Where human connection drives professional development

We connect humans for mentorship

What we do

Mentorship works best when it's human, not bureaucratic.

That's why we built Spark Sessions: a live, in-person event where your team is matched instantly with mentees who actually fit — and where genuine connections start in the same room, the same day.

You bring your people. We bring everything else — recruitment, matching, facilitation, and the magic that makes it work.

The Match Magic moment

Participants fill out a quick form. We hit one button. And in seconds, every pair is matched and ready to talk.

It's the moment that changes the whole event — no waiting, no awkward mingling, just instant, meaningful connections.

See how Spark Sessions work

Why teams choose Opal

  • Team engagement, without the burnout. Your people show up and connect — we handle the logistics.

  • DEI in action, not just strategy. Real relationships with students and early-career talent from underrepresented backgrounds.

  • A natural next step. Many of our partners move from a single Spark Session into a full GEM Program once they've seen what's possible.

Learn More

  • The Spark Session was a great opportunity for students to connect with women in STEM

    and gain honest, inspiring perspectives on what studying and working in STEM fields is like. It also helped the girls feel more connected to the SWE++ community, as well as more excited about what their future careers in STEM could look like.”

    —Anvika, SWE++ Coordinator, Santa Clara University

  • "Working with Opal made matching our mentors/mentees a breeze.

    Instead of searching through our survey results one by one we were able to see all of our potential matches in one place. The Opal team was very responsive and eager to lend a helping hand throughout the process!"

    —Clara Kinney, Santa Clara University Math & CS Club Board Member

  • "It's been an incredible journey so far, and I've thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it.

    Connecting with Alisha has been an absolute pleasure, she has been incredibly approachable and insightful. Learning from her wealth of experience in product management has been invaluable!”

    —Sana Kachwalla, Product Manager Mentee

  • "It was a great experience and much different from what our club has done to matchmake Bigs and Littles.

    It simplified the matchmaking and took into account of the small details such as interests whether it was hobbies or food, etc. The suggested matches is what we went with and it worked out perfectly, everyone had a good time with each other at the Reveal Day.”

    —Kayleigh Vu, SCU Society of Women Engineers Program Coordinator

  • "I loved this mentorship program. My mentor created a comfortable environment where I could be vulnerable and focused on growth.

    She also connected me with many professionals, giving me the opportunity to learn about various roles, companies, and industries.”

    —Tasnuba Sukanna, Software Engineer Mentee

Mariah Manzano, Co-founder & CEO

“We envisioned a space where anyone could come to participate in or host their own mentorship programs so that there were no barriers to finding the perfect mentor. Along came Opal. ”

Follow our journey

🌟 MENTOR SPOTLIGHT 🌟 Meet Rania Ansari, Site Reliability Engineer at Bay Area startup Graphiant and one of the amazing mentors in our recent GEM Program for Software Engineers 👩🏽‍💻 Rania credits her interest in mentoring to her interest in
To students or job-seekers 👇 ✨ JOIN OUR RESUME BOOKLET ✨ When you join our community, you’ll also have the opportunity to join our Resume Booklet. We share the booklet with partners & recruiters looking to hire and reach out to folk
Mentors make our Opal-verse go ‘round, so we’re sharing the 3 ways to mentor with us 💫 ✨ PART 3: MENTOR IN AN UPCOMING GEM PROGRAM ✨ We host 4-week virtual mentorship programs for people with various job roles, industries, and int
Mentors make our Opal-verse go ‘round, so we’re sharing the 3 ways to mentor with us 💫 ✨ PART 2: BECOME A SUPER MENTOR 🦸 Our community includes students & industry professionals interested in connecting for professional devel
Mentors make our Opal-verse go ‘round, so we’re sharing the 3 ways to mentor with us 💫 ✨ PART 1: JOIN OUR MENTOR DIRECTORY ✨ Our Mentor Directory is accessible to Opal community members only, which is mostly comprised of students, earl
🌟 MENTOR SPOTLIGHT 🌟 Meet Apurva, Senior Software Engineer at Meta and one of the amazing mentors in our GEM Program for Software Engineers 👩🏽‍💻 Apurva’s been both a mentee and mentor, and she believes that mentors can “ha
Let’s make it official 👀 Our Opal community is a safe space to learn, grow, and connect with other humans for professional development. Whether you participate in our 4-week GEM Programs, peruse the Mentor Directory, or want to be first-to-
🌟 MENTOR SPOTLIGHT 🌟 Meet Chelsea Villanueva, #Microsoft consultant and one of the amazing mentors in our GEM Program for Software Engineers 👩🏽‍💻 Chelsea’s not new to mentorship and leadership, as she led retreats in high school, con
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