Technovation volunteers play a key role across programs and may do some or all of the following:

• Support the learning of children, young women, and/or families in-person and/or online
• Provide feedback on project submissions from participants in-person and/or online
• Provide support to participants and organizations implementing Technovation programs (guest speaker, coaching, webinars, hosting or volunteering at events, etc.).

Read the “All Volunteers” section to access the more specific role guidelines for Program Leaders, Mentors, Coaches, and Judges.

Note: To maintain the program’s commitment to accessibility and free participation, volunteers are strictly prohibited from charging participants or participating organizations for their services related to the Technovation program.

All Volunteers

As a Technovation volunteer, you should contribute to creating a safe environment for people participating in any of the programs. This includes preparation to engage with participants virtually and/or in person by:

• Registering in the official Technovation platform as a program leader, Mentor, Coach, Judge, or other volunteer role with Technovation
• Completing all training and onboarding tasks that Technovation provides

To ensure the safety of its participants, all Technovation volunteers, including program leaders, Mentors, Coaches, and Judges, should follow the guidelines below. Failure to do so could lead to formal warnings from Technovation. Depending on the severity or frequency of the infractions, volunteers may be prohibited from volunteering with the organization for the remainder of the season and future seasons.

✔️ MUST DO: Safety

• Review the resources on this safety page. This page guides you on how to implement safe behaviors and what to do when something goes wrong.
• Ensure the physical and emotional safety of participants through the following actions:
  • Discuss any uncertainties you have around child safeguarding with your region’s program leaders or Technovation staff at any time.
    • This section of the safety page covers tips on how to address participant safety and the reporting process. When unsure, you are always welcome to check in with Technovation staff.
  • All in-person Technovation mentoring meetings must include multiple participants or at least one other adult, volunteer, or staff member.
  • Treat all individuals (youth and adults alike) equally and with respect, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.
  • Adopt a zero-tolerance policy around harassment or bullying. This includes volunteers’ treatment of each other, participants, parents/guardians, Technovation staff; and participants’ treatment of each other, volunteers, parents/guardians.
  • Offer constructive, age-appropriate encouragement and feedback to positively contribute to participants’ learning and growth in the program.
  • Volunteers may interact or work with Student leaders or other alumnae, who may be over the age of 18 and not considered minors under the law. Volunteers should continue to abide by the same Code of Conduct and safety rules when working with any alumnae over the age of 18.
  • Record any allegation a child makes of child abuse and follow the reporting procedures of your local government, and also report the issue to the Program Leader for your area, respecting any laws around anonymity and privacy. Don’t allow allegations a child makes to go without being recorded and addressed. If the allegations are connected to another Technovation volunteer, please inform the Technovation team at [email protected].
  • Keep your Technovation data safe

✔️ MUST DO: Communication

• For communication, prioritize using the Technovation platform messaging. If meeting virtually, use safe websites and apps to meet on, take any necessary safety precautions, such as using a passcode for the meeting, only admitting individuals you know, not sharing the meeting link publicly or not using a publicly shared meeting link.
  • All meeting links should be added to the Technovation platform chat as well as meeting recordings.
• If recording meetings or using an AI notetaker, ensure all meeting attendees give consent to be recorded. If they do not consent, allow them to turn off their cameras and use the chat instead of their microphones. Turn off any AI notetaker.
• Maintain what is, in the judgment of Technovation, a courteous and polite tone in all forms of communication, both written and verbal, with all stakeholders, including Technovation staff.

🛑 As a Technovation volunteer, the following actions are prohibited:

• Communication
  • Do not use offensive or sexually suggestive physical/verbal language. Students should not be permitted to use this type of language either.
  • Do not send inappropriate messages, imagery, and/or visuals to students in person or online. Unacceptable behavior includes but is not limited to, asking for personal photos, commenting on appearances, etc.
  • Do not connect with, “friend,” or follow children on social media.
  • Do not use any bullying or disparaging language, especially when communicating with minors.
• Physical and emotional safety of participants
  • Do not single out any child for unfair favoritism, criticism, ridicule, or unwelcome focus of attention.
  • Do not allow or engage in inappropriate touching of any form.
  • Do not ever physically or verbally abuse or punish children.
  • Do not consume alcohol or drugs before or during activities with participants.

