LFN Mentorship Program

Program Overview

The LF Networking (LFN) mentorship program is aimed at creating a structured hands-on learning opportunity for new developers who may otherwise lack the opportunity to gain exposure to open source software development and entry to the LFN projects' technical communities. It also provides a more defined path for LFN projects to connect with the next generation of student developers to inject more talent into their developer base. Each mentee will apply and be matched with a mentor or mentors who are active developers and technologists contributing to the industry's leading open source networking projects such as Nephio, ONAP, Anuket, OpenDaylight, FD.io, LFN Super Blueprints, L3AF, CNTi, Paraglider, Duranta, and Essedum. Each mentee will work remotely from their location of choice. Regular evaluation and feedback will be provided. Mentees who have done outstanding work may have the opportunity to travel to an LFN conference or event to meet their peers and mentors face-to-face and to present their work to the broader community.

How It Works

1. Mentors propose projects on the wiki using the Project Proposal Template

2. Project TSCs review the proposals and forward approved ones to the TAC

3. TAC approves the final mentorship projects (up to 2 funded projects for 2026; additional unpaid mentorships may also be accepted)

4. Approved projects are published on the LFX Mentorship Platform

5. Mentees apply through the LFX Mentorship Platform

6. Mentors select mentees and the Linux Foundation coordinates onboarding and HR paperwork

Potential Benefits for Student Mentees

• Gain exposure to real-world software development by working closely with active developers in the community

• Get introduced to open source development infrastructure, tooling, and culture

• Have the hands-on opportunity to do work related to your academic and professional interests and to further the pursuit of those interests

• Develop close working relationships with open source professionals and industry business leaders to expand your professional network

• Showcase your work and raise your profile in the open source networking community

Potential Benefits for Mentors

• A structured avenue to share your passion and expertise in open source development

• A guided opportunity to teach and onboard new contributors toward making productive contributions to your project

• Get additional help to address feature gaps, code development needs, research, or documentation in your project

• Nurture the health and sustainability of your project and community by training new talent

Potential Benefits for LFN Projects

• More source code gets written and used for the benefit of all

• The mentorship program helps create a pipeline to a diverse, well-educated pool of developers

• The mentorship program helps spread the word about LFN projects and related technologies at academic institutions and increases academia's interest in the teaching and research of the technologies

• The mentorship program helps LFN gain valuable insight into new developer onboarding processes and how to lower the barriers to entry for new developers

• The mentorship program creates positive press for LFN via student testimonials, brand recognition, and peer-to-peer messaging

Mentee Stipends

Mentees participating in funded mentorships will be eligible to receive a stipend. The total stipend amount will be calculated using a tiered structure based on the country where the mentee resides when participating in the program. The stipend will be paid in two installments:

• Midterm stipend: Paid to mentees who are making satisfactory progress and in good standing as evaluated by their mentor(s) during the midterm evaluation.

• Final stipend: Paid to mentees upon successful project completion as evaluated by their mentor(s) and confirmed by program staff.

Mentorships labeled as Unpaid will not include a stipend. Unpaid mentorships provide the same structured learning experience, mentorship, and community engagement as funded projects, but without financial compensation. See the Mentorship Projects page for details on which projects are funded or unpaid.

Travel Funding

Mentees who have done outstanding work may be invited and provided travel funding by LFN to attend a technical event and present their work to the broader community. A limited travel fund may also be available for exceptional mentors who demonstrate the need to travel to an in-person event where they are presenting about their mentorship projects.

Program Timeline

See the Program Timeline page for details.

Questions?

For questions about the LFN Mentorship Program or to follow up on an existing project proposal, please email mentorship@lfnetworking.org.

Please note that mentee applications are only accepted for projects that have been formally proposed and approved. To apply, use the LFX Mentorship Platform.

Previous Mentee Work and Spotlights

• LF Networking Blog Post by Mentee @Nicholas Karimi (2021)

• CENGN Webinar: CENGN Intern Aarti speaks about OPNFV third Colorado Release

• OPNFV Intern Interview: Zahra Jahedi

• OPNFV Intern Interview: Daniel Tudares

Note: The OPNFV project was rebranded as Anuket. These videos are preserved as historical references.