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• Read actively: Pause at the reflection questions and consider how your project would respond.
• Discuss with others: Share scenarios or questions on your project’s dev@ list, and consensus grows through conversation.
• Connect the dots:   Link what you learn here with related materials: Governance in Practice, Voting & Consensus in Practice, Vendor Neutrality, Branding & Identity, Graduation Criteria and Graduation & Beyond.
• Apply it immediately: Try one improvement in your project’s process, for example, a clearer vote summary or a more inclusive discussion pattern.

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1. How can a podling plan Infra requests so that their timelines don’t derail delay progress?
2. What’s the right way to communicate status and unblock work without creating policy or branding problems?
3. How can mentors model respectful collaboration with Infrastructure while keeping the podling moving?

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In one podling proposal, mentors were added late in the process. Some were chosen added because they were well-known ASF Members or from worked for the same company as the proposers, rather than because they had the time or interest to mentor. Once the project entered incubation, those mentors were largely inactive, leaving the podling without needed guidance on releases, community building, and ASF processes.

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1. What criteria should be used when selecting mentors for a new proposal?
2. How can the IPMC ensure mentors understand and commit to their responsibilities before a vote?
3. What should podlings do if a mentor is unresponsive or lacks relevant experience?

Possible path forward

• Choose mentors based on their engagement, availability, and complementary experience, viewing mentorship as an active commitment rather than their reputation or affiliationa title.
• Encourage proposers to work with potential mentors early, before the proposal vote, to confirm mutual understanding.
• If a mentor is inactive, the podling should raise the issue on the incubator list and request a replacement through the normal process.

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In one podling, mentors noticed that activity had slowed, releases were overdue, and a few individuals dominated discussions. Although these issues persisted for several quarters, the prodling podling did not report them, the mentors hesitated to raise them with the Incubator PMC, hoping the community would recover on its own. When the podling later proposed graduation, the IPMC was surprised to learn about the extent of the problems, and the vote was postponed pending corrective action.

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