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 good 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 do answer those questions thoughtfully. Note that your advisor has also committed to taking the time to read those answers and consider them thoughtfully before your conversation, so they won't waste your time asking you to repeat that info either!

The second commitment is easy: 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 nonprofit Jewish 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, let alone any of the content of their conversations. Because you may already know some of our advisors, though, you do have the option to indicate if there is anyone in particular 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, so advisors will be asked about themes they are gleaning from their sessions. Advisors will only share their thoughts in general and will not reveal any individual 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.
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 (1 800 273 TALK). To get general information on mental health and locate treatment services in your area, call the SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline at 1 877 SAMHSA7 to speak to someone, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.
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 has worked hard to include advisors who have a breadth and depth of 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 more inviting and safe for members of under-represented identity groups, so some special requests may be taken into consideration.

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