What UpStart Is:

UpStart Bay Area (“UpStart”) is a nonprofit corporation recognized as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its charitable purpose is to work with, enhance, and help develop mission-aligned ideas and organizations in the Jewish community and to engage in other charitable activities within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3). In furtherance of that mission, UpStart runs offerings to accelerate growth, nurture ideas, and advance new experiences for the Jewish community.

Guiding Principles:

The following list of Guiding Principles exists to support UpStart in ensuring that its programming aligns with its mission and values, as well as its approach to sensitive communal issues.

A Forum of Ideas

• UpStart is committed, consistent with its mission, to be a robust forum of ideas -- presenting a range of viewpoints on issues of interest and importance to the North American Jewish community in particular, and global Jewry in general.

A Commitment to Fostering Inclusivity and Belonging

• UpStart is dedicated to creating an atmosphere of inclusivity and does not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, antisemitism, able-ism, other forms of bigotry, or other extremist views.

• We commit to neither accept nor grant funds from or to those who have been found to have engaged in discrimination, harassment, or assault and have not engaged in repair, restoration, and/or teshuva, the Jewish process of repentance.

A Pluralistic and Diverse Forum for Jewish Expression

• UpStart aims to create an environment for all people to experience the traditions of Judaism, regardless of their political, religious, or ideological beliefs. UpStart creates a pluralistic space where people of all persuasions are invited to celebrate Judaism in connection to community.

• Our approach emphasizes providing frequent and varied opportunities to engage in Jewish life, fostering diversity and a sense of belonging as essential elements for enhancing community cohesion. We prioritize supporting individuals across all generations, ensuring that every aspect of Jewish generational life is nurtured and celebrated within our community

A Connection to The Land, the People, and the State of Israel and 21st Century Jewish Identity

• The Land of Israel

• As an organization, we acknowledge and honor the historical significance and origins of the traditions of Judaism rooted in and around the present-day State of Israel. We recognize the ancient roots and the profound connections the land of Israel has held for the Jewish people throughout history. We further acknowledge that the Jewish connection to this land remains a vital component of the Jewish experience and identity for many Jews today.

• The People of Israel

• We affirm our support for the People of Israel. We stand with the nation and its citizens, recognizing their right to self-determination security, and prosperity. We honor and respect the rich diversity, traditions, and identities encompassed within the Israeli population and global Jews who associate as part of Am Yisrael, the Jewish People.

• The State of Israel

• We affirm our support for the State of Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state within secure and recognized borders. We stand committed to promoting peace, democracy, and prosperity for all inhabitants of Israel, while also advocating for constructive dialogue and cooperation to address complex challenges in the region.

• We believe in a future of peaceful co-existence with regional neighbors and a viable solution with the Palestinian population. Our hope is for peace, independence, self-determination, security and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians with full equality for all citizens.

• As such, UpStart will not work with any organization that has an implicit or explicit policy denying Israel's right to exist as a sovereign and legitimate Jewish state. Criticism of specific Israeli policies alone does not warrant exclusion.

• UpStart takes no formal stance on internal political issues related to the State of Israel and its government. We encourage and support open, empathic dialogue between individuals and groups with differing viewpoints. UpStart reserves the right to comment on issues of contemporary relevance through the lens of UpStart’s mission and vision, as determined by the Board and CEO.

Norms for Behavior and Conduct of Individual Participants

The participant in any portion or aspect of an UpStart engagement agrees to:

• Comply with all UpStart Guiding Principles as outlined above.

• Request any reasonable accommodations needed to fully engage with the work by communicating with UpStart staff.

• Actively engage in, come prepared to, and attend all scheduled engagements and leverage all opportunities to gain support from other advising opportunities provided. If the participant must miss an engagement, it is their responsibility to inform UpStart staff in advance and to watch available recordings and complete related activities within a reasonable timeframe.

• Participate in evaluation processes required by UpStart and its funders in a timely manner.

• Fully act with respect towards all other participants, UpStart staff, and any other individual participating (“participants”) in UpStart engagements, and exhibit appropriate behavior during the engagement.  UpStart views the following as inappropriate behavior (although the list below is not exhaustive), and any such behavior will lead to the dismissal of a participant in UpStart’s sole discretion:

• Negligence, carelessness, or disrespectful treatment of fellow participants and/or their property

• Theft, misappropriation, or unauthorized possession or use of property, documents, records, or funds belonging to UpStart or fellow participants.

