Code of Conduct (CoC)
A. Code of Conduct (CoC) of the Nowhere Lab
By participating in any event organized through Nowhere Lab or in the Nowhere Lab Slack, you agree to accept this Code of Conduct and abide by it.
The Nowhere Lab is dedicated to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for sharing and contributing knowledge, providing community support, and empowering people, regardless of a person's background or identity. All participants in our events and communications are expected to show respect and courtesy to others. The purpose of this Code of Conduct (CoC) is to enable an environment in which diverse individuals can collaborate and interact in mutual respect. We recognize a shared responsibility to create and maintain that environment for the benefit of all.
Some behaviors, therefore, are specifically prohibited:
1. Discriminating, racist, intimidating, harassing, lewd, demeaning, bullying, stalking, or threatening speech or actions
2. Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary statements and jokes
3. Any real or implied threat of harm
4. Incitement to violence, suicide, or self-harm
5. Unwelcome contact (physical or virtual)
6. Continuing to initiate interaction with someone after being asked to stop
7. Unwelcome sexual attention
8. Sustained disruption of speakers or events (verbally or physically)
9. Publication of identifiable private communication without consent
10. Retaliation against an individual for reporting or investigating harassment or other unacceptable behaviors
11. Sharing of any materials discussed within the Nowhere Lab without consent from the author(s)
12. Sharing of any confidential information discussed within the Nowhere Lab without consent from all involved
13. Recording of conversations or meetings or presentations without explicit consent of the persons appearing in the recording
14. Advocating or encouraging any of the above behaviors
14. Falsely reporting harassment or other unacceptable behaviors
Critical examination of beliefs and viewpoints does not, by itself, constitute hostile conduct or harassment. Similarly, use of sexual imagery or language in the context of a professional discussion might not constitute hostile conduct or harassment if necessary to the topic of discussion.
We do not tolerate behavior that discriminates or harasses based on characteristics that include, but are not limited to, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, citizenship, nationality, ethnic or social origin, pregnancy, familial status, religion or belief (or lack thereof), membership of a national minority, property, age, education, socio-economic status, and experience level.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this CoC, please send an email to dwayne.lieck@gmail.com.
B. Reporting of Code of Conduct violations
If you think any person has breached the Code of Conduct during a Nowhere Lab event or in the Nowhere Lab Slack, please report this incident to the Organizational Committee. This can be done in one of two ways:
A. Write a Slack message to founder Dr. Priya Silverstein.
B. Write an Email to founder Dr. Priya Silverstein (priyasilverstein@gmail.com)
If for any reason you do not feel comfortable with reporting this incident to Priya, you can report it to any Nowhere Lab member that you feel comfortable disclosing to, in order for them to send the report to Priya without revealing the identity of the original reporter.
Any reports will be handled with extreme discretion and the person reporting an incident will not be revealed if they do not actively choose to do so.
Please provide as much information about the incident as possible, so the incident can be best investigated. If possible, this should include:
1. Name of the person(s) that violated the Code of Conduct
2. Event at which the incident took place
3. Date at which the incident took place (as precise as possible)
4. A list of other people present at the event that could have witnessed the incident (if applicable)
5. Code of Conduct point(s) the person(s) violated
6. Any action that must immediately be taken to ensure the safety of everybody in the group (if applicable)
After the report is received, an investigation of the report will be started as quickly as possible. To complete this investigation, the person reporting the incident and the person(s) reported may be asked to answer questions regarding the incident. If it is decided that the Code of Conduct has been violated, the authority to enforce it (as described below) will be used by the founder at their own discretion.
C. Enforcement of the Code of Conduct
The person(s) reported will be notified to immediately cease the reported behavior(s) and to cooperate to resolve the matter (the name of the reporter will not be used if it is not explicitly wanted by them). If this is not done or the founder rules that the Code of Conduct has been violated, sufficient reason is given to them to enforce the Code of Conduct in one or more of the following ways:
1. Verbal warning.
2. If both sides explicitly agree, mediation between all parties involved.
3. Banning of the offender from Nowhere Lab activities for a specified or indefinite time period.
If the person reporting a violation should want to report the incident to an outside body (i.e., law enforcement), they may do so at their own discretion.