N2NS Connection Article – March 2026
The next focus for the Committee is our mentorship programme, aimed at connecting early career talent with experienced users across the ecosystem. With rising concerns regarding the talent pipeline, creating an environment where knowledge transfer and 1:1 support has never been more crucial.
Earlier this month, I interviewed the rest of the committee to hear more on why the mentorship programme is so important, and their own experiences as a mentor or mentee.
Charlie (HPE): To start off, why as a committee did you think it was important to create a mentorship program?
Paden Holenstein (Gravic): There’s a growing talent gap and need for new Nonstop talent in the industry. Currently in the community, there is still a tremendous amount of knowledge that Nonstop veterans have. The goal is to retain this knowledge to help earlier career folks break into the Nonstop world and also to continue best practices for Nonstop users.
Shauna Evans (HPE): Having a mentor outside your day-to-day role, or even your company, helps push for growth and development beyond what you get day-to-day. The Nonstop industry is so big, we have users across the world and from different walks of life but now that most things are online, creating a community and network is harder – we’ve designed the program to make that easier.
Vedant “Vito” Shrivastava (Idelji): Most of us remember what it felt like to first encounter the Nonstop world. Like Paden said, there’s an enormous amount of knowledge in the Nonstop community. If that knowledge only lives in people’s heads, it eventually disappears when people retire or change roles. Mentorship is about preserving that wisdom and passing it along.
Kevin Gibson (Xypro): It’s a way to help people who are new to the industry find confidence early on in their career. It connects them with experienced individuals who they may not others get access to.
Charlie: Couldn’t agree more. Now, we’ve been running a pilot scheme for the programme. What have you seen be successful here?
Paden: The pilot program has done an excellent job in showing us what’s possible and the right way to do a mentorship pairing. Frequent touchpoints, vulnerable questions, less pressure. It’s a beautiful thing to see someone passionate about Nonstop explain how it works and key considerations [someone] needs to know.
Shauna: We have a good blueprint in place now. Each mentor pairing will work differently, and what they want to gain out of it will be unique. As a committee, we’re not here to dictate what the pairs talk about or how often they meet, we just want to ensure people are extracting valuable knowledge that they can take back to their workday. Everything’s a learning opportunity, and I’m sure as we get more pairs, we’ll continue to grow and adapt the programme.
“One thing that’s been surprisingly powerful is simply giving people permission to ask the ‘obvious’ questions.”
Vito: One thing that’s been surprisingly powerful is simply giving people permission to ask the “obvious” questions. When you’re new, you often worry about sounding inexperienced. In the pilot, our mentee realized quickly that mentors are delighted by those questions. Not because they’re simple—but because they’re the exact questions that lead to understanding how things really work. Another success has been the tone of the conversations. The best mentor relationships aren’t lectures. And honestly, it’s been wonderful to watch the mentor light up when they explain something they love.
Charlie: What’s something to highlight about the N2NS mentorship programme?
Shauna: It comes back to the point I made earlier; this is such a great way to expand your network to become more involved in the Nonstop community while also hopefully, developing skills that you wouldn’t necessarily get in your day-to-day role from those that have experience.
Vito: It sits inside the N2NS’s broader mission: making this ecosystem more welcoming and easier to navigate. The barrier to entry for Nonstop can feel high from the outside. The mentorship program lowers that by connecting people directly with someone who’s walked the path before them. It turns the community from something abstract into something very human.
Kevin: There’s been interest, both for mentors and mentees. And it’s not just from our individual companies, it’s from customers, vendors and HPE. Our aim is connecting the whole Nonstop ecosystem – and this program can do exactly that.
Charlie: Why should people join the mentorship program?
Paden: People may not realize how much benefit they are likely to get out of it. Networking with incredible people in the Nonstop community, gaining a different perspective from a diverse group. But really, everyone in the Nonstop community benefits when more folks are trained and knowledgeable on Nonstop.
Kevin: I would encourage people to sign up so that they can help build up their own confidence in their role. They will gain invaluable knowledge from individuals with years of hands-on experience.
Shauna: A lot of the work we’ve done so far, like our rotary sessions or the in-person events at eBITUG and TBC, have been focused towards New to Nonstoppers. With the mentorship program, it can only be successful if everyone in the community gets involved. This is a great opportunity for those in the later stages in their career to help shape the next generation.
Vito: Communities stay healthy when knowledge moves, when dialog gets initiated, and when innovation finally starts taking root. The Nonstop ecosystem exists because generations of engineers, operators, architects, and administrators shared what they knew with the people coming behind them. Mentorship is simply the modern version of that tradition.
Charlie: And what would you say to those who feel they might not have the time?
Paden: Getting involved can start with baby steps – you don’t have to devote a ton of time to point someone else to resources or give them a few golden nuggets of advice to further their career.
Vito: Most of us feel like our calendars are already full. Mentorship doesn’t have to be a massive commitment. Sometimes it’s a 30-minute conversation, answering a question over email, even just pointing someone towards the one document that unlocks their next step. Perhaps one day, you may discover you’ve quietly helped shape someone’s entire career. That’s a pretty good return on investment.
Shauna: It really can be as low touch as you agree with your mentee. Some of my sessions are over a quick coffee (even if it’s a virtual session), sometimes it’s an email. Like Vito said earlier, it’s not a lecture, it’s a place for collaboration and questions.
Kevin: The program is flexible and not demanding on one’s schedule. Sessions can be short and organized so that it does not need much of their time. The lessons they learn could benefit them by helping make their work for efficient elsewhere.
Charlie: Looking at your own experiences, has there been a key lesson or piece of advice that you’ve received off a mentor?
Paden: My mentor has given me a realistic perspective on the importance of an advanced degree. I’m now pursuing my MBA and a host of learnings from a wealth of knowledge.
Vito: One mentor told me something that stuck: “Your job isn’t to know everything. Your job is to learn faster than the problems arrive.” That changed how I think about technical growth.
Kevin: Always ask questions but take a shot at answering it yourself.
Shauna: Being in sales, one of the first pieces of advice I was given was that you have two ears and one mouth which should be used in that order. Really what that means is listen to what you’re being told and have the ability to adapt to that.
Charlie: Are you now a mentor to anyone, and what do you gain from it?
Shauna: I’ve been working as a mentor for the last 3 years of my career. It’s great to see early career talent grow in confidence and capability over time. Knowing that bit of advice helped them navigate a challenge is rewarding. Mentoring also helps me: by developing my leadership skills; by pushing me to listen more carefully; to ask the right questions and learn to guide. It also helps give a fresh perspective, early career talent often questions assumptions and approaches that helps me reflect on my own approaches.
Paden: Most of My free time is going towards the N2NS Committee, whilst I’m pursuing my MBA. We have a great group of Board Members and watching this initiative blossom is a very rewarding experience. I expect to have more time and hope to get more involved – we’ve received some interest from mentees on Leadership and Management and that is an area I’ve spent a lot of time learning about and want to share with others.
Vito: Yes, one of the unexpected joys of mentoring is that you end up learning almost as much as the mentee. Explaining something forces you to clarify your own thinking. Occasionally you realize that the “obvious” thing you’ve been doing for years actually deserves a better explanation, or a better approach. Beyond that, it’s simply rewarding to watch someone’s confidence grow. You see the moment when a system that once felt so enigmatic suddenly starts to make sense to them. That moment is worth a lot.
If you would like to become a mentor or mentee in our program, please register at https://forms.gle/QgkpswtEaQGuvH1U6
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