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Overview

Buildstory’s mentorship system connects experienced builders with participants who need help. The philosophy: “no authority required, just willingness to help.” Mentors volunteer to help hackathon participants get unstuck with design, technical, or growth guidance.

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Mentor Types

Mentors can offer expertise in three categories:

Design

UI/UX design, branding, visual design, accessibility, user flows

Technical

Architecture, debugging, API integration, database design, deployment

Growth

Marketing, distribution, user acquisition, positioning, go-to-market
Mentors can select multiple types when applying.

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How to Apply

The mentor application is a public form at /mentor-apply (no authentication required).
1

Visit the application page

Navigate to /mentor-apply or click the “Volunteer to Mentor” link on the homepage
2

Fill out the form

Provide the following information:
  • Name — Your full name
  • Email — Contact email (must be unique)
  • Discord handle — For community coordination
  • Twitter handle — Optional
  • Website URL — Optional
  • GitHub handle — Optional
  • Mentor types — Select one or more: design, technical, growth
  • Background — Describe your experience (free text)
  • Availability — When and how much you can help (free text)
3

Submit

Your application is saved to the database and a Discord notification is sent to the admin team
4

Review

Admins review applications in the admin dashboard at /admin/mentors

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Application Schema

Applications are stored in the mentorApplications table:
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id
uuid
Unique application identifier
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name
string
Applicant’s full name
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email
string
required
Contact email (unique constraint)
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discord_handle
string
Discord username for community coordination
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twitter_handle
string
Optional Twitter/X handle
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website_url
string
Optional personal website or portfolio
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github_handle
string
Optional GitHub username
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mentor_types
string[]
Array of mentor types: “design”, “technical”, “growth”
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background
string
Free-text description of experience and expertise
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availability
string
Free-text description of when and how much they can help
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status
mentor_application_status
Application status: “pending”, “approved”, “declined”
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reviewed_by
uuid
Foreign key to profiles table (admin who reviewed)
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reviewed_at
timestamp
When the application was reviewed

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Admin Review Process

Admins (not moderators) can review mentor applications at /admin/mentors.

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Review Interface

The admin interface shows:
  • Application list — All applications with status badges
  • Stats cards — Total applications, pending, approved, declined counts
  • Detail view — Full application details including all fields
  • Action buttons — Approve or decline

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Approval Workflow

1

Admin reviews application

Read through the applicant’s background, mentor types, and availability
2

Admin approves or declines

Click Approve or Decline button
3

Action is logged

The approval/decline is recorded in the adminAuditLog table with:
{
  actor_profile_id: adminId,
  action: "approve_mentor_application" | "decline_mentor_application",
  target_profile_id: null,
  metadata: JSON.stringify({ applicationId, mentorName, mentorEmail })
}
4

Status updated

The application’s status field is set to “approved” or “declined”, and reviewed_by/reviewed_at are populated

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Server Actions

Two admin-only server actions handle reviews: 
// app/admin/mentors/actions.ts
export async function approveMentorApplication(
  applicationId: string
): Promise<{ success: boolean; error?: string }>

export async function declineMentorApplication(
  applicationId: string
): Promise<{ success: boolean; error?: string }>
Both actions:
  • Verify admin role before proceeding
  • Update the application status
  • Log the action to the audit log
  • Report errors to Sentry

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Discord Notifications

When a mentor application is submitted, a Discord notification is sent via webhook: 
// lib/discord.ts
export async function notifyMentorApplication(
  name: string,
  email: string,
  mentorTypes: string[],
  discordHandle: string | null
)
The notification includes:
  • Applicant name
  • Email (sanitized)
  • Mentor types
  • Discord handle (if provided)
  • Link to admin review interface
Discord webhooks are fire-and-forget. Errors are caught and reported to Sentry but never block the application submission.

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Getting Help as a Participant

Once mentors are approved, participants can:
  1. Find mentors on Discord (via their Discord handles)
  2. Request help in designated mentor channels
  3. Tag mentors based on expertise (design/technical/growth)
  4. Schedule 1:1 sessions or group office hours
The mentor matching system is currently coordinated via Discord. Future versions may include in-platform mentor discovery and booking.

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Mentor Visibility

Approved mentors may be featured:
  • On the landing page in the “Who” section
  • In the hackathon dashboard
  • In Discord with special roles
  • In future mentor directory (planned)

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Privacy & Communication

Mentor contact information (email, social handles) is visible only to admins during review. Once approved, mentors coordinate with participants via Discord to maintain privacy and prevent spam.

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Sponsorship

Similar to mentorship, Buildstory accepts sponsor applications to support builders with tool credits, resources, and other benefits.

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How to Apply as a Sponsor

Companies can apply at /sponsor-apply with:
  • Company name and contact information
  • Website URL
  • Offer description — What you’re providing (credits, tools, resources)
  • Additional notes — Any extra context
Sponsor applications are reviewed by admins and featured on the homepage when approved.
Sponsorship is designed to be “no strings attached” — pure support for builders, not marketing disguised as help.

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