Build Differently
Build Differently.
Learning proves you know something. Building proves you can do something with it. Every scholar in the Collective has the opportunity to move beyond coursework and into a four-week cross-functional build sprint. Scholars from different disciplines come together to design and develop products, services and technical solutions addressing real-world challenges connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Capstone Experience
From Scholar to Builder in Four Weeks.
- Weeks
- 4
- Disciplines
- 6
- Global goals
- 17
Opt In
Eligible scholars select BUILD after completing their learning phase.
Choose an Impact Area
Scholars indicate the UN Sustainable Development Goals they care about.
Get Matched
The Collective automatically assembles complementary, cross-functional teams.
- Software Engineer
- UX Designer
- Project Manager
- Data Analyst
- Cybersecurity Professional
- Digital Marketer
Build
Teams develop a solution over four weeks.
Ship
Projects are documented, presented and made visible to the community.
Showcase
Top teams present their work publicly.
17 Global Challenges
17 Global Challenges. Thousands of Things Worth Building.
Hover over a goal to see what it stands for.
End poverty in all its forms everywhere. 
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. 
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. 
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. 
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. 
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. 
Reduce inequality within and among countries. 
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. 
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. 
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. 
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. 
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
How Teams Come Together
Great Products Need Different
Kinds of Thinkers.
After scholars complete the MASTER phase and opt into BUILD, our system considers their discipline, skills, interests and selected impact areas to form cross-functional teams. Instead of practicing within a silo, scholars experience the collaboration required to ship real products.
- Data Analyst + Engineer + UX + PM + Cybersecurity + Marketing
- Team Created
- SDG Assigned
- 4-Week Sprint
- Demo Day
Build With What's Next
Build With What's Next.
We encourage scholars to experiment responsibly with the technologies shaping the next generation of products.
- Technology
Build with production-ready AI.
Scholars can experiment with NVIDIA's ecosystem of models, inference APIs and AI development tools to explore generative AI, multimodal applications, agents and other emerging use cases.
Explore NVIDIA NIM (opens in a new tab) - Technology
Build on Google Cloud.
Scholars can experiment with Google Cloud's compute, data and AI infrastructure to design, deploy and scale real products.
Explore Google Cloud Launchpad - Technology
Build with Gemini & GitHub.
Scholars can experiment with Gemini's models and GitHub's developer tooling to write, test and ship code faster.
Explore the Toolkit (opens in a new tab)
These are technologies scholars can build with — not formal partnerships with the Collective unless noted.
Open Source
We Don't Just Build for Ourselves.
Build in Public. Build for Everyone.
Learning compounds when knowledge is shared. Mentor Me Collective's open-source ecosystem makes frameworks, tools and experiments available for technologists around the world to study, adapt and contribute to.
Explore GitHub (opens in a new tab)- Repositories
- 40+
- Contributors
- 120+
- Stars
- 600+
- Recent Commits
- 80+
Built Out Loud
See what happens when learning
becomes execution.
Peer Leadership & Collaboration
Nourish & Share
A water-quality monitoring dashboard for under-resourced municipalities.
- SDG 2 · Zero Hunger
- Full Stack + Data
Societal Impact
Tenant Power Tracker
A matching tool connecting displaced workers to reskilling pathways.
- SDG 7 · Affordable & Clean Energy
- Product + ML
Innovation & Creativity
AquaWatch Naija
A low-bandwidth learning app for classrooms with limited connectivity.
- SDG 6 · Clean Water & Sanitation
- Mobile + UX
Builders in Their Words
Proof you can point to.
Scholars describe what building real work did for them.
Turning learning into proof
“I stopped treating data analytics as a someday plan and started building proof: a published capstone on Kaggle, a certificate, a BigQuery project I can point to.”
ChinazoScholar Making experience tangible
“The experience, especially the United Nations case study, gave me meaningful examples to talk about during job and graduate school interviews.”
ElizabethScholar Finding her place in technology
“That experience reminded me that I belong in tech and that my ideas have value.”
TiaScholar, Cybersecurity and BUILD
Ready to build differently?
Turn what you've learned into something real — and put it in front of the people who need to see it.