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Code of Conduct

The work of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and related entities (“us” or “we”) is grounded in our founders’ commitment to Jewish values and ethics, including the pursuit of justice (tzedek), repairing the world (tikkun olam), and treating all people with civility and humanity (derekh eretz).

These beliefs inform our core organizational values of equity, impact, optimism, humility, and collaboration. Inspired by these values, we are committed to creating a safe, respectful, equitable, and inclusive environment for all individuals, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, national origin, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression. We recognize that no community, including our own, is immune from bias and misconduct, so we crafted our Code of Conduct (“Code”) as part of our effort to create environments that honor the dignity and promote the safety of all people. 

Our Code applies to all participants, volunteers, guests, employees, and vendors (“you”) in connection with any of our experiences, activities, events, communities, and communication platforms that are organized or operated by us, as well as our work activities (collectively, our “Activities”). You are both bound to comply with our Code and are also afforded the protections of our Code with respect to all of our Activities. In addition, we hope you will apply the principles of our Code to all aspects of your lives, as well as to any separate activities that you organize, host, or sponsor.

YOU WILL VIOLATE OUR CODE IF YOU

Do anything that violates the law, such as:

  1. Undertake, plan, or advocate activity that is illegal or causes personal injury or property damage.
  2. Post or distribute any material that infringes or violates any right of a third party or any law.
  3. Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely misrepresent your affiliation with them.
  4. Cause a person to consume any drug, alcohol, or other substance without their knowledge and consent.

    Do anything that creates an unsafe, harassing, or discriminatory environment, such as:
     
  5. Engage in any sexual contact without expressed affirmative and voluntary agreement (only “yes” means yes).  It is a violation of our Code for any employee or vendor to engage in sexual contact with a participant during any Activity (even with consent).
  6. Defame, abuse, harass, harm, or threaten others or make any discriminatory, bigoted, hateful, or racially or sexually offensive statements.
  7. Engage in harassment, including but not limited to:
    • Offensive, belittling, or hurtful comments regarding age, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, national origin, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression.
    • Intimidation or stalking.
    • Harassing photography or recording of another person.
    • Posting or distributing (in any physical or virtual space) of any image or language that is either (i) vulgar, obscene, discourteous, or indecent or (ii) of a nature that a reasonable person would not want posted or distributed about themselves and is posted or distributed without the subject’s consent.
    • Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
    • Unwelcome physical contact or sexual attention.
    • Threats of physical harm.
    • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

Do (or fail to do) anything that impacts your participation in our Activities, such as:

  • Deviate from planned group programming and itinerary without permission.
  • Not follow proper Activity application/registration requirements or make false statements therein.
  • Not follow any Activity requirements, procedures, policies, regulations, or instructions.
  • Engage in the excessive use of alcohol or other mind/body altering substances.
  • Allow any unauthorized person to gain access to our Activities.
  • Use information about our community members for any reason except as a part of our Activity or to contact a Member.
  • Excessively use our community for the benefit of your business/venture.
  • Fail to cooperate with an investigation or make a false statement regarding a violation of this Code.
  • Retaliate against a person for making a good faith report of a violation of our Code.

REPORTING VIOLATIONS -- We recognize that reporting an incident may be upsetting, challenging, or uncomfortable, but we encourage you to report violations of our Code with the knowledge that you will not be asked to return to an unsafe and/or unwelcoming environment. We are dedicated to making everyone feel comfortable within our communities and when participating in our Activities. Anyone who experiences, witnesses, or becomes aware of harmful acts, harassment, or other violations of our Code should report the incident immediately in any one or more of the following ways:

Please provide as much detail as possible, including the names of the individuals involved, when and where the incident occurred, a description of what happened, the names of any witnesses, and any other information that will help us understand and address the incident. If you have reported the conduct and feel the complaint is not being adequately addressed—or if you believe you have suffered retaliation for reporting a violation of our Code—please report the matter to Abby Saloma, at [email protected] and Mark Lauer, at [email protected].

We will endeavor to provide as much confidentiality as appropriate under the circumstances, and we will not tolerate any form of retaliation against anyone who in good faith reports or provides information about behavior that may violate our Code. 

OUR RESPONSE -- Upon receipt of a report involving a threat to the personal safety of anyone associated with our Activities, our staff members are directed to immediately take reasonable action to protect such person’s safety. If the situation requires additional security, we will enlist local law enforcement or other services to ensure the person’s safety and wellbeing.  All staff members and employees receiving a report of a clear Code violation (whether credible or not) must report the matter to their supervisor and (except where immediate action is necessary to protect a person’s safety) should discuss with them the proper response. Such supervisors must report the matter up their chain of command.

We take seriously all reported violations of our Code. Upon receiving a complaint, we will conduct an investigation, which will be scaled to the circumstances based on the nature of the complaint and availability of evidence. Anyone associated with our Activities must fully and truthfully cooperate with such investigation. We will treat the matter with as much confidentiality as reasonably possible, but cannot assure absolute confidentiality. We will make a reasonable evaluation of the information obtained (including the credibility of witnesses) to determine if our Code has been violated. To the extent we deem appropriate, in our sole discretion, we will also inform the reporting person and/or other involved persons of any action we may take based on the incident.

CONSEQUENCES FOR VIOLATING OUR CODE -- Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately. Violation of our Code by anyone will not be tolerated. If we determine that our Code has been violated, we may take some or all of the following actions:

  • Direct the offender to cease the behavior and warn that further violations will result in sanctions;
  • Require the offender to avoid any interaction with and physical proximity to the complainant;
  • Require the offender to immediately leave the Activity and not return (no refund if a paid Activity);
  • Ban the offender from some or all of our Activities and communication platforms;
  • Remove the offender from our communities; and/or
  • For employees and vendors, disciplinary actions up to and including termination of employment or contracts.

Our Code is a general guideline of our expectations of all persons involved in our Activities, and we may amend our Code at any time, establish additional rules or expectations, or impose other sanctions or consequences as we feel appropriate. If you have any questions about our Code, please contact us at [email protected].