Diaspora Mentorship Network

A volunteer initiative connecting experienced diaspora engineers with mid-career developers (typically 5+ years experience) for focused, 20-30 minute 1:1 mentorship sessions on real career and technical problems.

This is a small, curated, experiment-first pilot rather than a big platform. The goal is to create a high-trust space where serious engineers can get practical, context-aware guidance from people who have already walked a similar path.

Why this exists

There are excellent global mentorship and interview platforms already, but they are generic by design. Many engineers in Pakistan and similar ecosystems either never reach those platforms, or struggle to find mentors who understand their educational context, constraints, and reality on the ground.

At the same time, diaspora engineers often want to give back, but do not have a lightweight, structured way to do it that respects their time and boundaries.

This network tries to bridge that gap: a small, curated group of mentors and mentees, matched for focused conversations on specific topics like system design, career navigation, and senior or staff level interview preparation.

Who this is for

Mentees – mid-career engineers who want help with topics like:

System design thinking Senior or staff interview prep Career navigation Technical leadership Backend and distributed systems

Mentors – diaspora engineers (Pakistani and non-Pakistani) with industry experience who are willing to donate a small number of short sessions each month.

Get involved

Cohort 1 (Pilot)

Cohort 1 is a small, time-boxed pilot to validate the format and matching process before scaling.

➤ Cohort 1 details & timeline

Join as a mentor

Volunteer a small number of focused sessions each month and support motivated engineers who are trying to grow into senior and staff level roles. You control your own availability and boundaries. Most mentors aim for 1-2 short sessions per month, but you decide what is sustainable.

➤ Mentor signup form

Apply as a mentee

For engineers with roughly 5+ years of experience who have a specific question, challenge, or upcoming opportunity and want targeted feedback rather than generic advice. Sessions are most useful when you come prepared with concrete context and 1-3 focused questions.

➤ Mentee signup form

How matching works

The matching process is intentionally simple and curated to protect mentor time and create high-quality conversations:

Mentees apply with background, topic, specific goal, and availability.
Requests are reviewed to ensure they are clear, serious, and appropriate for the network.
Manual matching pairs each mentee with a mentor whose expertise and time zone align.
Scheduling happens via the mentor calendar tool (for example, Calendly), so mentors keep full control of their calendars and can pause or adjust availability at any time.

Sessions are typically 20-30 minutes and focused on a single theme: for example, walking through a system design thought process, reviewing a resume for a specific role, or talking through how to approach a staff level interview loop.

Expectations

Mentees commit to showing up on time, coming prepared, and respecting mentor boundaries. This includes not treating the conversation as a referral request.
Mentors are asked only to offer honest, experience-based guidance; no ongoing obligation is assumed beyond the sessions they choose to make available.

FAQ

Why are you doing this? Many talented engineers in Pakistan do not have access to senior mentorship, especially for system design, career navigation, and interview strategy. At the same time, diaspora engineers often want to help but lack a simple way to do so in a structured, low-commitment format. This pilot is an attempt to create that bridge.

Do platforms like ADPList or interviewing.io already solve this? They solve important parts of the problem, but they are general purpose by design. They rarely provide culturally aligned, context aware mentorship for engineers in Pakistan, and they do not curate a small, trust-based network focused specifically on this demographic. This initiative is intentionally narrow and community driven rather than broad and generic.

Is this free? Yes. Mentors volunteer their time. There are no fees for the pilot.

How much time do mentors commit? Mentors set their own availability. Many will offer 1-2 short sessions per month. There is no expectation of ongoing weekly involvement unless a mentor chooses to offer more time.

Do mentees get referrals? No. The purpose of these conversations is mentorship: sharpening thinking, strategy, and clarity. Any referrals that happen later are entirely at the mentor's discretion and should not be expected.

Do mentors need to prepare material? No. The format is closer to office hours than to a class. Mentees are expected to bring specific questions and context. Mentors bring their experience and judgment.

Why focus on Pakistan first? The initial focus is on Pakistan because that is where the gap is most visible and personally familiar, and where diaspora mentors can be most context aware. Over time, the model may expand, but it starts where the need and alignment are clearest.

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or interest in helping shape the program, email ahsen.jaffer@gmail.com.