Privacy & Accessibility

Empower'em is a federally incorporated nonprofit based in Ottawa, Ontario. We only collect what we need to run Our Way Forward. We treat your information with care.

What we collect

When you apply to Our Way Forward as a mentee or mentor, we collect:

• Contact information (name, email, phone)
• Location (city, province)
• Pronouns and age range
• Program-related information (your goals, availability, what you're seeking or offering)
• Optionally, your resume

We also ask, if you're comfortable, about your racial or ethnic identity, disability or access needs, and 2SLGBTQ+ identity. These are optional. We ask because we match people based on shared or complementary lived experience, and it helps us report accurately to funders about who we serve. You can choose “prefer not to disclose” or skip any question. It won't affect your application.

We use this only for matching and internal reporting. We never show it to other members, and we never use it to identify or describe you publicly.

Application data vs. profile data

There's a difference between what you tell us when you apply, and what you choose to share on your community profile after you're accepted:

Application data (including the identity questions above) is private. Only our team sees it, to review applications and inform matches. Other members never see it.

Profile data is what you choose to share with your matched mentor or mentee, or the wider community, once you're in the program. You control this, field by field. It's separate from your application.

Where your data is stored

Our member portal is built on Base44, a platform run in the United States. This means some of your information is handled on servers outside Canada. We've put safeguards in place:

• Base44 maintains a Data Processing Agreement that addresses Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA) requirements.
• The most sensitive details you share — racial or ethnic identity, disability or access needs, and 2SLGBTQ+ identity — are encrypted before they leave your browser. They're stored so only authorized Empower'em team members can read them, using a separate, protected access method.
• We never store this sensitive information where Base44, or anyone without our team's authorization, could read it.

How long we keep your data

You can ask us to delete your account and personal data at any time, from your portal account settings or by emailing info@empowerem.ca. When you do, we remove your personal information from our live systems. We keep only aggregated, anonymized program statistics (for example, total participants served, total mentorship hours) that no longer identify you. We need these for ongoing funder reporting and program evaluation.

We don't keep personal information on our live systems indefinitely. When a retention period ends, we first export the record to a secure archive that Empower'em controls and stores ourselves, then delete it from our live platform. The archive is kept for funder reporting and program records, and it isn't accessible through the website or member portal.

• Accepted applications are kept for the program year plus 3 years, then archived and removed from our live platform.
• Applications that aren't accepted are kept for 1 year, then archived and removed. We also add you to our community waitlist so we can reach you when community spaces open; that entry follows the waitlist rules below.
• Saved, unsubmitted drafts are deleted when that cohort's application window closes (mentor drafts, since mentor applications stay open year-round, are removed after 12 months without activity). Identity answers are never included in a saved draft.
• If you join the community waitlist yourself, we keep your entry until you ask us to remove you. If we haven't heard from you for 18 months, we'll send a check-in email. If we don't hear back, we'll archive the entry and remove it from our live platform.
• If we add you to the waitlist ourselves, for example because your application wasn't accepted or you weren't matched into the cohort, we keep that entry for 2 years from your last activity with us, then archive it and remove it from our live platform.
• Alumni requests are kept until you ask us to remove you. If we haven't heard from you for 18 months, we'll send a check-in email. If we don't hear back, we'll archive the entry and remove it from our live platform.

Your right to correct or remove your information

You can ask us to correct your information at any time, or to delete information you haven't submitted yet, including a saved draft application. Drafts aren't tied to a portal account, so just email us from the address you used on the form and we'll delete it for you.

Bot verification (Cloudflare Turnstile)

Our public forms (applications, the save-draft feature, the community waitlist, and alumni requests) are protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, a bot-verification service. When you use one of those forms, Cloudflare processes limited information about your request, such as your IP address and browser signals, to confirm the submission comes from a real person. Cloudflare handles that information under its own privacy policy (cloudflare.com/privacypolicy) and doesn't use it to profile you for advertising.

Website analytics (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to understand how our site is used, including which pages are visited and, in aggregate, how many people start, save, and submit applications. It collects standard technical information such as your IP address, browser, and device type. We never send it your application answers. Google handles that data under its privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

Language translation (Google Translate)

Our accessibility toolbar offers automatic translation powered by Google Translate. If you translate a page, Google processes the text of that page to produce the translation. Machine translation isn't always accurate, and we can't guarantee how a translated page reads. Google handles that data under its privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

Site fonts (Google Fonts)

Some of the typefaces on this site are loaded from Google Fonts. When a page loads, Google receives a request that can include your IP address and browser details so the font files can be served. If you'd prefer to avoid this, most browsers let you block third-party font loading.

Signing in with Google

If you choose “Sign in with Google” on the login page, Google acts as the identity provider for that sign-in. Google shares with us the email address and basic profile name from your Google account so we can set up your portal access. Google handles its side of the sign-in under its privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

Newsletter (Mailchimp)

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we send your email address to Mailchimp, our newsletter platform, so we can send you updates. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any newsletter. Mailchimp handles subscriber data under its privacy policy (mailchimp.com/legal/privacy).

Sharing your story publicly

If you share a story or testimonial for our Voices page, that's separate from your application data. It needs your clear consent, given when you submit the story — not assumed from anything else. You can ask us to remove a story at any time.

Questions

If you have questions about how your information is collected, used, or protected, contact us at info@empowerem.ca.

Empower'em works to make our website and programs accessible to everyone. We believe accessibility is part of inclusion, not an afterthought. If you run into any barriers on our site, or need information in another format, email info@empowerem.ca with the subject line “Accessibility request.” We'll respond within 3 business days.