proposal: collaborator-track mentorship programme

proposals/collaborator-mentor-program.md

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+# Node.js collaborator-track mentee
+
+The number of mentors is limited, and of those, their capacity is also limited. Collaborator numbers are also down. We need to focus on contributors who we see potential to become collaborators.
+
+## The process:
+
+1. A collaborator can privately nominate an active contributor for mentorship (similar to collaborator status nomination, perhaps in the same repo's discussion board).
+1. The nomination remains open until either the nomination is blocked or the contributor is accepted by a mentor.
+
+Mentors, their chosen/stated capacity, and their active mentees are tracked privately. This is helpful when deciding whether to nominate a contributor for mentorship (ex if there is already sigificantly more demand than supply).
+
+## Expectations & responsibilities
+
+### Mentor
+
+* Is a collaborator.
+* Is reasonably available to guide their mentee.
+* Helps find suitable places to contribute.
+* Nominates their mentee for collaborator status when they meet the criteria
+  * nominating a mentee for collaborator status would carry more weight (a mentee is a known talent).
+
+A mentor should check in with a mentee who they haven't heard from in a while, but it's not a requirement.
+
+### Mentee
+
+* Checks in.
+  * A mentee who is MIA (without forewarning) for 3 or more months (baring mitigating circumstances) is dropped and ineligible for the programme for 6 months.
+  * May withdraw without penalty.
+* Makes the contributions.
+
+### Both
+
+* Decide (up front) check-in cadence and level of interaction.
+  * Can of course be adjusted later; better to have it explicit for a mutual understand.