiplying powerful moments of mentorship for tens of thousands of students worldwide.
“After a few sessions with these students, I felt almost obligated, in the best possible way,” he says. “You can’t witness that kind of hunger and dedication and then do the bare minimum. It’s really that simple.
He adds, “Our careers didn’t happen in a vacuum. Someone opened a door for us. When I look back at my own career, people invested in me—not just with advice, but with their time, their networks, and their belief. This is our chance to do that for someone else—and at a scale we simply can’t achieve alone.”
GMI runs entirely on charitable donations. If you’re a mentor who has seen what this program can do, consider taking the next step. A monthly gift, at any amount, helps ensure the next student with something to prove has someone in their corner. Explore all the different ways you can support GMI at globalmentorship.org/donate.
