Details for facilitating the Mentor Coffee Chat, an opportunity for scholars to connect with professionals in the tech industry. Mentors join small-group breakout room conversations on Day 4 of camp, from 1:00-2:00pm (camp time). Your Camp HQ document will include any camp-specific details.
Overview
Virtual Mentor Coffee Chats are a Virtual-Only opportunity for scholars to meaningfully engage with Kode With Klossy partners. In Summer 2026, we’re excited to have employees from KWK’s partner companies as mentors! During the mentor Coffee Chats, scholars will get a window into the tech industry, connect with real professionals, and build confidence in their own potential.
Key Resources
- Mentor Coffee Chat Slide Deck — A slide deck for your team to use during the coffee chat, located in your camp’s Google Drive folder.
- Mentor Coffee Chat section of the Camp HQ — This section of your Camp HQ doc will be updated by the Kode With Klossy team with the list of mentors planning to attend the coffee chat and be used to take attendance.
Agenda
Time | Main Room (Instructors & VCC) | Breakout Rooms (IAs) |
12:45-1:00pm | Welcome scholars back from Lunch | Brain Break Begin your brain break and remind scholars about incoming mentors |
1:00-1:15pm | Mentor Orientation Welcome mentors and provide give a brief overview of KWK and the coffee chat structure, assign mentors to houses and release them to breakout rooms | Brain Break Continued Continuing leading brain break in houses and prepare scholars for mentors |
1:15-1:40pm | Mentor Coffee Chat Circulate into house breakout rooms and admit any late-arriving mentors | Mentor Coffee Chat Facilitate mentor intros, coffee chat, and Q&A with scholars |
1:40-1:45pm | Closing Thank and dismiss any mentors who come into the main room | Closing Thank mentors and dismiss them from the Zoom room |
1:45-1:55pm | Scholar Debrief Prepare for the next technical session or circulate to listen to debriefs | Scholar Debrief Facilitate a debrief with scholars in breakout rooms. Remind scholars to complete the thank you reflection in their microfeedback. |
1:55-2:00pm | Break [Optional] Facilitate a short break for the camp | Break If instructors decide to do so, facilitate a short break |
2:00pm | Restart technical learning sessions in the main room. | Transition scholars back to the main room |
Thank You Notes
For virtual camps, thank you notes are collected through microfeedback. During the debrief after the coffee chat, share with scholars that they will have the opportunity to write a note of appreciation to their mentor(s) as part of their microfeedback submission. Encourage them to share any helpful advice their mentor provided or how the visit impacted them. The KWK team will compile these responses and share with the mentors.
Facilitation Tips
These are based on what we've learned from past camps:
- Scholars engage more when they prepare questions in advance. Build in time the day before, or during opening circle, for scholars to brainstorm questions.
- Your energy as an IA sets the tone. Use a positive, encouraging tone. Affirm what mentors share. React enthusiastically to interesting stories. When you're engaged, scholars will be too. If you have two IAs in a room, both should participate actively. Don't let one person carry the whole conversation.
- Encourage verbal participation. Chat-based questions are fine, but the conversation feels more natural when scholars speak up. Gently invite them to come off mute and turn their cameras on.
- Don't monopolize the conversation. Your job is to facilitate, not to be the primary conversationalist. Create space for scholars to lead.
- If mentors use a different platform than Zoom at work (like WebEx or Teams), they may need a moment to get oriented in Zoom. Be patient, and offer quick guidance if needed.