BEA Code of Conduct

Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice (BEA) Code of Conduct
All participants of the BEA community including members, staff, volunteers, steering committee, caucus members, and grantees are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct is intended to provide general guidance on the types of behaviors that contribute to a positive working environment and those that do not; it is not intended to provide specific guidance on every type of scenario that is incompatible with the spirit and working environment that BEA aims to foster. 

Our Pledge
BEA promotes a working environment that values respect, fairness, integrity and collaboration. In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we pledge to make our organization a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body type, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation. BEA expects everyone to act professionally and respectfully. There is zero tolerance for any form of harassment. 

Standard
Example of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include

  • Using welcoming and inclusive language
  • Being thoughtful about one’s own power and privilege
  •  Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
  •  Engaging in principled dialogue
  • Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
  • Valuing each other’s time by being succinct and relevant
  • Referring to people by their preferred pronouns and using gender-neutral pronouns when uncertain
  • Welcoming new ideas
  • Promoting healthy work/life balance
  • Acknowledging and promoting organizational and team member successes
  • Promoting the health and safety of others at the workplace
  • Celebrating wins - honoring wins and milestones
  • Fostering collaboration and diversity

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

  • Promoting any kind of inequality including, but not limited to age, body type, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, nationality, and race, personal appearance, religion, or sexual identity and orientation
  • Engaging in discriminatory and/or unethical practices that are inconsistent with BEA values or cause harm to members of the BEA community. 
  • Use of BEA online platforms, listservs, caucus or other organizational meetings to share sexual images, graphics, or any other material or language that could reasonably be understood to be offensive and/or disturbing. 
  • Unwelcome sexual attention or advances
  • Unwelcome physical contact
  • Continuing one-on-one communication, in-person or virtually, after requests to cease
  • Not being respectful to reasonable communication boundaries, such as ‘leave me alone,’ ‘go away,’ or ‘I’m not discussing this with you.’
  • Deliberately “outing” any aspect of a person’s identity
  • Offensive comments related to a person’s identity
  • Deliberate intimidation
  • Making exclusionary jokes or comments
  • Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to engage in self-harm, or commit suicide
  • Threats of violence
  • Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
  • Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, public or private harassment
  • Spamming the group and excessive self-promotion
  • Other conduct that could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

Reporting Violations

In the unfortunate case that you see someone violating the code of conduct with behavior either directed at you or someone else, you can contact us at  @email. Please type “Code of Conduct Report” in the subject line and describe the issue in the body of the email. A follow up phone call may be arranged, if needed or desired.  In all instances, written correspondence of the violation is requested in order to move forward with an investigation. 

All investigations will be treated with confidentiality. 

Enforcement

All reports will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. Initially, a Steering Committee member or BEA’s Director  may either approach the individual  identified as participating in harassing behavior to discuss the matter further and ask the violator  to cease any inappropriate activity and/or approach the participant organization’s leadership to request new representation within BEA. If the harassing behavior continues or an organization is unwilling to provide new representation, the participant organization’s membership may be terminated with immediate effect. Specific enforcement steps are entirely under the discretion of the Steering Committee and depending on the severity of the violation, may warrant additional interventions. Membership may also be terminated immediately upon making a determination that the violation took place. Where actions are found not to constitute a Code of Conduct violation, participants may be referred to addressing concerns utilitizing  BEA’s conflict resolution process. 

Please note that a participant organization whose membership has been terminated is ineligible to participate in any BEA activities, including receiving any technical or funding support from the organization.  

BEA reserves the right and responsibility to temporarily or permanently ban any participants  for behaviors not listed in the Code of Conduct that it deems inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Respect and safety are essential for everybody. If you feel uncomfortable or suspect of someone’s behavior, approach an organizational leader and the matter will be handled with confidentiality and care.