Welcome to the Open source mentorship program.

• Do you want to enroll as a mentor? Click here to Apply as a mentor.
• Do you want to enroll as a mentee? Click here to Apply as a mentee.

This project is bound by a Code of Conduct.

To bring more contributors to Open source projects by mentoring people about the various open source projects environments and ecosystems, helping them contribute to respective projects, championing their PRs through code review, and giving general help.

• You will receive personalised guidance to contribute to projects, and understand its ecosystem based on your interest.

• You will grow your professional network.

• You will broaden your knowledge about different ecosystems by connecting with someone outside your immediate work group.

• You will gain experience in contributing to OSS in general and contributing practices.

• You will receive personalised help in understanding various projects under different tech stacks and improving your skills.

• You will have an opportunity to work on soft skills such as communication and problem solving.

• General guidance (any topic related to respective project and ecosystem).

• Guidance for contributing to respective projects.

• Code review.

• Additional activities agreed upon by both parties such as discussing specific resources, pair programming or live coding sessions.

• You will get to meet talented people from across the open source community.

• You will have the opportunity to practice mentoring people, giving guidance and sharing your knowledge, which is a valuable skill for managers and leaders.

• You will show your commitment to help the your OSS project.

• You might be invited to participate in group mentorship events and programs.

• Growth Mindset - A growth-mindset is required for change; if it feels overwhelming or scary, you are on the right track - keep going.

• Start Small - Activity begets activity. Let go of doing things right and start doing something. Little steps lead to big change.

• We’re in this together - If you feel stuck, reach out to someone for support; lean on the mentorship community.

• It’s a two way street - Mentees lead, mentors guide, but both are active participants. Mentoring sets mutual responsibilities and accountability.

• Mentorship is an investment - Mentorship is an investment for both mentees and mentors; you get out of it what you put in.

• A foundation of trust is essential - Mentoring requires a trusting, confidential relationship based on mutual respect. Consistency is key; Scheduled consistent meetings are an important part of building the mentorship relationship.

• Goal setting is worth the time - Goal setting is an iterative process; mentees should “raise the bar” for themselves as they progress and their skills increase. Take time to reflect on progress and celebrate small wins.

• Give yourself permission to focus on your career - It is hard to set aside time to focus on your career, but it’s important! You have permission to focus on your career.

• Mentors guide - Mentors make themselves available to their mentees and they actively listen. Guidance includes sharing experiences, past or present, and how you may have dealt with a particular challenge or situation.

• Mentors are a connection point - Mentors connect mentees with people and resources (e.g. articles, classes). Mentors aren’t expected to know all the answers. A mentor’s job should be to help mentees work through problems, not always being or finding the solution themselves.

The mentorship duration will be 6 months, during which the mentor will provide guidance and help to the mentee on an agreed schedule.

An open source project declares the intent to join the mentorship program. An announcement (with enrollment instructions) will be added in the mentorship project, declaring an opening for a mentorship program for the mentioned project.

The mentioned open source project will be the main contributor in electing and choosing mentors. In addition to nominated mentors, candidates from the community are required to submit a form to apply for the selection process. Click here to Apply as a mentor.

Mentees fill in a form to apply to be matched with a mentor. Click here to Apply as a mentee.

Before the program starts, mentees will fill out a survey indicating the areas of focus they’d like to work on. Mentors will fill out a similar survey indicating the areas they feel comfortable advising on. This information will be used to pair people. The Concerned Project community / members will nominate mentors, in addition to filtering the list of prospective mentors willing to join the program.

The CommComm will match mentor/mentee pairs based on their language, goals, and other preferences.

A kickoff email will be sent informing the mentor/mentee pair about their match up.

A meeting will be scheduled to introduce them to each other. Pairs should agree on a mentorship schedule, expectations and goals, and the medium of communication. They should also decide on what should be held confidential and what can be shared outside the relationship.

Mentors and mentees will meet for at least an hour every month for the following time.

Ongoing Support for mentors and mentees. In addition to the meetings, the mentor should champion any PR submitted by the mentee during the mentorship program in the respective project.

• Gitter channels for mentors and mentees to create a space for conversation, encouragement and learnings.

The mentoring relationship should be *mentee-driven and mentor-guided*. The mentee is expected to identify and drive activity towards their career goals. Effective mentorship is built on a solid relationship between the mentor and mentee, so take time to get to know each other, exploring passions and obstacles as they could become relevant (if not already so) to the areas of focus.

Requirements for mentors:

• Attend the kickoff meeting.
• Help their mentees refine their goals during the first week of the program.
• Meet with their mentee based on the project specific least criteria.

Requirements for mentees:

• Attend the kickoff meeting.
• Identify 1-3 career goals.
• Meet with their mentor based on the project specific least criteria.
• Drive activity towards career goals (have a “growth attitude”).

To account for language diversity, the application form includes the following:

• The preferred language of the mentee/mentor
• The fluency in speaking/understanding english
• Whether the mentee/mentor requires non-english language for communication.
  • Note that restricting the language might result in a slower pairing process.

Initially in the program's GitHub page, and asking candidates to join the Gitter channel to reach out and meet people over specific channels.

Gitter is used as a channel for the initial meeting, then the pair can decide as they see fit.

It is based on the project

• [Contributing to the project][]
• [Working Groups][]
• [Kicking off the mentorship program initiative][]

Note: Inspired by Node.js mentorship program