A global student mentorship program built from lived experience.
RISE Global Program is a nonprofit that connects high school students from underserved communities with volunteer mentors. Through the 10-week Boost Your Education program, each student is matched with a volunteer mentor who shares their interests. Together they build an Academic Roadmap and the confidence to act on it, at no cost to students or schools.
Why we exist
Plenty of students have the talent and drive for university, but nobody nearby who can show them the way. RISE gives them that person.
RISE was born from a simple reflection.
Bendix Hempel and Ricardo Del Rio kept asking the same question: how much easier would their own path have been if someone a few steps ahead had shown them the way? RISE is their answer: mentorship that reaches students early, while the decisions are still open.
What makes it different
- Mentors close to your path
- People who made the same decisions only a few years ago.
- A clear structure
- Ten weeks with a goal for every session.
- Free
- No cost to students or schools.
- Global
- Mentors and students from many countries and school systems.
From a small pilot to a global volunteer movement.
2022
A scrappy first version
The founders test whether mentorship can change how students see university.
2024
First volunteers join
A real team forms around outreach, programming and delivery.
2025
100 mentors
The mentor community passes 100 volunteers worldwide.
Today
A growing global program
Structured cohorts that bring mentors and students together across borders.
One program. Ten weeks. Tangible momentum.
Students leave with more than a week of inspiration: clearer direction, better habits and a plan they keep using.
Fall 2026
Apply
Aug 23 - Sep 12, 2026
Tell us about yourself and what you want from the program.
Interview and match
Sep 13 - Oct 3, 2026
A short conversation with our team, then we pair you with a mentor.
8 sessions
Oct 4 - Dec 12, 2026
Meet your mentor 1:1 and join live masterclasses.
Your roadmap
Dec 12, 2026
Finish with a written plan for university and a certificate.
Every number started with a student who needed a real chance.
- Students mentored
- 220+
- Mentee countries
- 17
- Continents reached
- 4
- Cohorts completed
- 7
- Mentors involved
- 109+
- Mentor countries
- 21
Help more students find their way to university.
We are looking for mentors, partners and anyone who believes talent should not depend on who you know.