Volunteer Agreement

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for 4 Access Partners (4AP)! The terms below govern your participation with 4AP. By registering as a volunteer, you agree that you have read and agree to these points. If you have any questions or concerns about this agreement, please contact a member of the 4AP staff or they can refer you to a designated contact for 4AP within your company.

General Volunteering Obligations

  1. Participating in 4AP activities is purely voluntary, in which you are acting as an individual 4AP volunteer and not as a commercial representative or agent of your employer or any other organization.
  2. By registering as a volunteer, you have no obligation to perform any particular role that 4AP offers you, nor to continue doing so once you start. If during your engagement you need to stop volunteering for any reason, please simply inform 4AP promptly and we will find a replacement or otherwise ensure continuity of the work you are supporting. You agree not to cease participation and communications with a client or 4AP without informing 4AP in advance.
  3. As an individual volunteer, neither you nor your employer will be held liable for the business outcomes of recommendations you make to a 4AP client. You agree to use good faith in providing your best professional advice and judgment for any 4AP client and in performing volunteer services in accordance with applicable laws, 4AP’s tax-exempt status and 4AP policies; the client voluntarily chooses whether or not to implement the recommendations you provide.
  4. You release 4AP, its clients, partner organizations and other volunteers from any liability related to your service as a volunteer with 4AP and any of its clients or other related organizations.
  5. If required by your organization, it is your responsibility to inform your manager before you accept a volunteer role with 4AP, and/or obtain any permissions required by your employer.
  6. You will not be an employee of 4AP, and therefore will not receive any financial compensation for your services, other than reasonable reimbursement of any related expenses to be agreed upon by you and 4AP in advance.
  7. 4AP reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. If we do, we will immediately communicate them to all active registered volunteers via e-mail or other means. It is your responsibility to ensure that 4AP has a working e-mail address for you.
  8. This agreement, and the volunteer relationship, may be terminated by either party at any time upon 30 days’ notice without cause, and may be terminated by 4AP at any time with cause.

Conflicts of Interest and Expectations

  1. 4AP generally works with food companies that do not pose any potential commercial or legal conflict of interest with any of 4AP’s partner organizations. However, if while volunteering you sense that your service to a 4AP client may conflict with, or create the appearance of a conflict, with your interests or the interests of your employer, immediately inform a contact at the 4AP staff or a designated contact at your employer that 4AP can provide upon request. Below are some but not all situations that could result in a conflict of interest:
    1. Support from 4AP to a client is purely voluntary by all parties involved and does not make the 4AP client a client or counterparty of any of 4AP’s partner organizations. However, while working with 4AP, a business opportunity between the client and one or more of 4AP’s partner organizations might arise. Any discussions of that nature must be conducted outside of the 4AP-coordinated relationship with the client. 4AP itself will not endorse or be a party to any specific business relationship between any other individuals or companies that meet through the course of 4AP activities.
    2. 4AP endeavors to avoid volunteer support ever overlapping with existing business that might exist between a client and any of 4AP’s partner organizations. If you become aware of a circumstance where 4AP’s support might encroach upon existing commercial activities, please inform 4AP staff immediately.
    3. Many volunteers will work with more than one client over time or even simultaneously. 4AP’s clients agree that 4AP grants them no exclusivity in receiving 4AP services, and that 4AP can support other neighboring or even competing businesses. Subject to the confidentiality provisions below, you are never restricted from sharing what you advise one client to another client. However, you are not allowed to share identifiable information, facts or data about one client with another client, without obtaining permission to do so via 4AP.
    4. If you believe that a client is asking for your advice for an activity or project that could create either a food or personal (e.g. to the employees of the client) safety risk, or a violation of applicable law or 4AP policy, please immediately bring that to the attention of 4AP.
  2. As a volunteer, you are not expected to, nor should you ever share information with a client that is confidential or proprietary information of your employer, without obtaining permission to do so from your employer.
  3. 4AP holds its clients and their owners and employees to the highest level of ethical conduct. If you ever learn of any potentially illegal or unethical activity by a client, please inform 4AP staff immediately. 4AP will never knowingly assist a company engaged in illegal or unethical practices.

Confidentiality, Sharing and Permissions

  1. 4AP—and you as a volunteer—may publicly name a client receiving your support or support from 4AP, but not any details about their business or about the assistance provided by 4AP, without the explicit permission of the client and 4AP. Please do not post publicly any details about the client’s business or the assistance provided by 4AP. You may share publicly that you are a 4AP volunteer, as well as the name, location, and other publicly available information about 4AP and the client.
  2. All the materials, documents, recordings, and intellectual property of any nature created during the course of your participation with 4AP become the property of 4AP, and at 4AP’s discretion, should be returned or destroyed upon termination of your volunteer service. 4AP may choose to share such information with other clients, volunteers, or other parties.
  3. 4AP will never share or publish any of your professional or personal information outside of 4AP’s clients or partners organizations without your explicit permission. 4AP does have the right to use photos or images of you unless you ask 4AP not to do so.
  4. You may identify yourself publicly as a 4AP volunteer, including the use of 4AP’s logo (such as on LinkedIn—and you are welcome to do so!), in a way that does not disparage 4AP, its clients, partner organizations, or other volunteers. However, you may not share 4AP content or materials (such as volunteer guides or training or project documents) with audiences outside 4AP’s partner organization without our permission.

Thank you again for being a 4 Access Partners volunteer!

This agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the United States of America and by the laws of the State of Minnesota. Each of the parties irrevocably consents to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in Minnesota, as applicable, for any matter arising out of or relating to this agreement, except that in actions seeking to enforce any order or any judgment of such federal or state courts located in Minnesota, such personal jurisdiction shall be nonexclusive.