Talks Nate has given
Nate Waddington, CNCF
Open Source Summit NA — April 16–18, 2024, Seattle
Open Source Summit NA — June 23–25, 2025, Denver
Open Source Summit EU — August 25–27, 2025, Amsterdam
Mentorship is one of the most effective ways to grow and sustain open source communities. This talk shares data, hard-learned lessons, and real stories from CNCF’s multi-term mentorship programs — including LFX, Google Summer of Code, and Outreachy. Learn how structured mentorship helps projects recruit and retain contributors, avoid maintainer burnout, and build sustainable contributor pipelines. The session covers what works, what doesn’t, and practical advice for maintainers looking to start or improve their mentorship efforts.
Youtube (NA 2025): https://youtu.be/FO9ruqDB9ns
Youtube (EU 2025): https://youtu.be/Hs2OD59dXAw
Sched (NA 2025): https://ossna2025.sched.com/event/223lH
Sched (EU 2025): https://osseu2025.sched.com/speaker/nwaddington1
Nate Waddington, CNCF; Diane Mueller, Bitergia
LF Member Summit — October 2023, Monterey
Open Source Summit Japan — December 5–6, 2023, Tokyo
How do you know if your mentorship program is actually working? This panel discussion dives into measuring the effectiveness of LFX mentoring programs using data-driven insights. Topics include participation rates, mentee retention, career trajectories for both mentors and mentees, and how open source organizations can use analytics to improve mentorship outcomes.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/Eev25qfSXkg
Slides: PDF
Catherine Paganini, Buoyant; Dawn Foster, VMware; Nate W., CNCF; Dave Sudia, Ambassador Labs; Josh Berkus, Red Hat; Jay Tihema, ii
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Amsterdam
Helping others pays off. The TAG Contributor Strategy’s (TAG CS) mission is to help open source projects succeed. Whether establishing best practices and tips for projects to recruit contributors, govern themselves effectively to stay healthy, scale sustainably and transparently, or mentor others effectively, TAG CS members get something out of it too. Join this panel discussion to hear from TAG CS members what they’ve gotten out of giving, including how it’s shaped their careers, advanced their skills, and grown their own community. And if you are a maintainer and like what you hear, you should join us too!
Youtube: https://youtu.be/t8c_CYSrqaY
Sched: https://sched.co/1HzdC
Nate W., CNCF; Jay Tihema, ii
Wednesday, Oct 26, 2022
Detroit
Most CNCF projects want to participate in new contributor mentoring programs, but it’s hard to get started – and it’s even harder to be successful. Meet the new Mentoring Working Group, who will help you with information, resources, and peer coaching. We’ll also be introducing an exciting new program. LFX, GSOC, Outreach, and others let you grow and diversity project contributors through mentoring. We’ll talk about the existing programs, how you can get involved, and ways to minimize the work involved. We’ll also review how you can help build up the Mentorship WG to assist all CNCF projects, mentors, and mentees. We’ll also introduce a new regional program, He Waka Eke Noa/HWEN, which is helping New Zealand and Maori students get involved in cloud native without leaving home. This program can serve as a model for new ways to recruit non-traditional contributors. You’ll learn what you need to get started or become more successful in your project mentorship efforts.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/phhqfRz15I0
Sched: https://sched.co/182Mc