Every Fellow signs this before they are matched with a student. If you are a parent, guardian, or school representative, this is what the person mentoring your student has agreed to in writing. If you are a student, these are the rules your Fellow has to follow, and you are allowed to hold them to it.
We publish this because you should not have to take our word for it.
Before a Fellow meets a student
Every Fellow must verify their enrollment or graduation, complete a public sex offender registry and court records check, provide two references, complete a child sexual abuse prevention training and the mandated reporter training for their state, and attest in writing that they have no history that would disqualify them from working with minors.
No one is exempt. Our founders complete the same screening and the same training, and we do it first.
Screening reduces risk. It does not eliminate it, and no program's screening does. That is why the rules below exist and why we make them public.
What every Fellow agrees to do
Complete the required training before meeting a student, and keep it current
Keep every commitment they make to a student, or give as much notice as they can if they cannot
Respond to messages within a reasonable time, generally 48 hours
Give honest, specific feedback on work the student has written themselves
Be clear about the limits of what they know, and refer questions beyond those limits to program leadership
Treat every student with respect regardless of background, identity, beliefs, academic record, or family circumstances
Keep every message professional enough that the guardian, the student, and program leadership could all read it, because they can
Raise any concern about a student's safety or wellbeing immediately
What every Fellow agrees never to do
Academic integrity
Write, rewrite, edit into their own words, or ghostwrite any part of a student's application, essay, personal statement, or supplemental response
Use AI tools to generate or rewrite any part of a student's application content
Access, log into, or submit anything through a student's account, email, or application portal, or ask a student for a password
Scope
Guarantee or imply a guarantee of admission, scholarship, financial aid, or any other outcome
Give legal, medical, financial, immigration, or mental health advice
Ask a student about their immigration status or their family's
Contact and boundaries
Contact a student through personal phone, personal email, personal social media, or any direct messaging platform
Communicate with a student under 18 without the guardian or school representative copied on the message
Meet a student in person, anywhere, for any reason, unless The Rising Fellowship has approved the activity in advance and another approved adult is present
Hold a session that was not scheduled in advance through the program account, or start an unscheduled call
Hold a session the guardian was not given advance notice of
Transport a student in a vehicle
Delete, alter, or hide any communication with a student
Money and influence
Exchange money, gifts, favors, or anything of value with a student or their family
Solicit donations, fees, or payment of any kind
Refer a student to a paid service in which they have any financial or personal interest
Conduct
Engage in any romantic or sexual conduct or communication with a student
Comment on a student's body, appearance, or attractiveness
Discuss their own or a student's sexual experiences, or their use of alcohol or drugs
Share content that is sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate for a minor
Advocate for a political party, candidate, or religious belief, or pressure a student toward any belief or affiliation
Use profanity, insults, sarcasm directed at a student, or any form of humiliation, threat, or physical contact
Privacy
Photograph or record a student, or post about an identifiable student on social media
Share student information with anyone outside the program
Enter a student's personal information into public AI tools or any service that is not an approved program channel
Speak publicly on behalf of The Rising Fellowship without written authorization
How one-on-one sessions work
Mentorship here is one-on-one. Your student and their Fellow will be on a video call with nobody else on it, and that is the program working as designed.
In youth programs that meet in person, the standard is that an adult is never alone with a minor. In a virtual program that standard is met differently, through visibility rather than through a second adult on the call. In practice:
Every session is scheduled in advance through the program account. There are no spontaneous calls.
You are on the invitation for every session, so you know when a session is happening before it happens.
You may join any session, with or without notice. You do not need a reason and you do not need to ask.
Everything written stays in the program thread with you copied, so the conversation around the sessions is always on record.
If a session ever happens that you were not told about in advance, that is a violation of this Code and we want to hear about it.
In-person meetings are a separate and absolute rule. A Fellow may not meet a student in person, anywhere, for any reason, unless we have approved the activity in advance and another approved adult is present. There is no version of a coffee, a campus visit, or a ride that a Fellow may arrange on their own.
How communication works
All mentorship happens through official Rising Fellowship channels and scheduled sessions. For any student under 18, the parent, guardian, or school representative is copied on every message, every time.
If a student is contacted outside these channels, the Fellow is required not to respond privately, to redirect the student to the program channel, and to tell us.
Reporting
Fellows are required to report to program leadership immediately any knowledge, suspicion, or disclosure of abuse, neglect, self-harm, or risk of serious harm to a student, and to contact emergency services where circumstances warrant. Fellows are also responsible for complying with the mandatory reporting law of their own state, which in some states applies to any adult.
Fellows are trained never to promise secrecy to a minor.
If you are a student and something a Fellow says or does makes you uncomfortable, or breaks any rule on this page, email therisingfellowship@gmail.com or tell your parent, guardian, or school representative. You will not be in trouble for reporting something, and it will not affect your place in the program.
If a rule is broken
We may suspend or remove any Fellow at any time, with or without cause and without notice, including while a concern is being reviewed. We do not wait for certainty before pausing a match.
We also tell Fellows plainly that honest mistakes reported promptly are handled differently from mistakes that are hidden. A Fellow who replies on the wrong channel and immediately says so is doing the right thing. That is deliberate, because a program that punishes small disclosures stops hearing about them.
Records and cooperation with authorities
We tell every Fellow this in writing before they start, and families should know it too.
Communications between Fellows and students are program records. They are not private to the Fellow and we retain them. We will cooperate fully with law enforcement, child protective agencies, and other authorities investigating conduct connected to this program, and we will comply with any subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process. Where a student's safety is involved and the law permits it, we will not wait to be asked.
The Rising Fellowship does not defend or indemnify a Fellow for conduct outside the scope of their volunteer role, for any violation of law, or for intentional or reckless misconduct.
Questions
Version 1.0, September 2026. We update this document as we learn, and Fellows agree to follow the current version.
Questions or concerns: therisingfellowship@gmail.com