Introducing GSG - a potential Season of KDE partner

Tue Jul 7 17:10:03 BST 2026

On Tuesday, 7 July 2026 12:14:02 Central European Summer Time Sohaib Arafat 
wrote:
> Hi Paul,

Hello Sohaib and Leyan,

> Thank you for your thoughtful reply, and for introducing the mentorship
> team. I'm really encouraged by your interest in supporting our community. I
> agree that it's worth starting the conversation now so we have enough time
> to explore the different possibilities and determine what would be the best
> fit.

It may be a bit early for a call. Understand that KDE is a loose knit 
community of volunteers with a non-hierarchical structure and not one person 
can speak for the community or, in this case, for the mentorship working 
group.

For us, a first step would be to get some data on what you need so we can see 
how we can provide it. So, if you don't mind, allow me to ask you some 
questions first, so we can discuss the answers:

- How many people would you be seeking to mentor initially? 

- What level of expertise are talking about?

- Can you provide us with links to typical projects your students carry out?

Although we provide mentorships at all levels and on various topics (including 
some that are not even technical), the vast majority are currently going to 
involve developing in C++ with the Qt toolkit, which is what most of KDE's 
software uses.

We of course do not expect mentees to be proficient in these technologies. That 
is what the mentorship is going to help with. But we do need to get a handle 
on the level so we know what we are going to work with, what projects we can 
propose, and have at least an idea of the challenges the mentors are going to 
face.

> I think a call would be the most productive next step. It would give
> us a chance to better understand each other's goals, discuss the
> opportunities available for our community, and identify how GSG and KDE can
> best collaborate and support one another. Please suggest a date and time
> that works best for you and the team, and we'll be happy to accommodate.
> Looking forward to speaking with you all.

Please be patient. As I am sure you understand yourselves, KDE is an 
organisations with few resources and we have to be sure we can actually cater 
to your needs before making a commitment that may let you down.

Let's discuss the topics above and then we can do a call.

Kind regards

Paul

> ________________________________
> From: Paul Brown <paul.brown at kde.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 6, 2026 9:52 PM
> To: kde-soc at kde.org <kde-soc at kde.org>
> Cc: Sohaib Arafat <sohaib at gazaskygeeks.com>; kde-soc-management
> <kde-soc-management at kde.org> Subject: Re: Introducing GSG - a potential
> Season of KDE partner
> 
> On Monday, 6 July 2026 12:19:01 Central European Summer Time Sohaib Arafat
> 
> wrote:
> > Hi Season of KDE team,
> 
> Hello Sohaib,
> 
> I am adding the KDE Soc Management team that manages all things mentorships.
> > I'm Sohaib, coordinating employability and experiential learning programs
> > at Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG), part of Mercy Corps, working with tech talent
> > across Palestine.
> > 
> > We've been researching mentorship and fellowship opportunities that
> > genuinely fit our community's context, and Season of KDE keeps coming up
> > as
> > a strong match, particularly the open source focus and the accessible,
> > mentorship-driven format. Open source work gives our community a
> > meaningful
> > way to build real skills and contribute globally, regardless of location.
> > 
> > Here's our 2025 Harvest Report, which gives a good overview of our
> > community and programs:
> > https://harvest2025.gazaskygeeks.com/flip-book/790311/2336532
> > 
> > I wanted to reach out and introduce GSG, and see if there might be room
> > for
> > a partnership. This could mean helping our community members apply as
> > mentees, or exploring whether GSG could contribute an open-source project
> > for future editions. I'm open to whichever direction makes sense on your
> > end.
> > 
> > Would you be up for a quick conversation sometime?
> 
> We would love to help out, hear your ideas and mentor your people. We
> usually hold Season of KDE in the first quarter of each year, but let's
> start the conversation now, so we can figure everything out in time. We
> have also been looking at holding SoK in other moments throughout the year,
> depedning on demand and availability of mentors. So there's that too.
> 
> How would you like to proceed?
> 
> We have Matrix room at https://matrix.to/#/#kde-mentorship:kde.org if you
> wnat to dive in, although maybe email is the more convenient mode for now.
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Paul
> 
> P.S.: Benson, Johnny, please feel free to jump in with your own ideas and
> advice on how to move forward.
> --
> Promotion & Communication
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> 
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> https://kde.org/anniversaries/30

-- 
Promotion & Communication

www: https://kde.org
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KDE is turning 30, and it's high time you became a supporting member:
https://kde.org/anniversaries/30