• Inappropriately divulging trade secrets or other confidential business information learned about fellow participants to any unauthorized person(s) or to others.

• Conduct that is illegal under federal, state, or local law.

• Misuse of UpStart grant funds.

• Creating a disturbance on UpStart premises.

• Use or possession of intoxicating beverages or illegal use or possession of narcotics, marijuana, or drugs (under state, federal, or local laws) on UpStart premises during programming or reporting to UpStart engagements under the influence of intoxicants or drugs so as to interfere with participation.

• Unauthorized possession of a weapon on UpStart’s premises.

• Sexual harassment, inappropriate, and/or disrespectful behavior, intimidation, communications, or other conduct directed at an individual because of their sex, gender, or sexual orientation. This includes:

• Unwanted sexual advances, including, but not limited to the following:

• Visual: leering, making sexual gestures, or displaying sexually suggestive objects or pictures

• Verbal: making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, sexually explicit jokes, or comments about another’s body or dress, graphic verbal commentary about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words to describe an individual, or suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations

• Physical: touching, assault, or impeding and/or blocking movements

• Requests for sexual favors

• Making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances

• Visual, verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature

• Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment

• Harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, age, or any other basis protected under local, state, or federal law, including, but not limited to, behavior similar to those actions or behaviors listed above in the sexual harassment section, such as:

• Verbal conduct such as threats, epithets, derogatory comments, or slurs

• Visual conduct such as derogatory posters, photographs, cartoons, drawings, or gestures

• Physical conduct such as assault, unwanted touching, or blocking normal movement

• Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment.

• Fully respect the UpStart or any other premises and environs of all engagements. In the event that any negligence or intentional conduct on any participant’s part results in damages, such participant will be required to fully pay for those damages and compensate the owner for the full cost of said damage.

• Be responsible for their own physical property. Each individual is responsible for protecting their own property, and UpStart shall not have any liability or responsibility for the personal property of participants or other individuals. In the event of a dispute related to property ownership or damage, UpStart will not seek to solve disagreements between participants by any legal means or otherwise and will not take legal responsibility for defending or representing either of the parties.

Qualifying Conditions for Ongoing Participation

UpStart is committed to supporting participants in scaling and sustaining their bold Jewish ideas. While most participants will stay in the engagement through completion, the occurrence of any of the following circumstances may result in an earlier departure, as determined by UpStart at its discretion:

• Failure to meet any of the engagement requirements. 

• Failure to submit any applicable engagement fees by the required deadlines.

• Your organization or individuals associated with it have engaged in conduct that could reasonably jeopardize or harm the reputation, status, or goodwill of UpStart, as determined by UpStart in its discretion, or have engaged in conduct that, in UpStart’s discretion, raises legal or ethical concerns. 

Upon the occurrence of any of the above circumstances, UpStart may, in its sole discretion, take any action that it deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, terminating this Agreement and your organization’s participation in UpStart engagements, prohibiting certain individuals from participating in any aspect of UpStart engagements, limiting or modifying your organization’s participation in certain aspects of UpStart engagements, and/or requiring the return of grant funds. UpStart may, in its discretion, implement any such action it deems appropriate immediately or may choose to provide for a transition period. UpStart will evaluate each situation on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with individuals and advisors as it determines to be appropriate.  

Additional Terms

The following additional terms and conditions also apply to all UpStart engagement participants:

• Any and all other costs associated with the participant’s or any individual’s attendance or participation in UpStart engagements or any portion thereof (including, without limitation, any travel and/or accommodation expenses, medical insurance, etc., above those outlined to be covered by UpStart) shall be the sole responsibility and obligation of the participant, and UpStart shall have no liability or responsibility for such costs.

