Nope! This isn't a mentorship. It's an initiative specifically designed for one-time conversations. Mentoring and other ongoing relationships provide lots of special benefits, but require a different kind of time-intensive process both to initiate and maintain. WellAdvised doesn't need you to make any long-term commitments or to wait a long time for help. It's advice on one topic, right when you need it. To maintain our volunteer advisors’ availability for the program, advisors will be available for one email exchange following the session, but not for an ongoing engagement. 

To make your WellAdvised session helpful and productive, we'll ask you to do two things. The first is this: when you submit your request for a session, you are asked two questions about your goals and situation. These won't take you a lot of time to answer, but it will make it possible for your advisor to get up to speed on the situation you are facing and be ready to jump right in with clarifying questions and helpful ideas, rather than spending your time together setting the scene and giving background information. We ask that you provide detailed answers to these questions. Be aware that your advisor will also take time to read those answers and consider them thoughtfully before your conversation. They won’t waste your time asking you to repeat that info either! 

The second is: be on time for your session! (You would have done that anyway, right?) We are so excited for you to be WellAdvised. 

Our advisors are required to maintain the highest level of confidentiality, so you can feel comfortable being honest with them about your situation. Our Jewish nonprofit sector sometimes seems like a small world, so you can rest assured that WellAdvised advisors won't even share the names of people they've advised with anyone else or what was discussed. Because you may already know some of our advisors, you do have the option to indicate if there is anyone you should not be matched with - due to existing relationships, conflicts of interest, or other potentially sticky matters. 

JPro’s primary goal for WellAdvised is to provide a valuable resource to our members. We also hope to learn about needs and trends in the field. Advisors will be asked about themes they are gleaning from their sessions. Advisors will only share their thoughts in general and will not reveal detailed or private information. 

In a word... No. The following topics are off the table: 

Emergencies - Call 911! Or the Fire Department! While WellAdvised is designed to give you quick help when you need it, we don't mean that kind of help. We also cannot guarantee that requests can be handled immediately, though we are doing our best to make the sign-up, matching, and scheduling process smooth and quick. 

Legal Issues - Our advisors are not lawyers... well, most of them aren't. Any advice given is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice and use of WellAdvised is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. You may, however, consider reaching out to organizations such as Ta’amod who specialize and serve as a resource addressing a variety of workplace issues. 

Whistleblowing - Our advisors are not qualified to provide information to law enforcement or regulatory agencies about a business that is engaged in suspected illegal or improper activities. Please speak with your HR department or the appropriate agency for assistance with this kind of situation. 

Mental Health - For any situation that is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911. Talk to your primary care doctor or another health professional about mental health problems and ask them to connect you with the right mental health services. If you or someone you know is suicidal or in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988) in the United States. In Canada, help is available by calling 988, as well. To get general information in the U.S. on mental health and locate treatment services in your area, call the SAMHSA Treatment Referral Routing Service at 1 800 622 HELP (4357) to speak to someone. For Canada, additional assistance is provided by The Hope for Wellness Helpline at 1-855-242-3310. Quebec residents can also call 1-866-APPELLE (1-866-277-3553). All of these organizations provide assistance 24/7.  

Jewish Human Services - For these and other situations, your local Jewish Service Agency may be able to help. You can find links to these resources in the United States and Canada at the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies website. 

Be well. 

JPro works hard to include advisors who have comprehensive and diverse professional experience in our field such that they could support any JPro member on all (or at least most) of the advising topics. Therefore, matching is done primarily on the basis of availability and not considerations like personality or organization type. However, to allow for confidentiality, advisees have the ability to indicate if they should not be matched with any of our advisors in particular due to existing relationships, conflicts of interest, or other potentially-sticky matters. In addition, we are continually working to make this program  comfortable and beneficial for members of under-represented identity groups. If there are other considerations you’d like JPro to take into account when matching you with an advisor, there is a space to indicate that on your registration form.  

WellAdvised is currently closed.We welcome you to check back to this page or subscribe to our newsletter to be informed when sessions reopen.

Let us know! Perhaps we'll be able to include your topic as WellAdvised grows in the future. We want your input!