Jan 14, 2026

Invited jimbruges@edgeimpulse.com Pete Bernard Luke PERRINS | 5V Tech Ed Doran Rosina Haberl razvan.bogdan@upt.ro

Summary

Rosina Haberl, Ed Doran, Razvan Bogdan, Luke Perrins, Mary Bertrand, Pete Bernard, and Steven discussed the new mentorship platform initiative, which is viewed by Luke Perrins and Pete Bernard as a necessary foundation goal to increase peer-to-peer mentorship and digitally connect industry professionals with students, especially as Ed Doran’s certification program scales. The participants agreed that a formalized structure is crucial for defining good mentorship and providing guidance, with Mary Bertrand sharing her experience running a manual matching mentorship program at BU after platform limitations, while Razvan Bogdan spoke about successful face-to-face mentorship in Romania. Steven and Jim Bruges proposed leveraging existing platforms like Discord or partnering with job boards like DICE, and Mary Bertrand suggested LinkedIn groups to overcome the hesitation of adopting another platform, leading Pete Bernard to suggest creating a one-page specification document to gain consensus on the platform’s criteria and functions.

Details

• Meeting Kickoff and Introductions The meeting started with greetings and introductions, including Rosina Haberl, Ed Doran, Razvan Bogdan, Luke Perrins, Mary Bertrand, Pete Bernard, and Steven. Razvan Bogdan noted that this was their first call with the camera. Mary Bertrand mentioned that students return next week, following a two-week closure over the holidays.
• Mentorship Platform Initiative Luke Perrins brought up the mentorship platform, a topic from a previous call with Pete Bernard, and noted that increasing peer-to-peer mentorship was already a foundation goal (00:01:55). Pete Bernard discussed the need for a digital way to connect industry professionals and academia/students seeking careers, especially as the certification program, driven by Ed Doran, is expected to scale to thousands of participants (00:03:00). Ed Doran supported the need, highlighting that industry partners face a “signal to noise problem” with student resumes and that certifications could digitally recognize hard work, while mentorship could catalyze connections and career development (00:05:19).
• Strengthening Academic Connections through Mentorship Pete Bernard suggested that a mentorship program would strengthen academic connections, which are currently strong through educators but would benefit from this additional element, as universities frequently seek ways to connect students with industry (00:07:11). Ed Doran mentioned that partners like the Linux Foundation and Risk 5 have people apply for projects, allowing mentees to complete a tangible deliverable during mentorship (00:15:29). Pete Bernard also saw potential in partnering with large platforms like DICE to leverage a wider population, serving as a “force multiplier” and potentially a distribution point for the foundation’s certification programs (00:16:53).
• Experiences with Mentorship Programs and Platforms Mary Bertrand shared that they run a successful alumni-student mentorship program at BU, aiming for 105 mentors this year, which is designed to demystify career paths for students by connecting them with professionals outside of HR (00:08:23). Mary Bertrand stated that they tried an enterprise-level platform for matching but moved to matching all 105 pairs manually due to platform limitations, though they are now attempting to use AI to help with matching (00:09:50). Razvan Bogdan shared their experience with successful face-to-face mentorship in Romania, where companies offered to present labs or proposed projects for students, primarily in the automotive industry (00:17:56).
• Guidance and Structure for Mentorship Pete Bernard emphasized the importance of providing guidance on what constitutes a good mentor and setting expectations for mentees, such as whether asking for a job is appropriate (00:10:49). Mary Bertrand confirmed that their BU program includes suggested talking points and operates virtually first due to the international nature of their alumni. They noted that the program focuses on initial matchmaking and introductions, with one-on-one interactions taking place on the mentees’ and mentors’ mutually decided technology (00:09:50) (00:20:15).
• Platform Suggestions and Community Engagement Jim Bruges suggested leveraging the existing Discord channel for engagement, potentially using plugins for random matching, to avoid creating a new platform (00:12:44). Steven suggested partnering with existing job boards like DICE, which has millions of members in technology, to connect students with available positions while they increase their skill sets in Edge AI (00:13:43). Mary Bertrand suggested LinkedIn groups as an option, particularly for professionals who are less likely to use Discord, although Pete Bernard noted that LinkedIn use is more US/Eurocentric and has faced adoption challenges in the Asia Pacific region and with previous attempts by the foundation (00:23:26).
• Platform Adoption Challenges and Next Steps Mary Bertrand stressed that people are hesitant to adopt another platform, suggesting it is better “to be where the people are already” (00:27:03). Pete Bernard agreed that community platforms are hard to get people to adopt, noting that the foundation often defaults to platforms like WhatsApp because people are already using them (00:26:11). Steven suggested creating a road map and setting clear expectations to help people understand the process of transitioning into Edge AI, from foundational skills to certification and building domain knowledge (00:27:58). Pete Bernard proposed creating a one-page specification document to gain consensus on the platform’s criteria and functions (00:27:03).
• San Diego Event Inquiry Steven asked Luke Perrins for an update on covering travel costs for the San Diego event, as they have a conflicting travel schedule with JPMorgan in late February and March (00:31:25). Luke Perrins apologized for the delay in following up due to being on leave and confirmed that they need to chase up with Ed Doran and Pete Bernard for a funding decision, promising an update before the end of the week, or by Monday at the latest (00:32:20).

Suggested next steps

• Luke Perrins will follow up on the possibility of covering some costs for Steven to attend the San Diego event and will get back to Steven before the end of the week or by Monday at the latest.
• Luke Perrins will create a live Google Doc/Word document, populated with the AI notes, to start the one-pager on the mentorship platform.
• Mary Bertrand will share the materials and forms developed for the alumni mentorship program with the group.