Call for May 2022 mentoring communities

Date: January 10, 2022

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

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Outreachy seeks mentors

Outreachy is seeking open source and open science communities to mentor Outreachy interns in the May 2022 cohort.

We encourage any open source community to apply to mentor Outreachy interns.

Outreachy does not require your community to provide internship funding. However, donations to Outreachy have decreased over the last few years, and we currently have a very limited budget to fund internships each cohort.

We often find that FOSS communities know best what organizations or companies might have funding available. Therefore, we need your help finding additional Outreachy sponsors.

We cannot assure funding for your interns, but we will try. Your help identifying fundraising leads will be a major factor in the success of this Outreachy internship cohort.

Donation amounts

In order to sustain our program, Outreachy needs to receive donations of at least $6,500 to $10,000 USD per intern we accept. This breaks down to:

Donations to the Outreachy program are vital to support interns

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. The Outreachy organizers share tips for your interns on how to attend FOSS conferences, encourage your interns to explore careers or academic research in open source, and help them expand their network of open source contracts.

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.

Outreachy organizers' deep support of interns would not be possible without funding for Outreachy's core program activities. We highly encourage organizations to donate additional funds to Outreachy program activities because additional donations helps us retain Outreachy interns in the open source community.

We need fundraising collaboration with FOSS communities

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 sustaining our program, and we ask for your help with promotion and fundraising leads.

Important dates:

Please see the full mentor schedule below.

Submit Community Application


What communities need to know

What is Outreachy?
Mentor duties
May 2022 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 30 to August 26

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.


May 2022 internship dates

Jan. 8, 2022 at 4pm UTCCommunity sign up opens
Feb. 4, 2022 at 4pm UTCInitial applications open
March 2, 2022 at 4pm UTCInitial application deadline
March 2, 2022 at 4pm UTC⚠️ Deadline for communities to sign up to mentor
March 23, 2022 at 4pm UTC⚠️ Deadline for mentors to subject project descriptions
March 25, 2022Contribution period begins
April 22, 2022Contribution period ends
April 22, 2022 at 4pm UTCFinal application deadline
May 4, 2022Intern selection deadline
May 16, 2022Outreachy organizers finalize intern selections
May 20, 2022 at 4pm UTCInterns are publicly announced on the alums page
May 30, 2022
to Aug. 26, 2022
Internships period

Intern funding

We encourage any open source community to apply to mentor Outreachy interns.

Outreachy does not require your community to provide internship funding. However, donations to Outreachy have decreased over the last few years, and we currently have a very limited budget to fund internships each cohort.

We often find that FOSS communities know best what organizations or companies might have funding available. Therefore, we need your help finding additional Outreachy sponsors.

We cannot assure funding for your interns, but we will try. Your help identifying fundraising leads will be a major factor in the success of this Outreachy internship cohort.

Donation amounts

In order to sustain our program, Outreachy needs to receive donations of at least $6,500 to $10,000 USD per intern we accept. This breaks down to:

Donations to the Outreachy program are vital to support interns

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. The Outreachy organizers share tips for your interns on how to attend FOSS conferences, encourage your interns to explore careers or academic research in open source, and help them expand their network of open source contracts.

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.

Outreachy organizers' deep support of interns would not be possible without funding for Outreachy's core program activities. We highly encourage organizations to donate additional funds to Outreachy program activities because additional donations helps us retain Outreachy interns in the open source community.

We need fundraising collaboration with FOSS communities

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 sustaining our program, and we ask for your help with promotion and fundraising leads.


Humanitarian open source funding

Outreachy is seeking humanitarian open source communities to participate in the May 2022 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 2022 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's CZI grant will fund up to 10 open science communities in the May 2022 Outreachy internship cohort.

Research on infectious diseases, climate change, and mental health

Outreachy is also excited to work with Wellcome Trust to provide additional funding for open science communities. Wellcome Trust is focused on funding Outreachy interns working on open science projects that address urgent health challenges or discovery research.

In order to qualify for funding from Wellcome Trust, projects:

Wellcome Trust will fund up to 6 open science communities in the May 2022 Outreachy internship cohort.

In the December 2022 cohort, three open science communities received Wellcome Trust funding.

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


Apply to participate

Submit Community Application