American Transplant Foundation’s Transplant Support Group Graces
All members of the community are expected to respect our group graces and act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
These group graces extend to all events, whether virtual or in person.
Our standards
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
Kindness, empathy, and respect
This is the foundation of our community. Everyone deserves respect and carries value. We expect kind, generous, considerate communication.
Judgment-free zone
Sharing your story can feel vulnerable. We welcome discussion, considerate and constructive feedback, and encouragement. What works for one does not necessarily work for all.
Inclusivity
Be mindful of the language and words you choose.
Could your words make someone feel judged, isolated, or offended? Please remember that participants in the support group have diverse backgrounds.
- Things to be aware of:
- Ableist language: phrases that imply that a disability makes a person less than, and that disability is bad, negative, or a problem to be fixed, rather than a normal, inevitable part of the human experience.
- Gendered language: the gendering of words and phrases that shape our thinking about what is masculine and feminine, male and female and thus perpetuate assumptions and stereotypes in society.
- Cultural appropriation: when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.
- Optional articles to read:
- 70 Inclusive Language Principles: https://medium.com/diversity-together/70-inclusive-language-principles-that-will-make-you-a-more-successful-recruiter-part-1-79b7342a0923
- Ableism 101: https://www.accessliving.org/newsroom/blog/ableism-101/
- What is gendered language? https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/understanding-gender-inequality/0/steps/66842
- What is cultural appropriation? https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-cultural-appropriation
Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
- Shaming, demeaning, discriminatory, or threatening behavior.
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks.
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind.
- Public or private harassment.
- Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission.
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting.
Our Responsibility as Community Leaders
ATF leaders and volunteers are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject any community contributions that are not aligned to these Group Graces, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.
Enforcement
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to your primary contact at ATF
If you are being harassed or have been the target of abusive or unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact us immediately.
All reports will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
Reporting Guidelines
When reporting an incident, please provide as much of the following information as possible to support our leadership team to investigate and assess the incident:
- Names of all the people involved, if known
- When and where the incident occurred
- What happened
- Any additional supporting context
- Was this a one-off or ongoing occurrence
Enforcement Guidelines
Our leadership team will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of our Group Graces:
1. Correction
Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
Consequence: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
2. Warning
Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
4. Permanent Ban
Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
Consequence: A permanent ban, without a refund, from any sort of public interaction within the community.
