CNCF Mentorship 2026 Term 1 Project Proposals Open + GSoC 2026 Opportunities
The CNCF LFX Mentorship 2026 Term 1 (March - May) is open for project proposals. Since 2020, 25 LFX mentee alumni have gone on to become CNCF project maintainers. This is a great opportunity to grow your contributor community.
CNCF LFX Mentorship 2026 Term 1 Mar-May
Key LFX dates:
- Project Proposals Open: Wednesday, January 7 – Tuesday, January 20, 2026
- Mentee Applications Open: Monday, January 26 – Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 11AM PST (19:00 UTC)
- Application Review Period: Wednesday, February 11 – Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 11AM PST (19:00 UTC)
In addition to LFX, the CNCF is planning on being a Mentoring Organization again this year for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) and can help projects looking to participate in the program. This is a fantastic opportunity to increase your project's contributor community and get valuable work done!
In 2026, GSoC is actively looking to bring in more projects in the areas of Security and AI/ML.
Key GSoC dates:
- Organizations application period: Monday, Jan 19, to Tuesday, Feb 3, 2026
- CNCF Project proposals submissions recommendation: Wednesday Jan 14, 2026
- Note, proposals can still be submitted after this recommended date, but the Mentorship team needs time to evaluate the proposals and package our application. The more proposals we have, the stronger our org application will be.
We're looking forward to seeing all the project ideas you're interested in working on!