Bring out your rainbows! 2024 is starting off with some great news for LGBTQ+ folks interested in contributing to WordPress: you can receive a $500 grant to participate in and complete the WordPress Mentorship Program. The funding is proudly powered by Queeromattic, the collection of queers within Automattic. This is a new initiative with the aim to actively empower LGBTQ+ folks to join the WordPress community.
📣 If this opportunity isn’t for you, we hope you’ll still share our excitement and consider taking some time to share it so it reaches those it is designed for.
Who can apply?
This is open to anyone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and has submitted a mentee application for the WordPress Mentorship Program from the application open date (Jan 12, 2024). This is for mentees only, not for mentors.
How do I apply?
Follow these two steps:
Bonus step: do a little celebratory dance.
When do I need to apply by?
February 7th.
How much is the grant?
$500 per person paid upon successful completion of the mentorship program.
When would I get paid?
Upon completion of the program. This is done to help ensure folks who are able to follow through with the program are properly prioritized for funding.
How many people will be selected?
Up to four folks will be chosen.
How will folks be selected?
They will be selected by folks working on the WordPress Mentorship Program and 1-2 folks from Queeromattic to ensure alignment between each group. We will look for folks who are specifically excited to contribute to WordPress and who will benefit the most from the mentorship program based on their background and current opportunities.
How long is the mentorship program?
Six weeks from February 19, 2024 to March 29, 2024.
Where can I learn more about the mentorship program?
Check out this post on the mentorship opportunity.
I want my company/organization/friend group to contribute to this funding. Can we?
TLDR: Not yet but we love to hear it. Right now, there’s a larger discussion happening in the WordPress Community Team around how best to manage this funding and future opportunities. This effort helps pave the way since we don’t yet have structure set up for it. If you’re interested though, please reach out to the WordPress Community Team, chime in on the GitHub discussion, or contact Anne (the excited queer wrangling some of this) if you want to talk to a person directly.
Have more questions? Ask in the comments!
Usually if one person has a question, someone else does too. Please share and we’ll follow up as soon as possible. If you have questions about the mentorship program, please direct them to this mentorship program post.