• Participant and any individual participating in UpStart engagements on participant’s behalf agrees and understands that the engagements or any portion of it may be filmed, photographed and/or recorded and that UpStart shall have all rights in and to such film, photographs and/or recording, including the copyright therein. The copyright shall include, but not be limited to, the right to use, re-use, publish, and re-publish and otherwise reproduce, modify, and display any such film, photograph and/or recording for educational and promotional purposes, including without limitation, audiotapes, audio CDs, DVDs, websites, video, or film or any other form of recorded images now available and hereafter developed. Participant and each individual participating in UpStart engagements on the participant’s behalf hereby grant the right, without compensation, to film, photograph and/or record the participant and/or any individual participant while participating in UpStart engagements or any portion thereof, and they hereby waive any right which they have or may have hereafter in any such film, photograph and/or recording. 

• In appropriate engagement settings, UpStart may use AI notetaking tools to capture recordings, summaries, or transcripts of sessions. Any such recordings will be shared with all participants in that session. Participants agree not to record by audio, video, photographic, or any other means, any portion of the engagement. 

• Participant acknowledges and agrees that UpStart, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to change any and all aspects of UpStart engagements at any time, including but not limited to, the engagement name, themes, content, program, speakers, performers, hosts, moderators, venue, format, date and/or time. 

• All intellectual property rights in and to the UpStart engagement, the engagement content, and all materials distributed at or in connection with the engagement are owned by UpStart and/or the engagement speakers presenting. Participant may not use or reproduce or allow anyone, including any individual participant, to use or reproduce any trademarks or other trade names appearing at the engagement, in any program content, and/or in any of the materials distributed at or in connection with the engagement for any reason without the prior written permission of UpStart. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to grant participant or any individual participant any legal or beneficial right in or to any trademarks or other intellectual property rights owned or used under license by UpStart or any of its affiliates or grant to participant or any individual participant any right or license to any other intellectual property rights of UpStart, its affiliates, or speakers presenting at the engagement.

• UpStart gives no warranties in respect of any aspect of the engagement or any materials related thereto or offered at the engagement and, to the fullest extent possible under the laws governing this Agreement, disclaims all implied warranties, including but not limited to warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, timeliness, and merchantability. Neither UpStart nor its affiliates shall have or accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by participant or any person, including any individual participant, on any aspect of the engagement and/or any information provided at or in connection with the engagement. 

• Other than to the extent required as a matter of law, UpStart shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential costs, damages, losses, or attorney fees or costs arising directly or indirectly from the engagement, participant’s or any individual participant’s participation in the engagement, or other aspect related to the engagement or in connection with this Agreement or participation in the engagement. Participant and each individual participant hereby irrevocably and unconditionally agree to release, waive, and discharge UpStart, its directors, officers, agents, and employees (hereinafter referred to as “releasees”) from any and all liabilities, claims, demands, actions, losses, expenses (including reasonably attorneys’ fees and costs), and causes of action whatsoever directly, indirectly, wholly, or partially arising out of or relating to any loss, damage, or injury, including death, that may be sustained by the participant or anyone associated with the participant organization, or to any property belonging to such persons, while participating in any UpStart engagement, and/or while in, on, or upon the premises where UpStart program(s) is/are being conducted.

• The parties agree that each shall treat confidentially all information provided by each party to the other regarding its business and operations. All confidential information provided by a party, including but not limited to any information shared by UpStart with participants or any individual participant as part of or related to the engagement that would be deemed to be of a confidential nature by a reasonable person, shall be used by the other party solely for the purpose of participating in the engagement, and shall not be disclosed to any third party without the prior consent of such providing party. The foregoing shall not be applicable to any information that is publicly available when provided or thereafter becomes publicly available other than through a breach of this Agreement, or that is required to be disclosed by or to any regulatory authority, or by judicial or administrative process or otherwise by applicable law.

• This Agreement does not create a partnership, joint venture, or other similar relationship between the parties, and no party will have the power to obligate any other party in any manner whatsoever as a result of this Agreement.

• This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflicts of law principles. The parties agree that any legal action or proceeding with respect to this Agreement may be initiated only in the federal or state courts located in the City of Oakland and County of Alameda, California.

• Participant shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining all insurance required by law, as well as a comprehensive general liability insurance policy. Participant must supply a certificate of insurance to UpStart evidencing such coverage. UpStart’s insurance policies will not provide coverage for participants unless otherwise specifically indicated.

• Participant may not assign or transfer its rights under this Agreement, including by operation of law, without the prior written consent of Upstart.

In addition, Participant confirms and represents that the participant is 18+ years old.