ADPList

Today, we’re recognizing 2026’s Most Influential 100 Mentors on ADPList, the ones our community of 800K+ members across 140 countries turned to when it mattered most. 🎉

Every session you booked. Every review you left. Every moment you shared, that conversation changed things. That’s what put these mentors on this year’s ADPList100 list.

Meet the Class of 2026: Link in bio.

To all ADPList mentors: what you’ve done for people’s careers is hard to put into words. Thank you for showing up, year after year, for people you’ve never met.

To our global community: the mentors on this list became who they are by doing exactly what you’re already doing. Keep going. We see you.

To democratize mentorship for all. ❤️ LFG!

🐶🐱 Introducing ADPList for Pets.

It’s time to say it. Your dog has been watching your mentorship sessions for months.

It’s time they got their own profile.

Starting today, every adplist.org session is officially pet-friendly. Bring your cat. Bring your dog. Bring whatever creature keeps you company while you learn.
Because the best mentorship happens when you’re comfortable. And nothing says comfort like a furry co-learner on your lap.

Booking opens now. Sessions available in 140 countries.

Pets welcome in all of them.

we’re sorry.

🎉 BIG MILESTONE: 10K eBook downloads.

Our first-ever guide on Design + AI has surpassed 10,000+ downloads in over 40 countries.

This 100% FREE guidebook is designed to mentor designers on how to transform themselves into designers with new AI skills.

In this easy-to-read guide, you’ll learn:

1. Get access to a curated AI design stack
2. How to prompt systems built for real-world use
3. Proven 30-day roadmap to become an AI-first designer

👉 How to get this guidebook?

1. Follow + Comment “Design!” to get first access
2. We’ll DM you. Simple.

🖤 Gift this to your network of designers by reposting as on your IG story! (Tag us to be featured)

🎉 300,000,000 minutes milestone.

Today, we’ve crossed 300 million minutes of mentorship on ADPList. But this isn’t just a number. It’s millions of conversations where:

Someone found the courage to switch careers.
Someone else overcame rejection with new hope.
A spark of wisdom changed a life’s direction.

In 2021, we started as a simple spreadsheet — and today, it has become a global movement of mentors and members lifting each other up, one conversation at a time.

Our mission remains the same: to democratize mentorship for all.

So to everyone who’s mentored, learned, questioned, struggled, succeeded—or simply showed up—and our team (past-present)—thank you.

Here’s to the next 300 million. ❤️

We cooked 🔥

Our CEO's story and founding of ADPList. What it all means:

From PSLE Flop to Global Tech CEO: How Felix Lee is Rewriting the Rules of Opportunity “We don’t need more exams. We need more spaces for creative failure,” Felix asserts.

Leadership isn’t about age.

It’s about empathy. Why?

The best leaders remember where they came from.
They create the environment they wish they had.

📌 Why this matters:

→ 70% of employees say empathetic leadership boosts job satisfaction
→ 61% say it increases productivity

So, how can you be the leader you needed?

✅ Try these:

1️⃣ Listen more than you speak
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

2️⃣ Offer growth opportunities
Be the mentor you wish you had.

3️⃣ Provide clear, constructive feedback
Help them grow, don’t just criticize.

4️⃣ Trust your team
Micromanagement kills motivation.

5️⃣ Be vulnerable
Share your struggles. It builds connection.

Leadership isn’t about being in charge.

It’s about taking care of those in your charge.

→ Great leaders lift others up
→ They don’t pull the ladder up behind them
→ They create more leaders, not more followers

Be the leader who makes a difference.

Not just a difference in the bottom line.

But in people’s lives.

** 👀

What’s one thing you wish your first manager had done differently?

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. 👏

DON’T MISS OUT: Calling everyone in San Francisco! 🌁 We’re hosting our hottest design event!

Jakob Nielsen, Founder of UX Tigers and Nielsen Norman Group, will be joining us in-person for an exclusive fireside on “Future of Design & AI.”

On 10 October 2024 at 6PM PDT.

This talk will discuss how AI is reshaping the design landscape and what this means for the future of technology and creativity.

Moderated by ADPList’s Co-founder and CEO,

It is invite-only for 60 designers, design leaders, founders, builders and more, as part of the vibrant .

👉 Want an invite? Comment “Jakob Nielsen”

Completely free to attend. See you there! 😎