The program is eight weeks in length, with a celebration presentation in the ninth week. There are no set time requirements other than those agreed upon between the advisor team and their entrepreneur. However, on average, advisors spend 2-4 hours per week helping their entrepreneurs. We understand that pro bono advisors have demanding schedules, and we do all we can to accommodate them while enabling them to provide their highly valuable business mentorship to our entrepreneurs.

You’ll be able to coordinate with the entrepreneur you’re working with to schedule mutually agreeable meeting times. Meetings can be scheduled during regular working hours or outside of them.

A real person looks through every advisor application. If your application is accepted, you’ll receive a welcome email. Being accepted as an advisor doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be assigned to a project. 

Once you receive the welcome email, you must attend an advisor orientation to learn more about the time commitment and expectations. You’ll receive an email before the cohort launch asking you to pick a project. If you’re ready to participate as a volunteer for your first cohort, select your project; otherwise, you can opt out of the current cohort. While we encourage you to pick a project that appeals to you, this also doesn’t guarantee placement. We match volunteers to cohorts based on a combination of skills, industry expertise and interests. 

During the cohort kickoff event, the advisor team and entrepreneur review the agreed-upon project scope. The project scope dictates the specific work that needs to be accomplished in the eight weeks. The group schedules a weekly meeting, which they typically attend virtually. Advisor teams may schedule an additional check-in depending on the complexity and interconnection of the project tasks. There are also three standard advisor check-in calls, each 60 minutes in length, at the beginning, middle and end of a program.

At the end of the formal program, you’ll be asked to submit a survey to assess your experience so that we can improve our program. After six weeks, we’ll send you a brief update on your entrepreneur. If they request additional assistance in using the tools you provided, we may ask that you meet with the entrepreneur in a sprint format. But you’re not obligated to do so. Unless you opt out, you will stay in our advisor pool, so you have the opportunity to volunteer again with a new project.

Yes! Although not part of the structured program, if you and your entrepreneur want to stay in touch, you may absolutely do so. We always encourage you to stay connected with your entrepreneur and their business on social media.