The board has wrapped up the inquiry process from last year’s LaQueer incident. It has been quite the learning process, requiring us to identify and address blind spots in the CSPC’s process, priorities, and conflict resolution strategy, both current and historic. Changes have been made across the organization to reflect the lessons we’ve learned, and we continue to establish practices for better transparency and accountability, which will ultimately make for a stronger community.
Because we are committed to the privacy of our members, we are not at liberty to disclose the paths selected by the participants of the incident. However, know that the board took on an enormous load pursuing integrity, rather than sweep the matter under the rug.
What can be shared are the improvements made to the organization, most of which are geared towards safety, transparency, and building trust.
The Transformative Accountability (TA) process, developed by Rachel Drake in cooperation with Consent Academy, was employed for the first time for the CSPC during this inquiry. We believe that this approach to conflict resolution is progressive, honors the dignity of all involved, and can transform difficulty into community healing and growth. Adapting TA for the CSPC’s purposes will be an ongoing project.
The CSPC Communications Team has been formed. One of their objectives is to improve transparency by opening lines of communication between the CSPC community and their leadership. They have resurrected and reimagined the newsletter, which is now distributed on a twice-monthly basis. Content is intended to acquaint the community with the CSPC’s people, processes, and culture. A relaunch of social media is also around the corner. It will involve dedicated moderation and a more reliable source of information and engagement.
Due to COVID, monthly board meetings are now streamed and then posted online. This has fortuitously boosted accessibility, allowing people to remotely attend, and bring comments and concerns to the board. Even after social distancing ends, we will continue to stream board meetings so that they remain as accessible as possible.
A task force was created to audit and rewrite CSPC policy and procedures to reflect the current needs of the organization. The team consists of board members, volunteers, members, and community leaders. They have updated general party rules and volunteering guidelines. For increased accountability, these documents along with all CSPC policy will be made public, accessible, and available for community review.
Other relevant process changes include:
Party ECs (i.e. dungeon master) must be of the party’s target demographic. For example, a queer party must now have a queer EC.
Party rules must be posted in high visibility locations.
New parties must establish a volunteer team before scheduling events. This will prevent volunteer shortages and last minute pleading.
All committees and teams, most notably the Volunteer Team, now have a board liaison in order to more readily understand a team’s needs and quickly respond with support.
We have come a long way since August, and more is in the works. We will never be perfect, but we will persistently take steps to improve safety, accountability, and trust-building. Thank you to everyone who has cared enough to be involved in this process. Your time and emotional labor are continuing to pay dividends in the form of ongoing change. The CSPC is stronger because of you.