Founder Stories
EmpOUR was created with a bold vision: to transform how students and professionals connect, learn, and grow in their careers. What began as a mission to make mentorship more accessible has evolved into a dynamic career community app — where mentorship, networking, and opportunities come together in one trusted space.
Co-founded by Hali Jama and Nia Ladan Mowlid, EmpOUR blends lived experience with innovative technology to eliminate the barriers of traditional networking. From smart mentor matching and one-click coffee chats to industry group chats, curated events, and career resources, EmpOUR is redefining what it means to build meaningful professional connections.
From First-Gen Students to Career Mentors & Community Builders
Hali Jama
Co-Founder
Hali Jama is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison whose journey to education was anything but traditional. Born in East Africa, she lived a nomadic life with no access to formal schooling and no ability to read or write. When her family came to America, Hali quickly fell in love with learning. Once she mastered reading and writing, she became her household’s translator, mail reader, and even tax-season assistant. That early sense of responsibility fueled her passion for education and opportunity.
At just 16, Hali earned a full-ride scholarship to UW–Madison. As the first in her family to attend university, she faced the daunting challenge of navigating college, internships, and career preparation without a roadmap. She spent months researching, experimenting, and refining her approach until she cracked the code to securing opportunities.
Eager to make the journey easier for others, Hali began mentoring younger students. As a Resident Assistant on the Business Floor, she guided dozens of incoming students and saw how much they valued accessible, peer-to-peer support. Encouraged by their feedback, she posted a TikTok sharing career advice, and overnight it went viral, reaching over a million views and sparking thousands of comments from students looking for guidance.
That moment revealed the demand for mentorship on a global scale. Hali responded by launching Success Sessions, a one-on-one mentoring initiative where she personally coached over 130 students from around the world. When the demand grew beyond what she could manage alone, she realized it was time to build something bigger — that’s where EmpOUR was born.
Nia Mowlid
Co-Founder
Nia Ladan Mowlid grew her salary from $30,000 to $120,000 in just three years after finishing university — not by chance, but through the power of mentorship and intentional career mapping. Today, she is a People & Culture scholar-practitioner whose career spans higher education, corporate consulting, and the humanitarian sector across Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.
The daughter of immigrant parents who settled in Canada, Nia was the first in her family to pursue higher education and graduate school. In her third year of undergrad, a mentor asked if she planned to apply to grad school — a question she couldn’t answer because she didn’t even know what graduate school was. That single moment changed her trajectory.
With her mentor’s guidance, she built an intentional, data-informed career map that shaped the international career she always envisioned. It has been a decade since that initial conversation with her mentor and in that time, she has earned a bachelor’s in Communication Studies and Sociology, a master’s in Higher Education Leadership, and is now completing a doctorate in Innovation and Leadership. Most importantly, along the way, she learned the true power of mentorship.
When she realized most of her peers didn’t have the same support, she began sharing her mentors’ advice online, resonating with thousands of young professionals. As demand outgrew what she could manage one-on-one, she teamed up with Hali to co-found EmpOUR — a career community redefining how mentorship and networking happen.
Together, Hali and Nia launched EmpOUR with a mission to become the world’s most trusted career community, where access, knowledge, and connections open doors for every generation to thrive. The need was undeniable: in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. alone, there are an estimated 12.65 million college and university students and 115.9 million working professionals who have never had a mentor.
The idea for EmpOUR grew directly out of the founders’ shared communities. With a combined 200,000+ followers across social media in the career and academic success space, Hali and Nia recognized a powerful demand for a sustainable solution. To test the idea, they posted a single video — and more than 5,000 people joined the waitlist. That traction confirmed what they already knew: the world was ready for EmpOUR.
Today, EmpOUR is more than an app — it’s a movement redefining mentorship, networking, and career success.