More role-specific codes of conduct can be found below for Mentors, Coaches, Chapter/Club leaders, and Judges.

Mentors and Coaches

Our Mentor and Coach communities comprise a variety of professionals, educators, and parents who take different approaches to working with youth. Your role as a Mentor can be to use the curriculum to teach the program, to help the team as a project manager, or to be a sounding board when students have questions or need a review of their work. Your role as a Coach can be to answer specific questions about the team’s project, give an overview of a concept, or help the team plan a way forward. As a group of volunteers, Mentors and Coaches provide direct support to Technovation participants. Mentors and Coaches should always keep student safety top of mind. In addition to the guidelines above, please note:

• ✅ Mentors should never be alone with only one student and should always have another trusted adult present. The trusted adult is to be chosen by the team of students.
  • Work to maintain a recommended ratio of five children per one adult (1:5) during Technovation activities.
• ✅ Coaches should always meet with teams with a trusted adult present. The trusted adult is to be chosen by the team of students.
• ✅ Adopt a zero-tolerance policy around plagiarism and piracy. Reinforce the importance of citing references for research, facts/statistics in their work, and getting permission to use copyrighted work.
• 🛑 Mentors and Coaches should never message a student privately; this includes social media sites and/or apps, messaging apps, and email.
• ✅ A teacher, educator, parent or guardian must accompany the team on field trips or workshops along with the Mentor.
• ✅ If Mentors or Coaches are meeting with teams virtually, at least one student should have a parent/guardian/other trusted adult present in the room with them.

Below are some potential real-life scenarios with guidance on what to do in those situations:

• SCENARIO: A student messages you late at night because they are stuck with their project
  • WHAT TO DO: Maintain healthy boundaries by establishing set mentoring hours and avoiding responding to non-urgent messages late at night. Communicate exclusively via platform group chats or include a parent/guardian/trusted adult and teammates in messages rather than private 1-on-1 messaging.
• SCENARIO: A parent is not comfortable communicating in English
  • WHAT TO DO: Utilize AI or translation tools to translate written communications, leverage platform translation features, or work with local Program Leaders, educators, or community members to facilitate clear, respectful, and culturally sensitive communication with parents/guardians.
• SCENARIO: A team wants to meet at someone’s home because it has better internet
  • WHAT TO DO: Technovation-run mentoring should take place in public community spaces (e.g., schools, libraries, community centers). Personal residences are prohibited unless a parent/guardian of the participant is present for the entire meeting, maintaining mandatory multi-person attendance rules and a 1:5 adult-to-student ratio.
• SCENARIO: A student shares something personal and says, “Please don’t tell my parents”
  • WHAT TO DO: Ensure the student is safe and listen calmly; do NOT promise secrecy or confidentiality; do NOT investigate the situation yourself; factually document what was communicated; and immediately report the issue to [email protected] or follow the Reporting Matrix and local legal reporting requirements for child protection.
• SCENARIO: A student doesn’t have a parent available during an in-person session
  • WHAT TO DO: Mentors must never be alone with a single student. Ensure that another trusted adult designated by the team/parents (such as a teacher, educator, or local Program Leader) or multiple teammates/participants are present at all times to maintain a safe environment and proper supervision ratio.
• SCENARIO: You want to share a student’s work with another person to get technical help
  • WHAT TO DO: Ensure you have permission from the team members and their parents before sharing any project details outside of the team in observance of data privacy and confidentiality rules. Anonymize any personal identifying information (PII, such as full name) when seeking general technical assistance.

Program Leaders

In addition to the guidelines above, Program Leaders agree to abide by the additional clauses outlined below. Your role as a Program Leader can be to recruit participants (students and volunteers), prepare workshops/sessions to support student and volunteer learning, communicate with Technovation staff regarding updates, concerns, and programmatic questions, and report season participation and learnings.

Interactions with Other Leaders

• We deeply value our global leader community as a safe space for learning and growing together. Leaders are expected to support our community through respectful, culturally sensitive interactions with other leaders.
• Leaders are encouraged but not required to collaborate with other leaders. Leaders should respect the decisions and leadership of other leaders. Unless formally agreed upon by both leaders, there is no established hierarchy among leaders.
• Any conflict or disagreements between leaders should be handled with patience, humility, honesty, and curiosity to understand one another.

