Code of Conduct

Welcome to the Code of Conduct (CoC) for the Commonhaus Foundation (CF). We're dedicated to creating a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative environment. This document outlines expected behavior in our community and provides a framework for addressing and resolving issues in a fair and respectful manner.

Our Code of Conduct

The CF is dedicated to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. Our Code of Conduct (CoC), derived from the Contributor Covenant v1.4, sets the standard for behavior within our community.

Leadership across the CF, including Councilors and project representatives, are expected to respect and uphold this CoC to foster an environment of respect and collaboration. The Code of Conduct Panel (CoCP) provides an avenue for appeals or escalations, if necessary.

New projects are expected to adopt this CoC within three months of joining.

Member Expectations

We expect all members and contributors to engage constructively, respecting diverse viewpoints as a vital aspect of our collaborative environment. Key expectations include:

If you're interested in an introduction to diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias, consider these resources:

Leadership Expectations

Leaders should act with respect, engage directly, and be willing to resolve conflicts. See Martha's Rules and the Decision Making section of our bylaws for examples of how to help constructively resolve disagreement.

CF Leadership is also responsible for ensuring that decisions, once made, are supported and revisited only when necessary to uphold the integrity of the collaborative process.

Report an issue

Disagreements and conflicts are inherent to any dynamic community. We encourage direct dialogue as the first step toward resolution, recognizing that constructive disagreement can lead to innovation and growth.

For issues that escalate beyond direct resolution or involve behavior contrary to our Code of Conduct, the CF provides clear avenues for reporting:

Our commitment extends beyond rule enforcement to fostering an environment where every member feels supported, valued, and able to contribute to positive outcomes from conflicts.

Confidentiality and Safety

Confidentiality is paramount in handling reports.

All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident. The CF strictly prohibits retaliation against anyone who reports concerns in good faith. Our procedures are designed to ensure that everyone in our community can work in a safe and respectful environment.

There may be circumstances where sharing personal information becomes necessary. We may share personal information where explicit permission has been given, when required by law, or when a report raises significant safety concerns.

Given that membership to groups like the CFC or the CoCP have finite terms, members reviewing CoC reports agree to treat all reports as confidential, even after their term is finished.

Respond to a CoC issue

The CF is dedicated to a fair and prompt review of all reports. Each report initiates a process of review and, where necessary, investigation. The focus is on understanding the context, assessing the situation, and determining an appropriate course of action in line with our commitment to our community's safety and integrity.

In evolving our system for managing confidential reports, we aim to ensure transparency, accountability, and the protection of all community members. Further details on the process will be made available as they are developed, ensuring they align with our foundational principles and legal obligations.

Escalate an issue

We expect most reports to be handled by the processes put in place by a project or the CFC.

The CF maintains the CoCP to manage escalation when a reporter (a) believes that a report to a member project or the CFC has not been properly handled, or (b) does not feel comfortable reporting an issue through the standard process.

To escalate an issue to the CoCP, use our online form. The CoCP will meet to review submitted reports as described in CF CoC procedures.

Code of Conduct Panel

The CoCP is a foundation-wide team composed of the CFC Chairperson and 4 elected individuals who are not Councilors.

CoCP members serve for two year terms. CF contributors and members from the broader community can be nominated to the CoCP. CF members should consider objectivity and diversity of experience and perspective when electing CoCP members.

Members of the CoCP will be documented in the cocp-panel CONTACTS.yaml attribute.

Handling Reports and Escalations

This section describes the process and roles for handling Code of Conduct (CoC) reports and escalations for both the CFC and the CF Code of Conduct Panel (CoCP).

Conflict of Interest

Any member of the CFC or CoCP who is involved in the report must recuse themselves from the discussions.

Reports to the CoC report mailing list

All Councilors are subscribed to the report mailing list.

We understand that the person reporting the issue (reporter) may not be the individual directly affected or harmed (target). In such cases, communication will primarily be with the reporter unless the target explicitly gives permission.

  1. Acknowledgement: Upon receipt of a report, a Councilor acknowledges it, confirming receipt to the reporter or target.
  2. Point of Contact: If no response has been sent by the next CFC meeting, the Chairperson will ensure a Councilor is designated as the primary point of contact.
  3. Information Gathering: All relevant information is collected and centralized for review.
  4. Discussion: The gathered information is discussed to contextualize the facts and opinions.
  5. Determination: A consensus is reached on the appropriate response using the standard CFC decision-making process.
  6. Communication of Resolution: The resolution is shared with the reporter or target. Feedback loops can continue until concerns have been adequately addressed. Absence of feedback within 7 days means resolution acceptance.
  7. Finalization: The agreed resolution is implemented.

Reports to the CoC Escalation mailing list

All members of the CoCP are subscribed to the coc-escalation mailing list.

The CoCP will follow the same overall procedure as the CFC, with the following changes:

Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct

Our Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as contributors and maintainers pledge to make participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

Our Responsibilities

Project maintainers are responsible for clarifying the standards of acceptable behavior and are expected to take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any instances of unacceptable behavior.

Project maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all project spaces, and it also applies when an individual is representing the project or its community in public spaces. Examples of representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event. Representation of a project may be further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by contacting the project team at [INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. The project team is obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

Project maintainers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other members of the project's leadership.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct.html

For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq

  1. "A troll is Internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community...Trolls often use inflammatory messages to provoke emotional responses ...disrupting otherwise civil discussion." https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/thenow/what-is-trolling/1/ ↩︎