Equality and community equity are two core components of building a vibrant civic hacker / civic technology / public interest technology / open data / service design community.
These documents are our community foundation and are living documents. Each year, BetaNYC’s staff solicits public feedback, and all staff members have an opportunity to review proposed changes.
Links
- BetaNYC’s Code of Conduct
- BetaNYC’s Anti-Harassment Policy
- BetaNYC’s Ombudspeople
- BetaNYC’s Privacy Policy
Feel free to suggest feedback at saferspaces@beta.nyc.
These documents were last updated on 17 July 2026.
Code of Conduct
BetaNYC’s activities and events should foster meaningful collaboration between participants, community members, and government partners.
We acknowledge that there is no stagnant “safe space,” but rather “safer spaces” that require ongoing effort to maintain. We are dedicated to creating a respectful and welcoming environment where all participants are free to express their ideas and identities, provided that such expressions do not involve discrimination, harassment, or hate speech. All spaces, whether online or physical, are governed by BetaNYC’s Anti-Harassment Policy to ensure that they remain inclusive and supportive for everyone.
We expect internal governance, advocacy, activities, and events to:
- Be open to the public, maintain a spirit of curiosity and inclusivity, and strive to understand and respect diverse perspectives.
- Collaborate for the purpose of generating ideas that embrace, innovate, and develop local capacity.
- Presume the value of others and cherish everyone’s ideas, skills, and contributions.
- Encourage participants to listen as much as they speak, ask respectful questions, and demystify context.
- Foster energy that builds “yes, and” ideas and permits the ability to stretch.
- Build ideas, tools, and platforms that are open and free for reuse. Activities should prioritize public use, not private gain.
- Work to prioritize access for and input from those who are traditionally excluded from the civic process, be inclusive of all five boroughs, and be considerate of our Hudson River neighbors.
- Actively involve stakeholders, community groups, and those with subject matter expertise in all decision-making processes.
- Ensure that relationships and conversations between and among stakeholders—e.g., elected officials, their staff, and government representatives, community-based organizations and their partners, and members of the BetaNYC community—remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
BetaNYC reserves the right to ask anyone violating these policies not to participate in BetaNYC’s events or network of activities. If you have any other concerns or would like to address an issue, please contact our Safer Spaces Team at saferspaces@beta.nyc or any of the ombudspeople listed at the end of this document.
BetaNYC’s Code of Conduct is an adaptation of Code for America’s Community Code of Conduct. BetaNYC agrees to review this policy annually.
Anti-Harassment Policy
This anti-harassment policy is based on the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers.
This policy is based on several other policies, including Code for America, the Ohio LinuxFest anti-harassment policy, written by Esther Filderman and Beth Lynn Eicher, and the Con Anti-Harassment Project. Mary Gardiner, Valerie Aurora, Sarah Smith, and Donna Benjamin generalized the policies and added supporting material. Many members of LinuxChix, Geek Feminism, and other groups contributed to this work.
All BetaNYC events and workplaces are governed by this anti-harassment policy, and it applies to everyone who participates in them: staff, contractors, associates and fellows, associate board members, event volunteers, speakers and presenters, partners, and community members.
In addition to governing its own events by this policy, BetaNYC will lend its brand to, and fund, only those groups that offer a similar anti-harassment policy to their attendees.
BetaNYC is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone. We welcome everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, faith, national origin, immigration status, source of income, language preference, or any other aspect of who you are. To build a democracy, we need everyone.
We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for any BetaNYC event or network activity, including talks. Anyone violating these policies may be expelled from BetaNYC events or network activities; this will be at the discretion of BetaNYC leadership and/or event organizers.
Harassment includes but is not limited to offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, faith, national origin, immigration status, source of income, and language preference; sexual images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography, recording, or screenshots; sustained disruption of talks, events, or online conversations; publishing others’ private information without their consent (“doxxing”); inappropriate physical contact; unwelcome sexual attention; unwarranted exclusion; and patronizing language or action.
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, BetaNYC leadership and/or event organizers may take any appropriate action, including warning the offender and expulsion from BetaNYC events and network activities.
Online spaces
This policy covers BetaNYC’s official online spaces, including chat servers, video events, mailing lists, code repositories, and social media accounts, as well as one-on-one interactions that begin in those spaces.
Online, harassment also includes: unwelcome direct messages, especially after a request to stop; disruption of a video event, including screen-share or annotation abuse; hate speech or imagery in usernames, avatars, or virtual backgrounds; and publishing or threatening to publish someone’s private information.
Official online spaces have moderators, and virtual event hosts are identified at the start of each session. Moderators may delete messages, mute or remove participants, and suspend or ban repeat offenders from a space. If you experience or witness harassment online, contact a moderator or the Safer Spaces Team at saferspaces@beta.nyc.
For hybrid events, we identify both an in-room contact and an online moderator at the start.
Recording, photography, and screenshots
We announce at the start of a session when it is being recorded. Ask before photographing or recording individual participants, and respect a “no” without argument. Do not share screenshots of private conversations or of other participants without their consent.
Reporting
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the event staff or a moderator immediately.
Additionally, you can contact our Safer Spaces Team at saferspaces@beta.nyc or any of the ombudspeople listed below.
BetaNYC leadership and/or event staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe during the event.
If you cannot reach the event organizer and/or it is an emergency, please call 911 and/or remove yourself from the situation.
How we respond
When you contact the Safer Spaces Team or an ombudsperson, we will acknowledge your report within two business days. We handle reports as confidentially as possible and share details only with the people needed to respond. If a report involves an ombudsperson, that person takes no part in handling it.
Retaliation against anyone who reports a concern in good faith, or who participates in a review, is itself a violation of this policy.
BetaNYC staff complete annual anti-harassment training.
If a complaint involves BetaNYC staff
BetaNYC staff are employees of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY), our fiscal sponsor. When a complaint involves BetaNYC staff, BetaNYC will route it through FCNY’s formal personnel channels as needed. Violations by staff are handled as employee misconduct under FCNY’s personnel policies and may result in discipline up to and including termination.
Whether or not you report to us, you can also contact the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
We value your attendance and hope that by communicating these expectations widely, we can all enjoy a welcoming environment. BetaNYC agrees to review this policy annually.
How to advertise this text
- For all online discussion spaces, BetaNYC events, and co-sponsored events, the following text should be used: “BetaNYC, a partner project of the Fund for the City of New York, is committed to hosting safe and open spaces for all. By participating in this space, you commit to BetaNYC’s Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy.” With a link to beta.nyc/code.
- At all BetaNYC events, the following text should be posted: “By attending this event, you are committing yourself to our Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy.” (beta.nyc/code)
- For events co-sponsored by BetaNYC, we expect BetaNYC members to abide by our Code of Conduct, and we will work with event planners to adopt a similarly framed Anti-Harassment Policy.
Ombudspeople
To ensure that people are comfortable reporting violations, BetaNYC maintains a team of ombudspeople available to receive complaints. They monitor saferspaces@beta.nyc. If you feel more comfortable reaching out to one of them directly, please do so.
Noel Hidalgo
Executive Director
noel@beta.nyc
Jazzy Smith
Chief of Staff
jazzy@beta.nyc
Gabrielle Langston
Director – Workforce Development
gabby@beta.nyc
Jordan Shapiro
Public Programs & Communications Consultant
jordan@beta.nyc