Interactions with Technovation Staff

• Staff will maintain kind, professional, and respectful interactions with leaders in all communications, seeking to foster a sense of being understood and heard.
• Leaders are expected to be professional and respectful in all interactions with Technovation staff.
• Any conflict or disagreements between leaders and staff should be handled with patience, humility, honesty, and curiosity to understand one another.

Honesty:

• Technovation leaders must not tamper with or attempt to influence or change Judge scores, change team’s submissions, abuse funds intended for Technovation activities, receive or give bribes, or otherwise act in dishonest or fraudulent conduct.

Additional Safety Measures:

• Chapter leaders must have an incident reporting system in place for any student and volunteer participating in their Chapter. Information may be shared with the Technovation team, respecting any local laws regarding privacy and anonymity.
• As displayed on our safety page, anyone may contact the Technovation headquarters to express concerns, report incidents, and engage in additional communication. This independent reporting mechanism is vital for several reasons, most of all maintaining transparency and trust. Upon receipt, Technovation may initiate an investigation, which could involve, but is not limited to, soliciting information from a Chapter, Club, mentor, students, or parents concerning the report.
• Please ensure you follow all safety guidelines and recommendations.
  • Mentors should only communicate with students, parents/guardians, and local Leader(s) included in the threads.
  • Direct 1-on-1 interaction between adult volunteers and program attendees is strictly prohibited.
• All program-related communication (emails, formal updates, activity scheduling) between Technovation Chapters and students should include the parent/guardian. Leaders should maintain full transparency about communication channels used.
• Leaders must take every precaution to ensure the safety of children in any travel or participation by communicating directly with Mentors and parents/guardians about the date, time, venue, and attendance of Technovation activities.
• Sexual or romantic relationships between Chapter/Club leaders and Students or any other Technovation alumnae, even those of legal age, are strongly discouraged by Technovation and can impact your ability to serve as a Program Leader or any other volunteer role with Technovation.

Confidentiality:

• Technovation leaders/Staff of local partner organizations shall maintain the confidentiality and privacy of program participants. They shall not disclose or disseminate program participants’ personal information, including identifying information (such as name, school, address, age, and email address), photographs, or educational records, to anyone beyond Technovation staff.
• They shall use confidential information only in connection with and to benefit the Technovation Challenge program and participants, and obey all local laws around data privacy.
• They will publicly share only materials of participants who have media consent on file with Technovation.
• They will delete all confidential information from their computers when it is no longer needed for the use agreed upon with Technovation.
• Should there be a breach of information and/or confidentiality, Technovation reserves the right to remove any involved parties from their roles with Technovation.

Judges

Our Judge community comprises a variety of professionals, educators, and parents who take different approaches to working with youth. Your role as a Judge is to provide written or verbal feedback to participants to encourage their learning. As a group of volunteers, Judges provide support to Technovation participants through written or verbal communication. Judges should always keep students’ emotional well-being top of mind. In addition to the guidelines above, please note:

• Judges should not use profanity or harsh or demeaning language in feedback to teams.
• Judges should not use AI to generate feedback for teams. There is no permission from the teams to input their projects into AI tools, and the feedback generated is generic and not constructive enough for Technovation standards. Judges are welcome to use AI tools to edit or translate written language they have written themselves.
• To maintain fairness in the judging process, Chapter, Club, and Mentors are ineligible to be judges in the same season of a Technovation Challenge.
• Judges should approach each team’s submissions from an unbiased perspective, keeping in mind the different backgrounds, ages, native languages, and cultures of students and how that plays a part in communication.
• Judges should not review submissions of teams they know or whose mentor(s) they know, and should make use of the recusal option appropriately.
• Misuse of the recusal option (ie. to see specific submissions, to see submissions from a specific geographic region, or specific divisions, etc.) may result in the suspension of the Judge’s account. It may prohibit future volunteering with Technovation.
• Judges should never message a student privately, including social media sites and/or apps, messaging apps, and email.
• Judges participating in live pitch events should follow all in-person child safeguarding policies.

Last Updated: September 2026