How coaches join
- Application review. Every coach applies and is reviewed by the WayForward team. Not everyone who applies is approved.
- Written agreement. Coaches sign our Mentor Agreement, which covers confidentiality, professional boundaries, keeping conversations on the platform and how members are treated. They re-sign whenever the agreement changes.
- Required training. Before a coach can take members, they complete our training and pass a quiz (80% or higher). It is renewed every year.
How coaches are held accountable
- Levels. New coaches start as Associate Mentors with a lower limit on how many members they can take. Limits rise as a coach earns trust over time.
- Goals and monthly check-ins. Each member sets goals with their coach and completes a short monthly check-in. We watch these, along with reply times and member ratings, so a coach who is falling behind is noticed early.
- Reviews and ratings. Members can rate and review their coach. A run of low ratings pauses a coach from taking new members while we look into it.
- Platform-only conversations. Messages and payments stay on WayForward. Coaches may not move members off the platform, and repeated attempts lead to warnings and removal.
How we protect members
- No member directory. Members cannot see or contact each other.
- Contact details stay hidden. Coaches do not see a member's email or phone unless the member chooses to share it.
- Report a problem. Members can report a coach or end a mentorship at any time, and can block a coach. Reports go to our team, who see what was written but never the private message text.
- Suspend or remove. We can pause or remove a coach or a member who breaks our rules. A removed account is deleted from the site, and we keep only a short record of who was removed and why.
- Payments. Members pay securely through Stripe. WayForward never sees or stores card numbers. Refunds can be requested within 2 days of paying.
What WayForward is not
WayForward offers coaching and mentorship. It is not therapy, medical care, or legal or financial advice, and coaches are not acting as your therapist. If you or someone you know is in danger or in crisis, contact local emergency services or use the lines on our crisis help page.
If something goes wrong
Use Report a problem in your dashboard, or contact us. We take every report seriously and will reply by email. Read the full details in our Terms and Privacy Policy.