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Code of Conduct for the Alliance of Civic Technologists

This Code of Conduct is an interim document while the organization is being stood up and is subject to change. This document currently covers the Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) Discord instance and is enforced exclusively by the administrators.

The Alliance for Civic Technology community expects that their events and Discord server:

• Are a safe environment, where people are free to fully express their identities.
• Respect the value of others and their ideas, skills, and contributions.
• Assume everyone has different backgrounds where Members and other attendees seek first to * understand, then to be understood.
• Recognize that everyone has something to contribute regardless of their technical abilities.
• Default to open: the data, the code, and the access. Members and other attendees strive to * build tools that are free for public use and incorporate open source software and open data.
• Are a place for collaboration, where Members and other attendees – experienced and new – work * together to discuss issues and develop solutions, apps, and resources.
• Work to engage all participants and communities in planning, designing, and implementing open * tech, especially those who are traditionally excluded.
• Ensure that the relationships and conversations among Members of and participants of ACT, * governments, and communities remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
• Provide an environment where people are free from discrimination or harassment (if you are * harassed or witness harassment refer to the harassment policy below).
• Are fun.

Anti-Harassment Policy

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please use the following means to contact our Code of Conduct response team to tell them what you experienced or witnessed: Please DM the Moderators

Currently, the moderators of the Discord can be reached by DM’ing @civicwhitker, @wheresHJ or @jillzey. As the community grows, we will establish more formal lines of reporting.

ACT is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, veteran status, or religion.

We do not tolerate harassment of anyone in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any ACT events or Discord. Anyone in violation of these policies may be expelled from ACT events and communication channels, at the sole discretion of the moderators.

Harassment includes but is not limited to: offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion; sexual images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; unwelcome sexual attention; unwarranted exclusion; and patronizing language or action.

If any attendee engages in harassing behavior, the moderators may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expelling the offender from ACT. If an ACT member engages in harassing behavior and is expelled from the event, the moderators will also revoke the membership of that individual.

What happens when a violation is reported

Below is the procedure we follow when a Code of Conduct violation is reported to the moderators.

• Contact the moderators via DM.
• Inform the response team of all the details about the incident you are reporting. The team will make responding to the report a top priority.
• Wait for the response team to follow up with you about the action(s) they have taken to address the report. Possible outcomes to expect from the report:

Minor violations: The Code of Conduct response team will reach out to the person or people being reported and issue an email warning.

Serious violations: The Code of Conduct response team will reach out to the person or people being reported and inform them that they have been banned from the event.

Additionally, if the incident in question was viewed by many or has been deemed worth officially commenting on by the team, the team will write a public comment to post on the Discord.

This Code of Conduct was adapted from the Chi Hack Night Code of Conduct