Etzah Participation Agreement

Etzah offers thoughtful, curated professional mentorship within the Temple Sholom community. Its conversations may range across career paths, workplace experience, industry knowledge, leadership, transitions, skill-building, professional confidence, and the navigation of different stages of working life.

Precision about what the program is not matters as much as generosity about what it is:

• Etzah is not a placement, recruiting, or hiring service. No participant is promised employment, an interview, a referral, or an introduction, and no mentor is under any obligation to provide one. That a professional opportunity may occasionally grow from a mentorship is a welcome possibility, never a promise, and never the measure of the program’s success.
• Etzah is not professional advice. Mentors take part as fellow members of the community, sharing personal experience and perspective in their individual capacity and not on behalf of any employer. Nothing said within Etzah constitutes legal, financial, medical, tax, investment, or other professional advice, and nothing said within it should be relied upon as such. Every decision a participant makes in their own career remains their own.
• Etzah is not counselling or religious guidance. The program does not offer religious guidance, counselling, therapy, life coaching, or general advice outside a professional career context. A participant in need of those supports will be directed, kindly, to the appropriate place.

Participation in Etzah is voluntary and unpaid for all concerned. Taking part creates no relationship of employment, agency, partnership, contract for services, or fiduciary duty, whether between participants or between any participant and Temple Sholom. Mentors give their time as a gift to the community; what mentees owe in return is respect and good faith, never fees, favours, or business.

The Etzah committee reviews what applicants share and works to compose thoughtful, meaningful matches. Matching is a considered human judgment, made by people rather than produced by a system, and rests in the committee’s discretion.

An application, however strong, does not guarantee a place or a match. Some applicants will be matched in the current cohort; others may be considered for cohorts to come. Every applicant will hear from the program, whatever the outcome.

• A mentorship of defined length, set for each cohort, with regular touchpoints held in person or online at times both people agree upon.
• The cohort’s gatherings, ordinarily one at the outset and one at the close.
• Conduct consistent with the Etzah Code of Conduct in every meeting, message, and gathering held under the program’s name.

The committee confirms the format of each cohort, its length, cadence, and events, before that cohort begins. Should this agreement and a confirmed cohort format differ on a practical detail, the confirmed format governs.

What passes between mentor and mentee remains between them, unless both agree otherwise or there is a genuine concern for someone’s safety. Each participant undertakes to protect the other’s story, name, and network.

Application information is read only by the Etzah team and is used solely to administer the program and to compose matches: what an applicant shares stays between the applicant, their match, and the committee. Personal information is handled in accordance with Temple Sholom’s Privacy Policy and with applicable law, including the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act. A participant may ask the Etzah team, at any time, what information the program holds about them, and may ask that it be corrected or removed, subject to what the program reasonably requires in order to operate.

Either person may pause or end a mentorship at any time, respectfully, and without owing a detailed explanation. The ending is a no-fault one; it carries no penalty and invites no judgment. Not every match takes root, and that is no failure of either person. A participant whose match is not the right fit need only tell the Etzah team quietly: the matter will be handled with kindness and discretion, and where it helps, the team will seek a better match.

Temple Sholom reserves the right to decline, suspend, or end any person’s participation, or to end a match, where it reasonably considers this necessary, including for conduct inconsistent with the Code of Conduct. Serious matters will be brought to the attention of Temple Sholom’s clergy and leadership.

Participants choose their own settings: a café, a workplace, a video call, or a room at the temple. Each participant remains responsible for their own decisions, travel, and conduct in connection with the program. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Temple Sholom, together with its clergy, staff, and volunteers, including the Etzah team, accepts no responsibility for the content of guidance exchanged between participants, for decisions made in reliance upon it, or for the course or outcome of any mentorship.

Nothing in this agreement excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under the law of British Columbia.

Etzah is a living program, and each cohort may be shaped by the lessons of the last. Temple Sholom may adjust the program’s format, schedule, and materials, and may amend this agreement, by posting the updated version on the Etzah website. To apply, or to continue taking part, after an updated version has been posted is to accept it. Should the program be paused or discontinued, participants will be told directly.

• This agreement is governed by the laws of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.
• If any provision of this agreement is found unenforceable, the remainder continues in full force.
• This agreement, the Etzah Code of Conduct, and Temple Sholom’s Privacy Policy and Member Terms together form the whole understanding on which participation rests. Where they conflict on a legal matter, the temple’s own policies prevail.
• Participation in Etzah is open to members of the Temple Sholom community who have reached the age of majority in British Columbia (19 years of age or older), at any stage of their working life. Participants must meet this requirement to take part.

Questions about this agreement, or about the program itself, may be directed to the Etzah team at etzah@templesholom.ca. Concerns are read only by the team, handled with discretion, and never held against the person who raises them.