January is always a busy month for the Outreachy team. Everyone returned from the holiday break to dive straight into preparations for the June 2025 cohort, all while continuing to support the ongoing December 2024 cohort (not that we ever really took a break from this!). Our focus this month has been on strategizing ways to bring more mentoring communities on board, sponsorships, and planning the new round activities.
One of the highlights of the month was our first live stream event for mentors, which turned out to be an incredibly engaging session. We were joined by two passionate mentors from long-time Outreachy communities—GNOME and Wikimedia—who shared valuable insights into the mentorship experience. Deb (Wikimedia) reflected on the beauty of witnessing Outreachy interns evolve into mentors themselves, creating a full-circle moment. Federico spoke about the challenges of mentoring and how he applied teaching techniques he learned from his wife to improve his approach with interns. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend it—it was a fantastic discussion!
On the development side, I’ve been working on a new feature for the Outreachy website that allows applicants to highlight their top professional skills in their initial application. This will help mentors assess applicants’ strengths better and match them with projects that align with their skill sets. With this improvement, mentors will have a clearer picture of each applicant’s abilities and where additional guidance might be needed before the final application stage. I’m excited to see how the community receives this update and look forward to their feedback. (Check out the open pull request here!)
Looking ahead, the community CFP and initial application will open early next week! I’m eager to welcome new mentoring communities and support them throughout the process. If you’re interested in participating in Outreachy as a mentoring community, now is the perfect time to get involved. Visit the Outreachy website to learn more, and feel free to reach out to us. Till next time!
Tilda's Thoughts 