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Mentoring

Be the person they can call.

Most digital foundations do not fail because the technology was wrong. They fail in the quiet months afterwards, when a new system meets an old habit and nobody is there to help close the gap. That is the job.

The roles

Three mentoring roles, each with a defined scope.

Read the out-of-scope list as carefully as the requirements. It is what protects both you and the participant.

Business mentor

Work with one small-business owner through their implementation and adoption phase.

Most digital foundations fail in the gap between a working tool and a changed habit. A mentor is the person who notices when that gap is opening and helps close it before the system is quietly abandoned.

4 hours a monthfor about 9 months

Roughly one hour a week — a monthly session plus asynchronous contact.

What you need

  • Experience running or advising a small business
  • Willingness to work with someone whose context differs from your own
  • Reliable enough to keep a monthly commitment for nine months

Screening

  1. Application and fit conversation
  2. Two references contacted
  3. Code of conduct accepted
  4. Conflict-of-interest declaration
  5. Induction on boundaries and escalation

Supervision

Programme manager, with a check-in at each adoption review.

Out of scope

  • Regulated financial, legal or tax advice
  • Investing in, or taking equity in, a participant's business
  • Selling your own products or services to participants
  • Handling a participant's money, credentials or customer data

Technical mentor

Support teams turning a labelled prototype into something safe to operate.

The riskiest moment in the whole cycle is when a prototype starts being used for real work. A technical mentor is the person who asks about backups, access control and what happens when the person who built it leaves.

5 hours a monthfor about 6 months

Concentrated around the implementation and configuration phases.

What you need

  • Practical experience building or operating production systems
  • Comfortable working with low-bandwidth, low-budget, vendor-neutral constraints
  • Able to explain a technical trade-off to a non-technical owner

Screening

  1. Application and fit conversation
  2. Two references contacted
  3. Code of conduct accepted
  4. Conflict-of-interest declaration

Supervision

Delivery lead, with escalation to the programme manager.

Out of scope

  • Taking over as the system's maintainer
  • Introducing a dependency on a product you sell or represent
  • Accessing live participant or beneficiary data

Digital skills coach

Coach learner teams through the portfolio and capstone.

Learners on the skills programme work in teams of four to six. A coach keeps the team honest about what they have actually built versus what they intended to build.

6 hours a monthfor about 12 months

One session per team per fortnight, plus portfolio review.

What you need

  • Working in a digital or technical role
  • Comfortable giving direct feedback kindly
  • Available across a full 18-month cycle, or one of its two halves

Screening

  1. Application and fit conversation
  2. Two references contacted
  3. Background clearance where working with learners under 18
  4. Code of conduct accepted
  5. Safeguarding induction

Supervision

Programme manager. Any safeguarding concern escalates immediately.

Out of scope

  • Completing or substantially editing a learner's portfolio work
  • Promising employment, placement or referral outcomes
  • Private contact with a learner outside the agreed channels

How matching works

From application to first session.

  1. 01
    You apply

    Tell us where your experience is strongest and how much time you genuinely have. We would rather have four reliable hours a month than twelve optimistic ones.

  2. 02
    We talk

    A fit conversation, not an interview. We are working out which participants you would actually help, and whether the commitment fits around your work.

  3. 03
    References and declarations

    Two referees contacted, a conflict-of-interest declaration, and the code of conduct accepted. Mentors work alongside people in a vulnerable position; this step is not negotiable.

  4. 04
    Induction

    Boundaries, escalation routes and what to do if a participant tells you something that worries you. Nobody is matched before this.

  5. 05
    Matching

    We match after the five-day intensive, once we know what a participant is actually building rather than what they said they would build.

  6. 06
    Review

    Every match is reviewed at each adoption checkpoint. A match that is not working gets changed — that is a normal outcome, not a failure by either party.

Code of conduct

What everyone in the network agrees to.

You will be asked to accept this before being matched. It applies equally to staff, mentors and volunteers.

  1. 01Put the participant's interest ahead of your own, your employer's and Ubuntu Gale's.
  2. 02Stay inside the scope of your role, and say so when a question falls outside it.
  3. 03Keep what participants tell you confidential, except where someone is at risk of harm.
  4. 04Never use your position to sell, recruit, invest or seek personal benefit.
  5. 05Keep contact within the agreed channels, and never in private with a person under 18.
  6. 06Declare any conflict of interest as soon as you become aware of it.
  7. 07Report any safeguarding concern immediately, and never investigate it yourself.
  8. 08Treat access to systems, data and premises as borrowed, and return it when your role ends.

Apply

Start a mentoring conversation.

Applications are reviewed against the role descriptions above. Because mentoring involves participant contact, screening includes reference checks — so this takes longer than a general enquiry.

Which mentoring role interests you?
Where your experience is strongest

Optional. Helps us match you to a participant working in a similar context.

Languages you can mentor in

Be realistic rather than generous — a commitment you can keep for nine months is worth more than a large one you cannot.

A few sentences is plenty.

Someone who has seen you work. We contact referees before placing anyone.

For example: you sell to this market, or you know someone applying to a programme. Declaring one rarely rules you out; not declaring one does.

Optional. We plan sessions around this — it is never used to assess an application.

Permissions

Read the privacy notice for how long we keep this and who can see it.

Not sure mentoring is the right fit?

Volunteering covers shorter, more specific commitments — from a single half-day to a review window.

See volunteer roles