Sammy T. Mah, Kettering ’82 recently participated in the Fraternity’s Diversity Working Group to address the racial equity issues within our society and any diversity and inclusion concerns within Phi Delta Theta.
“It wasn’t until I traveled with World Relief to Rwanda, site of one of the worst genocides in history; that I was overwhelmed with the brutal consequences of hatred and racism. Yet it was not skin color that cost over one million lives in the span of 100 days in 1994. The ugliness of racism lies in the ease with which I can have a hatred or bias against anyone who is not like me. Therefore, I am so appreciative that Phi Delta Theta is willing to step into the messiness of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. Thinking back to my time at Michigan Delta, little did I and my brothers know that something as fun as taking kids (of every color) to the zoo was having an impact on our lives as well.”
Brother Mah currently serves on the Ethics Panel of the Baltimore City Public Schools. As established under Maryland Senate Bill 315; the Ethics Panel is the advisory body for interpreting ethics policy, conducting investigations, issuing advisory opinions, responding to complaints, and providing public information and educational programs.
Mah served the shareholders and customers of General Motors for over 27 years. In 2005, he left GM to “make the world a better place.” Since then Sammy spent five years serving as the President/CEO of World Relief, one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world (providing disaster relief, development, and economic opportunity in 24 countries on 4 continents); served on President Obama’s White House taskforce on Global Poverty and Development; and helped launch a software technology startup. Concurrently, he founded Higher Potential Consulting, a management/business consultancy bringing multi-national and multi-cultural experience to help business and industry profitably and effectively launch into the developing world while changing the world for the better by working with grassroots communities.
Sammy also chairs the Audit Committee on the Board of Directors for Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, a major insurer of churches and related ministries in the U.S.; providing oversight of all financial reporting processes, supervising both internal and external auditors, conducting investigations of matters including conflicts of interest and violations of policy, and working closely with insurance regulatory bodies. Sammy is also appointed to the Executive Committee, Executive Compensation Committee, and Governance Committee. Lastly, he was certified as a Lead Auditor for ISO 9000 Quality Systems in 1996.
Sammy earned his MBA in operations management from the University of Michigan and Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). He and his wife Lorelei thoroughly enjoy living in Baltimore. For the past three years, he has been volunteering with some wonderful Baltimore public school teachers in the areas of math and science instruction. The rare combination of corporate big business, non-profit, government, and tech startup experiences that he has attained significantly fuel his desire to continue to make the world a better place. It is a great joy for him to help the next generation do just that.
