Privacy Policy

Pathways Abroad LLC ("Pathways Abroad," "we," "us," or "our") operates pathwaysabroad.org. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the site, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We keep this simple on purpose: we only ask for what we need to help you plan.

Information You Give Us

We collect information only when you choose to submit it through a form on this site:

• Get in Touch form. Your name, email address, the audience you identify with (AmeriCorps alumni, program staff, international partner, or other), and your message.
• Custom Planning Guide request. Your name, email address, your AmeriCorps program, your approximate award amount, your award expiration date if you share it, and your travel or program preferences.
• Program referral requests on destination pages. Your name, email address, an optional phone number, the destination and program type you are interested in (volunteer or internship), your timing, and any notes you add.
• The Pathfinder. The description of what you are looking for that you type into the Pathfinder matching tool, your answers to its follow-up questions, and, if you ask us to email your shortlist, your name and email address.
• Group advising and info session sign-ups. Your name, email address, and the session you selected.
• Alumni story submissions. Your name, email address, your service program, the country and program you completed, your story, and any photo you choose to upload for possible publication on this site.
• Newsletter sign-ups. Your email address.

We do not ask for Social Security numbers, financial account details, or AmeriCorps portal credentials. Please never send those to us.

How We Use Your Information

• To send the planning guide, toolkit, shortlist, or resource you requested.
• To answer your questions and follow up on your message.
• To confirm and remind you about group advising sessions you signed up for.
• To send occasional educational emails, including reminders as your Segal Education Award expiration date approaches, when you have shared that date with us.
• To introduce you to an international program partner when you have asked to be connected.
• To review and, with your permission, publish an alumni story you submitted.
• To understand which resources are useful so we can improve the site.

Every email we send includes a way to unsubscribe. You can also email us at any time and we will remove you from our lists.

The Pathfinder and AI Matching

The Pathfinder is a matching tool on our Explore page. What you type is sent to an AI model provider that helps us interpret your request and match it against our own list of programs. We ask you to describe the kind of experience you want, not sensitive personal details, and we recommend leaving out anything you would not want to share, such as health, financial, or identifying information about other people.

The Pathfinder results are suggestions generated from our program data. They are not eligibility decisions, and no program placement is made automatically. Your search text is retained only as long as needed to return results, support you if you follow up, and diagnose problems with the tool. If you ask us to email your shortlist, we keep the email address and matches so we can send it and follow up.

Browser Storage

Pathways Abroad does not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or third-party tracking pixels. The site stores a small amount of information in your own browser for functional reasons only:

• The destinations you save or add to the compare tray.
• Your place in a conversation with the Pathfinder during your visit.
• Whether you have dismissed a banner.
• The campaign or referring site you arrived from, so a form you submit later still tells us where you found us.
• A random visit code that exists only for the current browser tab, used to group the actions in one visit for the site measurement described below.
• Your sign-in session, if you have an administrator account.

These values are stored by the site itself, not by an outside company, and they are never used for advertising or shared across other websites. You can clear them at any time through your browser settings.

Site Measurement

To understand which parts of the site are useful, we record a small number of our own events when you take an action: for example selecting Explore Programs, running a search with the Pathfinder, answering a follow-up question from the Pathfinder, requesting a planning guide, or submitting a program referral form. Each record contains only the action name, the page it happened on, a short label such as the destination or program involved, the temporary visit code above, and the campaign or referring site you arrived from.

We do not record your name, email address, IP address, or the text you type into forms as part of this measurement, and we do not use cookies, advertising pixels, or third-party analytics services to collect it. Nothing about it identifies you, and it never leaves our own systems.

Because this measurement is first-party, non-advertising, and does not use cookies or persistent identifiers, no cookie consent banner is required. Even so, we honor the Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals: if your browser sends either one, we do not record these events at all. These records are kept in aggregate form for planning purposes and are deleted or summarized within 24 months.

If we ever add third-party analytics or advertising tools, we will update this policy and add a consent banner so you can accept or decline non-essential cookies before they are set.

Service Providers

We use a small number of trusted providers to run the site and respond to you. These providers process information on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes:

• Our website and database hosting provider, which stores form submissions.
• An AI model provider, which processes the text you enter into the Pathfinder in order to return matches.
• Google Workspace, including Gmail, Sheets, Drive, and Docs, which we use to receive notifications, organize submissions, and deliver your personalized planning guide.

Program Partners and Referral Links

This site links to independent program providers, including International Volunteer HQ and Intern Abroad HQ. We share your contact details with a partner only when you ask us to connect you, for example by submitting a referral request on a destination page, or when you submit an inquiry directed to that partner.

When you submit a referral request, the information we pass along is limited to what the partner needs to follow up with you: your name, email address, phone number if you provided one, the destination and program type you chose, your timing, and your notes. Referral requests are routed to the partner that runs the program you selected. We do not send partners information from other forms, your history with the Pathfinder, or the destinations you saved.

Once you visit or apply through a partner's website, that organization's own privacy policy governs the information you give them. We encourage you to read it. We may earn referral compensation from partners at no additional cost to you.

What We Do Not Do

• We do not sell or rent your personal information.
• We do not share your information with advertisers or data brokers.
• We are not affiliated with AmeriCorps or any government agency, and we do not report your information to them.

Data Retention and Security

We keep form submissions for as long as needed to support you and to maintain records of our outreach, and we delete them on request. Access to submissions is limited to Pathways Abroad staff accounts, and our database restricts access at the record level. No online service can promise perfect security, so we encourage you to share only what is necessary.

Your Choices and Rights

You may ask us to send you a copy of the information we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. You may also opt out of our emails at any time. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws. To make a request, email us and we will respond within a reasonable time.

Children

This site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If you believe a minor has submitted information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to This Policy

If we make a meaningful change, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, for significant changes, note it on the site. Continuing to use pathwaysabroad.org after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact Us

Questions, requests, or corrections can be sent to info@pathwaysabroad.org.