HOT is a growing community and a growing NGO. As we’ve grown we no longer know everyone else that is a contributor by first name. We increasingly haven’t ever seen each other in real life, haven’t been to a mapathon together, and work on disparate projects. As we’ve grown we’ve also had our growing pains with disagreements, hurt feelings, and sometimes worse. Last year, at the direction of the board, the Governance Working Group (GWG) starting working together on a number of issues to provide structure and guidance to the HOT community. The GWG worked diligently on the Code of Conduct <https://www.hotosm.org/hot_code_of_conduct> now being announced.
The CoC reflects the needs of the community to enable HOT to continue to grow and thrive the way it has over the past few years. The Board recently approved the CoC submitted to it by the GWG. Going forward all HOT board members, members, and anyone using HOT’s resources will be subject to the guidance and rules of the CoC. The CoC will eventually be embeded into all of HOT’s online platforms and new users will be required to agree before using HOT resources. Ultimately we broke down the CoC into two parts. A shorter version and a longer version with more guidance and explanation. Below is the short version, the version we want everyone to follow and be mindful of day to day. I also encourage everyone to read the longer version as its got some really great stuff. *Short Version* HOT is committed to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and safe environment for people of of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability. Encouraged Behaviors: - Be friendly and patient. - Be welcoming. - Be considerate. - Be respectful. - Be careful in your word phrasing and tone. - Assume all communications are positive. - When we disagree, try to understand why. Behaviors that Won’t be Tolerated: - Verbal, written, or physical abuse. - Discrimination of any person. The HOT Membership has a formal Complaint Handling Process <https://www.hotosm.org/hot_code_of_conduct#complainthandling> to assist with serious issues. Please read the Full Version <https://www.hotosm.org/hot_code_of_conduct#fullversion> when you get a chance. A huge high five and appreciation goes out to the Governance Working Group members who worked so hard to discuss, draft, and finalize our new Code of Conduct. - Heather Leson - Martin Dittus - Blake Girardot - Joseph Reeves - Melanie Eckle - Mikel Maron - John Crowley -- Dale Kunce
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