Итоги Kotlin Ecosystem Mentorship Program: победители пилотной программы
Источник: https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2026/05/kotlin-ecosystem-mentorship-program/
Краткое содержание
JetBrains подвели итоги пилота Kotlin Ecosystem Mentorship Program — программы, в которой ментор и менти вместе работают над реальными open-source проектами Kotlin, чтобы менти сделал свой первый «осмысленный» вклад в сообщество. Из заявок (80 кандидатов в менти и 29 кандидатов в менторы) на пилот отобрали десять пар; восемь дошли до середины программы, четыре завершили её успешно. Из четырёх финальных пар случайно выбрана одна, которой достался главный приз — поездка на KotlinConf 2026 в Мюнхен.
Победители: ментор Ruslan (yet300) и менти Clare Kinery (kinerycl), проект — bitchat-android. Clare сделала Android-клиенту BitChat апгрейд по UI/UX (PR #680 и PR #682): голосовые заметки, контролы камеры и аудио, поддержка тёмной/светлой темы, визуальная иерархия, обратная связь по нажатию. Ментор отметил, что после kickoff-созвона работа шла асинхронно через чат и GitHub. Сама Clare подчёркивает, что главным её выводом стало понимание, как устроена open-source-коллаборация: «эта программа сделала open-source доступнее и менее пугающим».
Остальные три пары, успешно завершившие программу:
— Mohamed Rejeb (ментор) и Kaustubh Deshpande (менти), проект Calf — обновления зависимостей и автоматизация CI/CD; — Nikita Vaizin (ментор) и Anshul Vyas (менти), проект FlowMVI — багфикс в модуле метрик и доработка миграционного гайда MVVM → FlowMVI; — Adetunji Dahunsi (ментор) и Yu Jin (менти), проект heron — улучшения обработки ввода и developer-facing задач.
Ключевые уроки программы JetBrains формулируют так: важно жёстко скопить задачу под двухмесячный срок («конкретно, выполнимо, ревьюабельно»); асинхронный менторинг работает, но только при ранней синхронизации ожиданий и стиля коммуникации; ценность обоюдная — менти получают уверенность и реальный workflow, менторы получают свежий вклад и шанс улучшить onboarding в собственных проектах.
Значимость
Программа интересна скорее как организационный паттерн, чем как ивент: открыть свой проект для новичка, разбить задачу под двухмесячное окно и устроить структурированный mentor/mentee-цикл — это рабочая схема, повторяемая за пределами Kotlin. JetBrains явно сигнализируют о намерении продолжать KEMP; для разработчиков, которые рассматривают первый вклад в open source, это лоу-баррьер канал.
🧾 Транскрипт (формат)
Kotlin Ecosystem Mentorship Program: Results and Winners Source: https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2026/05/kotlin-ecosystem-mentorship-program/
In the Kotlin Ecosystem Mentorship Program pilot, mentors and mentees worked together on real Kotlin open-source projects to make their first meaningful community contribution. Four pairs successfully completed the two-month program, and one eligible pair was randomly selected in the prize drawing to receive the grand prize – a trip to KotlinConf 2026 in Munich!
Congratulations to the winners:
Mentor: Ruslan (yet300) Mentee: Clare Kinery (kinerycl) Project: bitchat-android Join the KEMP Slack channel
Ruslan’s and Clare’s collaboration focused on the Android client of BitChat, where Clare contributed UI and UX improvements that brought the Android experience closer to platform conventions and enhanced overall polish and accessibility.
Clare submitted and merged two pull requests: PR #680 and PR #682. Her work improved BitChat’s voice note styling, camera and audio controls, dark/light theme support, visual hierarchy, and press interaction feedback.
Ruslan shared that Clare adapted quickly to the codebase and was able to work independently after the initial alignment. Their collaboration started with a kickoff call and continued asynchronously through chat and GitHub.
“Clare demonstrated strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and a solid understanding of UI/UX principles”, said Ruslan.
For Clare, the biggest takeaway was not just the code itself, but understanding the realities of open-source collaboration.
“As a developer who had never contributed to open source before, the biggest thing I learned was how open-source collaboration actually works. This program made it feel approachable and far less intimidating than I ever expected. I genuinely don’t think I would have taken that leap without it”, she commented.
Other participants We received 80 mentee applications and 29 mentor applications – a clear sign of strong community interest in this kind of initiative, so we plan to continue the program.
For this pilot, we selected ten pairs. Eight remained active through the middle of the program, and four completed it successfully. These successful pairs contributed across different parts of the Kotlin ecosystem and Kotlin-related projects, including the Android UI, developer tooling, documentation, CI/CD, and multiplatform libraries.
We also want to recognize the other pairs who successfully completed the program:
Mentor: Mohamed Rejeb
Mentee: Kaustubh Deshpande
Project: Calf
Kaustubh contributed across several areas of the project, including dependency updates and CI/CD automation.
Mentor: Nikita Vaizin
Mentee: Anshul Vyas
Project: FlowMVI
Anshul fixed a bug in the metrics module and contributed to the migration guide that helps developers move from MVVM to FlowMVI.
Mentor: Adetunji Dahunsi
Mentee: Yu Jin
Project: heron
Yu Jin worked on improvements related to input handling and developer-facing issues, with a focus on making the project easier to use and maintain.
What we learned Here are a few valuable takeaways from the participants’ feedback:
Clear task scoping matters. Start with work that is concrete, manageable, and reviewable within the program timeline. Asynchronous mentorship can work well, but only when expectations are explicit, and collaborators align early on communication style, task size, and review cycles. The program creates value on both sides. Mentees gain confidence, workflow knowledge, and real experience. Mentors get fresh contributions, a chance to improve onboarding in their own projects, and a reminder that open source becomes healthier when maintainers make room for new contributors. Thank you to all mentors and mentees who joined the first Kotlin Ecosystem Mentorship cohort! We’re especially grateful to the maintainers who opened their projects to newcomers and invested time in guidance, reviews, and support.
Congratulations again to Ruslan and Clare, who were selected in the KotlinConf trip prize drawing, and to all four pairs who successfully completed the program.
To stay updated on future programs, join the KEMP Slack channel. See you there!