Sami Beaini understands grit, persistentance, and what being a strong survivor is all about – because he has lived it.

 

Sami was born in Lebanon where general conditions made it impossible for him to complete his education beyond high school. Although many lessons in his early life demanded toughness, Sami shares that “those years would shape my life in many positive ways.”

 

An opportunity emerged to move to California and eventually Sami attended the Cal Poly School of Engineering where he earned an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering. He went on to earn a graduate degree in Operations Management from the University of La Verne and enjoyed a professional career as an engineer working in a variety of industrial and medical sectors, including Unisys, Toshiba America, Computer Division, and Medtronic, a global medical device company.

 

“Medtronic was a great company and I enjoyed my job tremendously doing different roles over the years. By the time I retired, I was a program manager managing mergers and acquisition globally with multi-billion dollar deals. For the last 6 years at Medtronic, I travelled around the world managing these deals and gained much knowledge on and off the job.”

 

“When I learned about the BRDG program, it was natural for me to join this great organization. Being the first generation in my family to attend college and earn a graduate degree, I felt the call to mentor college students who are going through the same path I did years ago and want to support them and share my experience with them so they can be successful in their careers.”

 

When not mentoring BRDG students, Sami enjoys traveling with his family, skiing, and gardening, and he’s recently added hiking – although with an international flair.

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“I love the adventure trekking high mountains in different countries,” he explained.