Call for December 2023 mentoring communities

Date: August 1, 2023

Two black people are standing by an Outreachy banner. On the left, Omotola Omotayo, holds a sign that reads 'Outreachy - connecting mentors and mentees'. The Outreachy banner says 'Outreachy - Paid remote 3-month internships supporting diversity. Open source internships: software, documentation, design, translation, user experience.' Photo is cc-by 4.0 Outreachy

Photo CC BY 4.0 Outreachy

Outreachy seeks mentors

Outreachy is seeking open source and open science communities to mentor Outreachy interns in the December 2023 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 $8,000 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
December 2023 internship dates
Humanitarian open source funding
Open science funding


What is Outreachy?

Outreachy is an internship program. Outreachy internships are:

๐Ÿ’ต Paid - $7,000 USD total internship stipend

๐ŸŒ Remote - both interns and mentors work remotely

๐Ÿ•ฐ 3 months - internships run December 04 to March 01

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

โ™€๏ธ 92% women

๐Ÿณ๏ธโ€๐ŸŒˆ 4% transgender, genderqueer, or non-binary people

๐Ÿง•๐Ÿพ 64% people of color

๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿฟ 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? Are you thinking about having your open source or open science community mentor Outreachy interns?

Come learn more about mentoring Outreachy interns during our two live-streamed chats! We'll host a panel of past Outreachy community coordinators and mentors, who will share their experiences and tips for participating in Outreachy.

Chat dates:

Where: YouTube


December 2023 internship dates

Aug. 1, 2023 at 4pm UTCCommunity sign up opens
Aug. 8, 2023 at 4pm UTCInitial applications open
Aug. 22, 2023 at 4pm UTCInitial application deadline
Sept. 15, 2023 at 4pm UTCโš ๏ธ Deadline for communities to sign up to mentor
Sept. 29, 2023 at 4pm UTCโš ๏ธ Deadline for mentors to subject project descriptions
Oct. 2, 2023Contribution period begins
Oct. 30, 2023Contribution period ends
Oct. 30, 2023 at 4pm UTCFinal application deadline
Nov. 6, 2023Intern selection deadline
Nov. 13, 2023Outreachy organizers finalize intern selections
Nov. 21, 2023 at 4pm UTCInterns are publicly announced on the alums page
Dec. 4, 2023
to March 1, 2024
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 $8,000 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 December 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:

Past communities that have received humanitarian funding include projects like:

Outreachy will fund up to 10 humanitarian open source communities in the December 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 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 December 2023 Outreachy internship cohort.

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


Apply to participate

Submit Community Application