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While ComDev had a semi-formal mentoring program in the long past, it never got traction with committed volunteers.  Do we have the sustained volunteer energy now to create a mentoring program and keep it going?

Goal Of Mentoring Program

This is an important topic to get a good-enough description of so we know what to build - and so we can see if we have enough volunteers to do it.

This is a participatory document, please add your constructive thoughts!

To bring more contributors to Apache projects by championing:

  • The various project environments and ecosystems within the foundation
  • Contributing to the conversation in ASF style.
  • Niche and Interest based communities
  • The ASF Way and giving foundation oriented guidance where applicable.

Services/Volunteers Needed

  • Administrative volunteers - to regularly send updates, check in with mentors, and ensure that people listed as participating somehow are still doing it.  Also, to answer any incoming questions in a friendly way.  Also: contribute to board report.
  • Mentor volunteers - who sign up to commit at least X amount of time over Y period once matched with a mentee.
  • Website space for policies, how to contact, etc.
  • Tooling for registering and listing current mentors
    • A simplistic tool exists for this on Whimsy already; committers can fill in a web form to create a mentor profile, and then get listed on a listing page.  Currently ASF-internal, but easy to update for public committers.
  • Tooling for matching mentors/mentees?
  • Oversight for matching programs?
  • Complaint channel for cases where relationships don't work?
  • Intake tool / social media to attract mentees (once we have enough mentors)

Policies Needed

  • Goals and aspirations of program
  • Basic training on where to find information at ASF/how to do things for mentors
  • Policies around expectations: how mentor/mentees communicate; how much time per week/month is expected; how long a mentoring relationship should last.
  • Some level of reporting around number of mentors, mentoring pairs, any successes that mentors/mentees volunteer about
  • Confidentiality reminders for mentoring pairs


Other FOSS Mentoring Program Ideas

Mentoring only works if we both have the volunteer mentors to work with new mentees, and have volunteers to keep the program as a whole going.



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