LFN Mentorship Program

Owned by Casey Cain
Last updated: Mar 06, 2024 by Casey Cain
2 min read



Program Overview

The LF Networking (LFN) intern/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.  Each mentee will work remotely from his/her 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/event to meet their peers and mentors face-to-face and to present their work to the broader community.

Potential Benefits for Student Mentees

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

  • Mentees get introduced to open source development infrastructure, tooling, and culture

  • Mentees have the hands-on opportunity to do work related to their academic and professional interests and to further the pursuit of those interests

  • Mentees develop close working relationships with open source professionals and industry business leaders to expand their professional network

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 its 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 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 upon successful project completion.

Travel Funding

Mentees who have done an outstanding work may be invited and be provided travel funding by LFN to attend a technical event and present their work to the broader community.

Travel funding is subject to restrictions based on COVID and other geopolitics outside of the Linux Foundation's control.

Questions?

Please email mentorship@lfnetworking.org

See Previous Mentee Work and Spotlights