Enter the Intern Experience Circle — the initiative I began with the collaboration and input of many others at ConsenSys. For me, joining ConsenSys was a full-circle moment that felt — and still feels — surreal: given the open-source nature of what we do, I felt ingrained and welcomed in the community long before I applied for a job. Though many outsiders may still feel mystified by what we and so many others are working to achieve in the crypto world, the pervasiveness of inclusion is something that inspires me to know that despite whatever speculators might be doing on exchanges, we’re truly building the future of work.

ConsenSys as an organization echoes the ethos of the decentralization movement that so unites (and let’s be real, often divides) the crypto-sphere. We’re remote-first — a concept that’s not entirely new, but brings along with it a distinct set of challenges and opportunities. Nearly all of our typical business operations are likewise decentralized to varying degrees, and we’re constantly looking to make them even more democratic and transparent to all. Contrasted with all of the internships I’ve had in many different industries, our interns are given incredible autonomy and trust, like our members, to spearhead the work they wish to accomplish within their teams and deliver unique solutions from the frame of reference they bring.

As a lifelong student of organizational behavior, I believe that this type of structure enables the most compelling work, especially in a field where we value greatly from being exposed to new and different mindsets. That said — just as mainstream adoption of blockchain technology is challenging for so many reasons, this type of ‘new age’ workforce where your co-workers may be halfway around the world presents its own set of difficulties — particularly for those who might not have had traditional work experience and have varied expectations based on the context in which they’re joining us — our ‘interns’ this summer range from some of the brightest high-school students you’ll meet, to accomplished computer science undergrads, to Psychology PhD’s.

To address the different needs of this cohort as well as stay true to the spirit of our decentralized culture at ConsenSys, the Intern Experience Circle (IEC) was formed as a casual support and networking circle that exists outside of the intern’s respective teams and provides various opportunities for resources and development across spokes and hubs (or as we would have said in the old corporate world, cross-functional exposure).

We started by assessing the mesh’s (what we hear at ConsenSys refer to as our ‘employees’) willingness to be mentors throughout the summer and offer their time to interns. Especially as a recently on-boarded ‘meshian’ (we still haven’t reached consensus, no pun intended, on the proper terminology) — I was struck by the response across the organization and the high volume of people’s willingness to engage and offer themselves and their depth of knowledge to interns that in most cases, they had not yet met and likely would not meet in person.

Whereas other mentorship programs are typically structured with relationships and assignments that may not behoove neither the mentor nor the mentee, we were purposefully loose and organic — and of course, decentralized in our processes. No one was forced to be a mentor (and our interns given the freedom to participate as they saw fit), enabling natural buy-in while facilitating the organization necessary to empower both groups to foster a new style of collaboration that could promote a positive work ethic and mutual discovery through enhanced and open dialog. Although there were many, my highlight of the summer had to be ConsenSys OG Andrew Keys’ “What the Heck am I doing this Summer — How to Explain ConsenSys, Ethereum, and Blockchain to your Friends and Family” — a candid talk on our mission-driven organization from one of the people who knows it best.

As the summer starts to wind down and the return of school approaches rapidly, I’ve taken some time to reflect on how this style of mentorship can continue to evolve just as quickly as the decentralized space we’re supporting does. Below are some best practices we’ve identified.

Be true to your organization. Mentorship is a touchy subject — its definitions vary depending on who you are and your past experiences. Identifying ways in which mentorship can be natural, and not forced, will likely serve your culture best. Having a ‘dedicated mentor’ can be nice, but having a set of diverse individuals willing to help can be even more significant in giving a holistic mentorship experience Integrate with the tools at your disposal — for us, that meant making our mentors transparent and accessible through our own internal employee ‘management’ tool — and elaborating and amplifying their backgrounds and how they could be of particular relevance to mentees. Don’t underestimate the power of a gentle nudge — especially in a remote-first culture. Rallying the troops can be tough, but in the end quite worthwhile when it is linked to the potential impact of what these intimate conversations and relationships can do — more than just building an inclusive culture, they help to create a sense of cohesion in a world where everyone is distributed and motivated towards the same end goal through vastly different means Always strive to improve information sharing. No matter how transparent an organization may be, structural holes exist — and opening informal / formal lines of conversation through mentorship can help draw bridges for all those in an organization (or a mesh!), even ones that are not involved in the mentorship program at all. The butterfly effect is real. Mentorship doesn’t happen alone. I’m incredibly thankful for all those within the mesh, from our campus engagement teams and beyond, who supported and helped make the IEC become a reality this summer. You all are the real heroes.

There’s always room for improvement, and this summer was just the beginning — however I’m confident by instilling the right values, people, and processes to reflect this new way of working, we’ll all continue to grow together.