In Lebanon, young people navigate economic uncertainty, social fragmentation, and limited access to professional opportunities. These challenges can reinforce isolation, particularly when young people remain within the same social, geographic, or academic circles. The Intersection Mentorship Program, co-created by Impactiv and INJAZ Lebanon, responds by fostering meaningful connections between university students and professionals from diverse backgrounds, sectors, generations, and countries. Through mentorship, coaching, community-building, and professional networking, the program sees peacebuilding not only as formal dialogue, but as the everyday work of building trust, belonging, empathy, and relationships across difference.

Intersection brings together young people, mentors, coaches, alumni, universities, and partners around the belief that young people are not only beneficiaries but active contributors to stronger communities. Across its implementation, the program has engaged approximately 100 mentors and 100 mentees, creating around 118 mentoring connections and facilitating approximately 700 mentoring sessions. This taught me that leadership is about creating conditions where people feel heard, respected, and empowered rather than simply directing them. In peacebuilding, leadership requires patience, empathy, and the ability to hold space for different experiences.

The program combines one-to-one mentoring and coaching with workshops, CareerFlix sessions, networking opportunities, community gatherings, and alumni engagement. In 2026, the fifth cohort brought together 48 mentor-mentee pairs from 15 universities, with 69% of mentees being women. Mentors are based across Lebanon, the UAE, the USA, Cyprus, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and Ireland, deliberately creating connections across geographic and professional boundaries. Through this process, I learned that peacebuilding can happen through ordinary relationships: listening, sharing experiences, challenging assumptions, and discovering common ground.

Intersection is designed as a continuing community rather than a one-time intervention. Each cohort expands the network, while the Intersection Alumni Council creates a pathway for former participants to remain active as peer mentors, speakers, contributors, and community leaders. This creates a cycle where beneficiaries become contributors. From a project-management perspective, I learned that sustainability must be designed from the beginning, not added at the end. The program needs systems, feedback loops, community ownership, and clear pathways for continued engagement.

The program is co-created by Impactiv and INJAZ Lebanon, combining expertise in youth empowerment, mentorship, community development, and program management. Its growth has depended on the trust and commitment of mentors, mentees, alumni, universities, and institutional partners.

Intersection has built a network of more than 100 mentors, alongside universities, alumni, youth organizations, and professionals across Lebanon and internationally. This diversity strengthens its peacebuilding potential by expanding the spaces in which young people encounter perspectives beyond their immediate communities.

We share Intersection through social media, participant stories, CareerFlix, community events, alumni engagement, partner networks, and direct outreach. With 200+ applicants across cohorts, the demand demonstrates the need for meaningful spaces connecting young people to people, knowledge, and opportunities beyond their immediate circles.

We measure success through reach, engagement, relationship quality, personal development, professional outcomes, and long-term community contribution. Our indicators include applications, participation, 700+ mentoring sessions, 118 connections, 100+ mentors and mentees, satisfaction, goal progress, confidence, career clarity, leadership and communication skills, networking, and alumni engagement. We also seek to understand longer-term outcomes such as employment, internships, education, entrepreneurship, and participants returning to mentor others.

Most importantly, this experience changed how I understand trauma and healing. In a context where many young people carry uncertainty, loss, displacement, or social division, healing cannot always begin with solving the trauma itself. Sometimes it begins with belonging: having someone listen, encourage you, open a door, or remind you that your future is still possible. Intersection taught me that peacebuilding can start with something deceptively simple: bringing two people together who might never otherwise have met, giving them the space to listen, learn, heal, and build something that lasts.