Outreachy

upcomingOfficial website

Paid remote internships in open source for people from under-represented groups.

StipendedFull-timeRemoteNewcomer-firstNeeds-based

About the program

Outreachy is the most generous entry point in open source: a six-month, fully paid internship with a real community, run by the Diversity Outreach team at the Software Freedom Conservancy. It exists specifically for people groups excluded from tech - and it works, with thousands of alumni now maintainers, staff engineers and PhDs.

Unlike summer programs, Outreachy values the journey over the résumé. The sample task is a small, bounded contribution in the community you want to join; completing it shows you can follow through, which is the entire screening criterion.

Primary stack

CPythonRustJavaScriptOCamlLinuxGitDocumentation tooling

Technical focus

Kernel and systemsScientific computingDesktop environmentsDocs and UX researchDistributed systems

The path

01
Pick a community (always open)
Browse the list of participating organizations - from the Linux kernel to Jupyter to GNOME - and join their mailing list or chat.
02
Do the sample task (Oct / Apr)
Every community publishes a small non-GSoC-style task. It is required, it is not graded for difficulty, and it starts your mentor relationship.
03
Apply with essays (Nov / May)
Two short essays: why this community, and what you need the internship for. No GPA, no résumé filters.
04
Intern (6 months)
Full-time remote work with a mentor, a paid round-trip travel stipend to one conference, and a co-mentor as backup.
05
Graduate into the community
Most interns keep contributing; many become mentors for the next round.

Who it's for

Career switchers and self-taught developers with no CS degree
People from groups underrepresented in tech - that is the entire point
Anyone who wants six months of mentored, paid depth instead of a summer sprint

What you walk away with

USD 8,000+ stipend per internship, paid like a real job
Conference travel budget and an accepted talk pipeline
Six months of merged history in one community - the strongest OSS résumé there is
A permanent network of alumni mentors and co-mentors