Designed to support industry professionals around the world, the IGDA Global Mentorship Program provides a way for IGDA members to support each other and to progress their career. The program allows for mentees to get advice from people in their field and mentors to practice mentorship and build relationships.

Apply to sign-up as a mentor or mentee.

Mentor Benefits

Members who participate as mentors for the IGDA Global Mentorship Program will be granted the following benefits:

1. Spotlight promotion as a mentor in an IGDA News article to be featured within the IGDA Insider and on IGDA’s social media channels 
2. Priority invitation to IGDA’s Networking Events (such as IGDA’s GDC Networking Event)
3. Opportunity to win free conference passes and other benefits 
4. Access to private IGDA Global Mentorship Discord channels

Mentee Benefits

Members who participate as mentees for the IGDA Global Mentorship Program will be granted the following benefits: 

1. Hand-selected pairing with a mentor to fit your needs
2. Access to a private IGDA Global Mentorship Discord channel

Mentorship Expectations

The following are expectations of the mentors and mentees participants of the IGDA Global Mentorship Program:

1. Mentors and mentees must communicate once a month and must have a short call once every two months
2. Mentors and mentees must be IGDA members and follow IGDA’s Code of Ethics 
3. Mentors must provide advice in good faith and with empathy for their mentee
4. Mentees must be patient and understand mentor communication may be delayed at times

Mentor / Mentee Pairing

Mentors and mentees are paired manually by IGDA organizer(s) after reviewing information collected during the signup process.

Mentors are asked about their:

• Top 5 areas of expertise (3 minimum required)
• High-level expertise in a variety of disciplines (ranking lowest to highest comfort in mentoring on topic)

Mentees are asked about their:

• High-level needs in a variety of disciplines (ranking lowest to highest need)
• Current project(s), industry goals, and what they hope to get out of their participation in the IGDA Mentor Café

Follow-Up

On a quarterly basis, a follow-up thank you letter and survey will be sent to mentors and mentees. The survey will track their satisfaction with their mentorship pairing, whether they have been able to uphold their comments, and how they believe the mentorship has impacted them.