Our Community Guidelines
Welcome to the DEI Folks Community, a place where DEI & HR professionals convene to share their experiences and progress in enacting effective change.
Part of this community will be focused on helping everyone with their journey through the DEI Builder Sprint. We want you to engage with your fellow sprinters to share insights and encourage one another to work through the modules.
Beyond the DEI Builder, however, we also want everyone to ask questions related to DEI work, and to offer support to one another as they work on bringing DEI into their organizations.
MESH will be an active part of the community. Expect to see drop-ins from Karen and Dr. Leeno, who will be available to answer questions, and hear your thoughts and feedback on your experiences. You will also get a chance to engage with our Client Success team members should you have any questions related to using the MESH Platform.
Before you dive into the community, we recommend that you read through these guidelines, so you know what to expect.
Here are our community values:
Safety, Belonging and Inclusion
We want everyone to feel welcome in our community and to feel like they can be their authentic selves. It’s important that everyone engages respectfully and with civility toward one another, and know that while some discussions can be more serious or heated than others, we’re all trying to accomplish similar goals with the work we do.
Be Curious
This community is a place where we will be sharing ideas, experiences and lessons we’ve all learned on our different DEI journeys. We encourage you to ask questions about one another’s work, and to get different perspectives that broaden your own. If you have an idea but need some feedback, this is the place to get it.
Be Mindful
It’s important to engage thoughtfully with one another in the community. Keep in mind that written communication can be misinterpreted easily sometimes. None of us in this community have any intention of treating another person poorly, but it’s still important to be mindful of the impact our words may have.
Engage as You See Fit
While we want everyone to participate to their fullest in the community, we’re very aware that we all have different priorities and time constraints. Don’t feel pressured to engage or share where you don’t feel comfortable, or where you simply have to prioritize other work. The community will always be here when you need it and we will be glad to have you participate when you can.
Here Are the Do’s
Now that you’re part of the community, here are some best practices around how to engage.
Setup your profile: Every member of the community has a profile in Slack that they can set up so others know a bit about them. Please use your full name and have a photo for your profile — we recommend it be of you, but if you prefer not to, it could be a pet or a place you’ve visited that you love. You can choose to put an email address if you want others in the community to have it, but it’s not required. We also recommend adding your organization name under the Title field in your profile if you want.
Find your cohort channel: The community has a number of channels setup for everyone to engage in, but one of the most important ones will be your specific cohort channel. This is a private channel that you will be automatically added to that only includes members who participate in the DEI Builder Sprint you took part in.
Post an introduction: Among the channels, you will find one called “Welcome.” In this channel, community members can post an introduction to each other. Don’t overthink it — just say a quick hello, tell us who you are and what kind of work you do. As the community grows with more DEI Builder Sprints, this channel will give you a chance to meet new members.
And Now the Don’ts
We want everyone to feel safe and included in the DEI Builder community so it’s important that everyone understands that some things won’t be tolerated here.
No harassment: Above all else, we expect our members to be civil in their interactions with one another. There is no need for any insulting language toward one another, and especially harassment or threats of violence. We don’t expect this to be an issue, but just know it will not be tolerated should it come up.
No spamming: Be mindful of the content you choose to share in the community. Make sure what you share is appropriate for the channel you are posting in. It’s okay if you accidentally post something meant for another channel — you can delete it and then share it in the right spot; however, intentionally sharing unnecessary content is not allowed.
Using appropriate language: As a general rule, we ask that you refrain from swearing and using crude language. We want conversations and discussions in the community to be productive, and for members to conduct themselves professionally.
Keeping it clean: This should go without saying, do not post anything obscene or sexually explicit.
What Could Happen
Remember that MESH/diversity is an active presence in the community and will be monitoring its activities. If anyone violates these guidelines, these are some potential consequences:
Warning: For first-time violations, we will issue a warning. The warning will come to you via a direct message from our moderator, and will outline what was inappropriate so that you can avoid repeating it in the future.
Suspension: Should you continue to violate these guidelines, we will issue a temporary suspension. During this time, you will be unable to participate in the community until your suspension is lifted. You will only be given a few chances before more severe consequences are handed down. This does not affect your access to the MESH Platform.
Community Ban: If you continue to behave in ways that violate the community guidelines and also threaten our value of Safety, Belonging and Inclusion, you will be banned from the community. This means you will no longer have any access to it for the foreseeable future unless the issue is remedied in a satisfactory manner.