Announcing the Third Cohort (2024 Q4) of the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program

The WordPress Contributor Working Group is thrilled to announce the launch of the third cohort of the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program, that has kicked off on Monday, October 7th! This program offers newer WordPress enthusiasts  a unique opportunity to engage deeply with the project and make meaningful contributions by pairing them with experienced contributors (mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.) for a six-week period.

Who are the Mentees?

This cohort includes over 100 diverse contributors (mentees), each either paired with a mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues., involved in a task-focused project under the guidance of multiple mentors, or participating with a broader cohort group. These participants were selected from a pool of 150 applicants worldwide. All applicants should have received an email with the results of their application.

Program Breakdown

WordPress Contributor Mentorship Flowchart

This cohort will span over a six-week period:

  • Weeks 1 and 2 (October 7 – October 18): Kick-off session, initial mentor/mentee check-in, setting contribution goals, and online workshops.
  • Weeks 3 and 4 (October 21 – November 1): Focus on onboarding mentees to their chosen. Make/WordPress teams, with support from team representatives, to make their initial contributions.
  • Weeks 5 and 6 (November 4 – November 15): Finalizing contributions, Wrap up, set a 30-60-90-day goal, and a graduation session.

After these six weeks, mentees will have gained a solid understanding of the WordPress project, contributed to their chosen Make/Teams, and be prepared for continued involvement. Following the success of the pilot and second cohorts, the timing of this cohort is once again aligned with the latest WordPress release (version 6.7), giving all participants the opportunity to help build the latest and greatest edition of WordPress!

Check out the Cohort #3 White Paper for more details on the program.

Our Mentors

The success of this program is largely thanks to our dedicated mentors, who provide group support and guide mentees through their WordPress journey. From a pool of nearly 46 applicants, the following 25 mentors were selected to support these contributors:

Project/GroupMentor(s)
AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)TBD
WordPress 6.7 CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. ContributionsAdam Silverstein (@adamsilverstein)
Olga Glekler (@oglekler)
Sumit Singh (@sumitsingh)
Ajit Bohra (@ajitbohra)
Damon Cook (@colorful-tones)
CommunityAditya Kane (@adityakane)
Steve Mosby (@malgra)
WordPress 6.7 TestingCourtney Robertson (@courane01)
Krupa Nanda (@krupajnanda)
Patrick Lumumba (@lumiblog)
WordPress 6.7 DocumentationEstela Rueda (@estelaris)
Leonardus Nugraha (@leonnugraha)
WordPress 6.7 DesignEstela Rueda (@estelaris)
WordPress 6.7 Support ProjectTör-Björn Fjellner (@tobifjellner)
Faisal Ahammed (@faisalahammad)
Community Themes / Twenty Twenty FiveGanga Kafle (@kafleg)
Ohia T (@ohia)
Shiv Shankar Bhatta (@shivashankerbhatta)
Spanish Community/Polyglots/DocumentationJuan Hernando (@unintended8)
Nilo Velez (@nilovelez)
Javier Casares (@javiercasares)
Josep Moran (@josepmoran)
French Polyglots and French Translation of Learn contentJenny Dupuy (@jdy68)
WordPress 6.7 Core Contributions (Core Tech)Kira Song (@kirasong)
Bangladeshi Polyglots / TrainingMuhibul Haque (@devmuhib)
OpenverseTBD
bbPressbbPress Free, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org./BuddyPressPatricia BT (@patricia70)
Mathieu Viet (@imath)
John James Jacoby (@johnjamesjacoby)

bbPress/BuddyPress incl the community part = organise the bbPBP Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/.Patricia BT (@patricia70)
SustainabilityTBD
TrainingTBD

Localized Mentorship

In addition to projects, we are providing mentees with additional support through a more localized mentoring experience, thanks to the help of local supporters. Here’s a list of local supporter mentors who will be assisting with the program:


French
Patricia BT (@patricia70), Jenny Dupuy (@jdy68)

Spanish
Juan Hernando (@unintended8), Estela Rueda (@estelaris), Josep Moran (@josepmoran), Nilo Velez (@nilovelez), Alexander Ruiz (@alxrz)

Italian
Matteo Enna (@matteoenna)

Bangladesh
Muhibul Haque (@devmuhib), Nazmul Hasan Robin (@nhrrob)

India
Aditya Kane (@adityakane), Alexander Gounder (@gounder), Yogesh Londhe (@yoga1103), Subhashish Chatterjee (@quizzycal)

Program Facilitators

The following fine folks – active members of the WordPress Contributor Working Group, are helping run this program for six weeks, from October 7th through November 15th: @devmuhib, @estelaris, @harishanker, @javiercasares, @jdy68, @josepmoran, @KafleG, @kirasong, @matteoenna, @nilovelez, @oglekler, @patricia70, @tobifjellner, and @unintended8

Join and Follow Along

In the spirit of openness and collaboration, we invite the WordPress community to follow our cohort’s progress. While not everyone can be assigned a specific mentor, anyone interested is welcome to join the #contributor-mentorship channel on Make/WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. Here, you can participate in public sessions and stay updated on the developments of the WordPress 6.7 release and the broader contributor community.

For future updates on this program, you can check come back to this URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org:
https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/mentorship-program/ (RSS)

Acknowledgments

This program wouldn’t be possible without the tireless efforts of our mentors, Contributor Working Group members, and everyone involved in organizing and supporting this initiative. Your dedication to fostering growth and learning within the WordPress community is invaluable. Let’s work together to make this cohort a success, enhancing mentorship within the WordPress project and empowering more contributors!

#contributor-working-group #wpcontributors, #mentorship-program #mentorship-cohort-october-2024 #mentorship #contributor-mentorship

+make.wordpress.org/updates/ +make.wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org//project/  +make.wordpress.org/accessibility/ +make.wordpress.org/core/ +make.wordpress.org/cli/ +make.wordpress.org/design/ +make.wordpress.org/mobile/ +make.wordpress.org/polyglots/ +make.wordpress.org/support/ +make.wordpress.org/docs/ +make.wordpress.org/themes/ +make.wordpress.org/training/ +make.wordpress.org/test/ +make.wordpress.org/tv/ +make.wordpress.org/photos/ +make.wordpress.org/hosting/ +make.wordpress.org/openverse/ +make.wordpress.org/sustainability/