Andrew Leon Hanna

Andrew Leon Hanna is a first-generation Egyptian-American, born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree with highest distinction in public policy from Duke University, where he served as Senior Class President, a Robertson Scholar, a Chapel Scholar, and received the Terry Sanford Leadership Award. He later received a J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School and an MBA with honors from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. During his academic career, he was recognized as an Arjay Miller Scholar and a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford, and was faculty-selected as one of five Siebel Scholars in his class. At Harvard, he was an editor for the Harvard Law Review, a student leader in Harvard Defenders and the Harvard African Law Association, and was awarded the Irving Oberman Memorial Prize for Law & Social Change.

Hanna co-founded Mona, an AI-powered fintech platform designed to connect underbanked small businesses with loans and grants. He is also the author of “25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs,” published by Cambridge University Press. This book was named a Financial Times Best Book of the Year and won the Bracken Bower Prize in London. Previously, Hanna co-founded DreamxAmerica, a film and impact initiative focusing on immigrant entrepreneurs. Its film, shown on PBS, was nominated for a Chicago Emmy® Award and recognized on Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas List. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, teaching the “Global Social Entrepreneurship Lab.” Hanna’s work has been featured in publications such as the BBC, PBS, Fast Company, Forbes, and the Financial Times. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in Law and Policy in 2019.