Match on context
Students browse approved mentors — “senseis” — who match their field, language, goals, and local context.
About
A founder-led foundation for practical systems.
Dojo Foundations began with a simple personal idea: build something meaningful, disciplined, and expandable. The logo is not decoration — it represents small beginnings expanding outward into larger systems. Its first live product, Life Dojo, is already helping newcomers and early-career professionals in Alberta turn career confusion into a concrete next step.
The belief
A lot of serious human problems are hidden in plain sight. People take them lightly because they are difficult to explain, hard to measure, or too fragmented across different systems.
Dojo Foundations exists to work on those problems with a mix of research, product thinking, safety, and community infrastructure — starting from the lived friction, not just the technology.
The mark
Lines extending from a triangle create the possibility of another larger triangle. The idea is growth without losing structure.
From the founder
Why Life Dojo exists.
A founder-led project, built from lived experience as an immigrant professional in Alberta.
SP
Sai Praneeth Chandra Balla
Electrical & Computer Engineer · E.I.T. · University of Alberta graduate · immigrant founder, Alberta
“I graduated from the University of Alberta — qualified, and still rejected, again and again. The opportunities were right there: career fairs, events, people who could have opened doors. I showed up for the swag and the free pizza and missed what they were really for. I got lucky in the end — I networked my way into a manufacturing role I love. But I watched brilliant, qualified friends end up in odd jobs simply because no one guided them. If even one person finds their footing here, it will have been worth it.”
The first product
Life Dojo turns advice into action.
Life Dojo is the first live product under Dojo Foundations — a mentorship platform for newcomers, international students, and early-career professionals. Mentorship is free for every mentee. The product is strongest when it keeps one loop simple and useful.
Meet safely
They request mentorship, message securely, and schedule a session over built-in video — with boundaries and reminders built in.
Leave with an outcome
Every meeting aims at one concrete win: a resume fixed for Canada, a warm introduction, interview prep, or a licensing step — tracked as progress.
Inside the app
More than a mentor match — a full toolkit.
Life Dojo is live today with real, working tools. Mentorship is the heart of it, and mentees also get free career tools they can use between sessions.
The core loop
- Student & sensei profiles
- Field- and language-based matching
- Secure messaging
- Scheduling & Jitsi video sessions
- Notifications and reminders
Between sessions
- AI resume builder & review
- Cover-letter helper
- Mock interview practice
- Jobs board, events & orientation
- Curated resources by role
Run it responsibly
- Mentor approval & admin review
- Safety boundaries & reporting
- Progress & wins tracking
- Cohorts & pilot management
- Impact & outcomes dashboards
Life Dojo is not legal, immigration, licensing, medical, or guaranteed-employment advice. It is human guidance, with structure and safety built in from the start.
Principles
How the work is judged.
Care before scale
Do not build systems that look impressive but ignore the people inside them.
Research before claims
Use evidence to guide direction, but stay honest about what is still being tested.
Practical before perfect
Start with the core loop. Test with real people. Improve what actually matters.
Current focus
Life Dojo · live product
Keep the mentorship loop clean: request, accept, message, schedule, meet, and track a practical outcome.
PULSE · exercise prototype
Validate a narrow camera-opportunity and evidence-preservation workflow. Keep neighbourhood isolation strictly in aggregate prevention and service planning.
Reclaim · validation stage
Test whether a deliberate pause plus a time-sized replacement action creates value beyond existing blockers and screen-time tools.
Kata · early concept
Do not build broadly until the daily-practice problem and buyer are clearer.
See it for yourself.
Life Dojo is live and working — free for every mentee. Explore it directly, or talk to us about running a pilot.
Open Life Dojo → Partner with us