Any recommendations on mentors on how to pursue this endeavor?

With exception of one mentor who I greatly admire and respect, I have spent 1000's over the years on RE courses collectively and not experienced this kind of support, encouragement or expertise without having to pay quite a bit for it.

I’m here to network, share experiences, and hopefully find some mentors or accountability partners along the way.

I am not super familiar with your market (although I'm sure it's similar), we have a ton of local Chicago real estate investor meetups.Getting to those things in person changed my life, and I was able to connect with mentors, experienced investors, and a lot of good people.

Possibly looking for a mentor or just some tips.

Most of the courses that promise to walk you through the process and have mentors make money . . .just not for you! 

The one conversation I had on the phone was with a tech guy who had done the mentor program and seemed happy, but oddly was using is own internet website completely independent of Clever Investor. ( He repeated this fact several times?

Networking with mentors and partners, choosing niches like multi-family properties or Airbnb, and analyzing deals using BiggerPockets calculators can help build a successful portfolio.

I realize I can possibly find a mentor through networking.  

Learn from a mentor and see if you can provide sweat equity in the area of your choice at first to learn in the field training.