Call for May 2023 mentoring communities

Date: January 5, 2023

Two black women sit on a couch, with laptops on their lap. One woman is pointing to the other woman's laptop screen. The other woman is smiling. Photo is cc-by 2.0 WOCinTech Chat

Photo CC BY 2.0 WOCinTech Chat

Outreachy seeks mentors

Outreachy is seeking open source and open science communities to mentor Outreachy interns in the May 2023 cohort.

As everyone is aware, donations to Outreachy have decreased over the last few years. Because of this, Outreachy is not currently able to fund any internships out of our general activities fund.

Outreachy's finances are at a critical point. We would be so grateful if all of our communities help us identify fundraising leads so that Outreachy can continue to run.

Donation amounts

In order to run our program in the most basic way, Outreachy needs to receive donations of at least $8,000 to $10,000 USD per intern we accept. This breaks down to:

Outreachy is currently facing critical financial challenges. At this time, communities must donate at least $8,000 USD per intern they wish to mentor. We really hope communities increase their donation beyond that to ensure Outreachy can continue running.

Outreachy is a labor intensive program. Outreachy organizers are highly involved with interns. Outreachy organizers work closely with your community's mentors to empower your interns to pursue a future in FOSS. While most of our internships complete without issues, each cohort there are multiple internships where the organizers step in provide support to both interns and mentors. They also are almost always available via Zulip to both interns and mentors.

Outreachy's deep support of interns, along with your mentoring partnership, means 80% of past Outreachy interns continue to contribute to open source after their internship.

We need your community's help to identify and convince organizations to provide donations to help Outreachy sustain our deep support of interns, and retain their amazing talent in our open source community. Please don't think about this as just finding funding for your interns for this internship cohort. This is about ensuring the future of Outreachy, and we ask for your help to fund our essential program activities.

Important dates

Please see the full mentor schedule below.

Submit Community Application


What communities need to know

What is Outreachy?
Mentor duties
May 2023 internship dates
Humanitarian open source funding
Open science funding


What is Outreachy?

Outreachy is an internship program. Outreachy internships are:

💵 Paid - $7,000 USD total internship stipend

🌍 Remote - both interns and mentors work remotely

🕰 3 months - internships run May 29 to August 25

Outreachy's goal is to increase diversity in open source. Past Outreachy interns are:

♀️ 92% women

🏳️‍🌈 4% transgender, genderqueer, or non-binary people

🧕🏾 64% people of color

🧑🏿 12% people from a historically disadvantaged caste or tribe

Statistics are based on responses to the 2019 longitudinal study of Outreachy alums.

Read Community Guide


Mentor duties

The heart of Outreachy is our volunteer mentors. Mentors work directly with Outreachy applicants and interns.

Outreachy looks for mentors who are helpful, patient, welcoming, and kind.

Mentor time commitment:

Mentors will need to provide an internship project description. Outreachy does not allow applicants to submit project ideas.

It is okay for mentors to submit multiple project ideas. Communities with sponsorship for one intern tend to list 1 to 3 projects. Some communities list as many as 5 to 7 projects.

Outreachy encourages co-mentoring! Co-mentoring is when two or more people mentor the same Outreachy intern.

Mentors will need to provide a list of tasks for applicants to work on during the contribution period.


Live streamed mentor chats

Are you curious what it's like being an Outreachy mentor? Come learn more during our two live-streamed chats! We'll host a panel of past Outreachy mentors, who will share their experiences and mentoring tips.

Chat dates:

Where: PeerTube. PeerTube is an open source video hosting platform. The mentor chats will be live streamed on PeerTube. Outreachy will also be streaming the chat on YouTube (link will be announced soon).


May 2023 internship dates

Jan. 2, 2023 at 4pm UTCCommunity sign up opens
Jan. 16, 2023 at 4pm UTCInitial applications open
Feb. 6, 2023 at 4pm UTCInitial application deadline
Feb. 11, 2023 at 4pm UTC⚠️ Deadline for communities to sign up to mentor
March 3, 2023 at 4pm UTC⚠️ Deadline for mentors to subject project descriptions
March 6, 2023Contribution period begins
April 3, 2023Contribution period ends
April 3, 2023 at 4pm UTCFinal application deadline
April 14, 2023Intern selection deadline
April 26, 2023Outreachy organizers finalize intern selections
May 4, 2023 at 4pm UTCInterns are publicly announced on the alums page
May 29, 2023
to Aug. 25, 2023
Internships period

Intern funding

As everyone is aware, donations to Outreachy have decreased over the last few years. Because of this, Outreachy is not currently able to fund any internships out of our general activities fund.

Outreachy's finances are at a critical point. We would be so grateful if all of our communities help us identify fundraising leads so that Outreachy can continue to run.

Donation amounts

In order to run our program in the most basic way, Outreachy needs to receive donations of at least $8,000 to $10,000 USD per intern we accept. This breaks down to:

Outreachy is currently facing critical financial challenges. At this time, communities must donate at least $8,000 USD per intern they wish to mentor. We really hope communities increase their donation beyond that to ensure Outreachy can continue running.

Outreachy is a labor intensive program. Outreachy organizers are highly involved with interns. Outreachy organizers work closely with your community's mentors to empower your interns to pursue a future in FOSS. While most of our internships complete without issues, each cohort there are multiple internships where the organizers step in provide support to both interns and mentors. They also are almost always available via Zulip to both interns and mentors.

Outreachy's deep support of interns, along with your mentoring partnership, means 80% of past Outreachy interns continue to contribute to open source after their internship.

We need your community's help to identify and convince organizations to provide donations to help Outreachy sustain our deep support of interns, and retain their amazing talent in our open source community. Please don't think about this as just finding funding for your interns for this internship cohort. This is about ensuring the future of Outreachy, and we ask for your help to fund our essential program activities.


Humanitarian open source funding

Outreachy is seeking humanitarian open source communities to participate in the May 2023 internship round.

Outreachy welcomes applications from all open source communities that address humanitarian issues. You will need to meet our eligibility criteria.

In short, your community must be:

In the December 2021 cohort, 5 humanitarian open source communities received sponsorship for interns. Those communities included projects like:

Outreachy will fund up to 10 humanitarian open source communities in the May 2023 internship cohort. Humanitarian communities will be guaranteed funding for at least 1 intern.

To apply for humanitarian open source intern funding, please submit a community application.

Please contact Outreachy organizers with your questions about humanitarian open source funding!


Open science funding

All open science communities

Outreachy is pleased to receive a grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to provide funding for open science interns.

Outreachy welcomes open science communities who focus on any of the following areas:

Outreachy expects to fund interns with 10-15 open science communities in the May 2023 Outreachy internship cohort.

To apply for open science intern funding, please submit a community application.


Apply to participate

Submit Community Application