Some gatherings are about bringing people into the same room. Others are about what happens when they get there. The Intersection 5.0 gathering was a little bit of both, and so much more.
At Beit Amakin, in the heart of Beirut, 65+ members of the Intersection program community came together for an afternoon of networking, talent showcasing, meaningful conversations, and the kind of human connections that continue long after an event ends.
Current mentees from Intersection 5.0, alumni, members of the Intersection Alumni Council, mentors, team members from INJAZ Lebanon and Impactiv, and representatives from businesses, universities, and community partners joined us to celebrate a shared belief: personal and professional growth becomes even more meaningful when it is powered by mentorship and a strong community.
As the Intersection program celebrates five years of bringing people together through mentorship in Lebanon, the gathering was an opportunity to reflect on how far the community has come, celebrate the people who make it what it is, and make room for everything that comes next.
Opening the doors to connection
The afternoon opened with remarks from:
- Samar Dani, Executive Director of INJAZ Lebanon
- Maya Rmeity, Co-founder and Operations Director of Impactiv
- Hussein Ayoub, Intersection mentor and partner at Beit Amakin
- Jana Sabra, Program Manager of the Intersection Mentorship Program
Their contributions reflected the shared commitment behind Intersection: creating spaces where people can learn from one another, exchange experiences, discover opportunities, and grow together.
But rather than keeping the afternoon to speeches and introductions, we wanted to put that commitment into practice. We wanted people to meet someone new, discover a talent they had never heard about, exchange ideas with someone outside their usual circles, and leave with a connection worth continuing.
And that is exactly what unfolded.
A community full of talent, ideas, and initiatives
One of the highlights of the gathering was the showcase of five Intersection mentees and alumni, each bringing a different passion, talent, or initiative to the table. From entrepreneurship and technology to chess, reading, crafts, and social impact, their stories reminded us that growth through mentorship can take many forms.
Charbel Abi Akar, an Intersection 5.0 mentee, introduced attendees to his honey business, sharing his entrepreneurial journey and agricultural engineering experience and bringing a taste of his work to the gathering.
Khouloud Karkaba, a member of the Intersection Alumni Council, shared her interests and talents, including chess, and explored the importance of reading in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Drawing on her background in technology, she encouraged conversations around the relationship between human curiosity, knowledge, and emerging technologies.
Ali Shokor, an Intersection 5.0 mentee, showcased his growing technology initiative, offering attendees a glimpse into his tech entrepreneurial interests and the ideas he is working to bring to life.
Raneem Houjairy brought her handmade crafts and decorations, highlighting the creativity and care behind her small business and the value of turning a personal passion into something others can enjoy.
Mohamad Al Arnaout, a member of the Intersection Alumni Council, introduced Action for Awareness, his arts and law initiative, which he founded during his participation in INJAZ Lebanon’s Taqa program. His work demonstrates how creativity and legal awareness can come together to engage communities and encourage social impact.
By giving members of our community a platform to share their work, Intersection continues to create opportunities for talent to be seen, ideas to be exchanged, and collaborations to begin.
Mentorship that grows with you
At the heart of the Intersection program is a simple but powerful idea: mentorship is not just about professional advice or reaching a career milestone. It is about having someone in your corner, learning through shared experiences, and building a relationship that creates space for growth.
We brought this to life through an inspiring conversation featuring Dana Al Mahmoud, an Intersection mentor, alongside her mentees: Hadile Karkaba, an Intersection 4.0 alumna, and Sara Eldesouky and Jana Zraika, current Intersection 5.0 mentees.
Together, they reflected on their mentoring journeys, the lessons they have learned, and the value of building meaningful relationships across different stages of life and career.
Their conversation highlighted how mentorship is a two-way exchange. It creates opportunities to ask questions, gain perspective, navigate challenges, and celebrate progress. It also reminds us that learning does not stop when a cohort ends. Relationships evolve, lessons carry forward, and the impact of a mentoring experience can extend well beyond the formal program.
More than networking: making room for unexpected connections
Networking can sometimes feel like exchanging business cards or introducing yourself to as many people as possible. At Intersection 5.0, we wanted to make it more intentional, approachable, and human.
Throughout the afternoon, attendees were encouraged to move around the space, start conversations with people they had not met before, reconnect with familiar faces, and seek out someone whose experience or perspective they wanted to learn from.
The attendees came with a lot of experience to share, and did not leave empty-handed.
Every attendee wrote a letter to a random member of the community and left with another letter, written by someone they might not have met otherwise. It was a simple gesture, but one that captured the spirit of the gathering beautifully. Sometimes, a few thoughtful words from a stranger can offer a new perspective, a moment of encouragement, or a reminder that we are all navigating our own journeys.
Of course, the afternoon would not have been complete without photographs to capture the memories, delicious bites to share, and the artistic, warm, home-like atmosphere of Beit Amakin. The setting encouraged people to slow down, settle into conversations, and feel comfortable being themselves. New ideas emerged, familiar connections grew stronger, and new relationships began to take shape.
Five years of the Intersection program, and a community still growing
The Intersection program began with 15 mentor-mentee pairs in 2022. Today, it has grown into a community spanning Lebanon, the UAE, and beyond, bringing together people who believe in the power of showing up for one another.
Currently, Intersection 5.0 connects 48 mentee-mentor pairs through one-to-one mentorship. Beyond these individual relationships, the program has brought together more than 300 attendees through CareerFlix sessions, summer career-readiness workshops, and talks designed to help young people explore their potential, build skills, and navigate their professional journeys.
These numbers tell part of the story. The rest lives in the conversations that continue after a session, the confidence built through a mentor’s encouragement, the initiative that finds its first supporter, the advice shared between alumni, and the unexpected friendship that begins in a room full of people who once were strangers.
As we celebrate half a decade of Intersection, we are reminded that the program is about much more than mentorship alone. It is about building a community where people feel encouraged to grow, empowered to share what they know, and inspired by what others bring to the table.
Five years in, we are proud of the connections made and the journeys shaped along the way. We are even more excited about the connections yet to come.
Happy five years of Intersection! Here’s to the people who make it possible, the stories that bring us together, and the human connections that make it all matter.
Explore More from Impactiv
The Intersection program is co-designed by Impactiv and INJAZ Lebanon, and its alumni now help shape what comes next through the Intersection Alumni Council. Read more about the current Intersection programme, or explore how we design structured mentorship programs for universities, organisations and communities.