We recognize that each one of us is an ambassador for Spice Without Borders and for each other. Integrity in each of our actions is central to protecting our reputation for each other and for future participants. As part of the Spice Without Borders global community, we realize that we are living in public and need to act appropriately at all times. Therefore, those who do not abide by this Code of Conduct will be removed from the Spice Without Borders community of social change accelerators and will no longer have access to the organization’s benefits.

We therefore nurture a respectful community of social change accelerors through our code of conduct as follows;

1.     We don’t tolerate illegal discrimination or harassment in any form. We are committed to increasing diversity and inclusion in our initiatives through leadership. We believe in equality: in dreams and passions; humanity; equal rights but not roles or responsibilities. We will quickly fire participants and staff who do this, and train our staff to recognize and address bad behavior. We will ban or fire participants, mentors, investors, donors, staff, contractors and others who discriminate or harass others.

2.     We are punctual at all times. We keep time and are self-managing. We prepare for sessions and complete assignments. We are decisive and utilize well the resources at our disposal.

3.     We commit to non-hostile, open, and welcoming work environment. We commit that everyone; participants, staff, partners, customers, and visitors feel accepted and free to express their opinions as we give attention to each speakers concerns, and needs with an expectation that we will also be heard and respected, during sessions, mediation. We solve issues directly with persons who are involved, we are helpful, goal focused and team-minded. We communicate professionally and appropriately at all times.

4.     We are honest and transparent. What we say either publicly or privately is true to the best of our knowledge. We do not intentionally omit important and relevant factual information in an effort to deceive others. We strive to be clear and transparent in our communications. We are open; authentic, culturally sensitive; supportive and give reasons not excuses.

5.     We are there to help each other whenever possible.  We are all busy with our ideas, but when we are sincerely and realistically requested, we respond and help or ask for help, for explanations and are proactive. We respect each other’s time and are clear and focused in our requests.

6.     We reach out to our backyards. We proactively reach out to our community with no expectations of return.

7.     We appreciate the help of others. No one goes it alone. Startups are a team activity. We express our appreciation for the help of our catalysts, mentors, staff and others that make the success of our social change innovations possible. We accept help with grace.

8.     We disclose known conflicts of interest early. We err on the side of too much disclosure.

9.     We avoid gossip. We are constructive in our feedback and always provide it directly to the individual or company to which it pertains. We don’t share disparaging comments and rumors about others.

10.  We protect sensitive information. When we are entrusted with sensitive, confidential or personal information we use appropriate measures to secure it. We respect requests for privacy and confidentiality. We respect personal space; are sensitive to touching; knocking on doors; we ask for permission to use other people’s things; no sound pollution.

11.   We communicate clearly within ourselves, with our investors and or donors. We are simple in our communication; approachable; empowering and use English as a basic language at the campus. We allow others to finish their sentence; pay attention to whoever speaks at a time and refrain from abusive language; we are sorry and admit our mistakes. To our donors and or investors, we will send an update on our initiatives periodically as mutually agreed and be responsive to their inquiries.

12.   We take responsibly with our ideas resources, laws and agreements. We encourage and respect independent, innovative thinking and exercise a culture of sisterhood/brother -looking after each other. We respect laws and regulations of Kenya; respect Spice Without Borders’ rules and regulations; smoking in assigned areas, the administrative office is out of bounds for participants unless called upon. On resources we save energy and water. We respect our legal agreements and do not attempt to circumvent their intentions.

13.   We encourage and inculcate a culture of diversity. We commit to seeking diverse perspectives and building inclusive work environments, which we believe leads to better initiatives for social change. We respect and accept others for their believes; their difference in opinions; of feedback (but you do not have to act on the feedback); tolerance; accepting apologies; cultivate harmony; empathy. We mention names especially when speaking with the visually impaired.

14.   We are there for others. We appropriately intervene in situations when we witness violations of this Code and report violations.

15.   We are reachable and responsive. We will enable standard forms of communication so that anyone doing business with us can have a reasonable expectation of receiving a response in a timely fashion.

16.   We participate in both offline and online forums with respect. We don’t cause or participate in flame wars online. We participate in respectful discourse in all forums. We are bold and spicy and therefore do not comment anonymously or with false identities.

17.   We keep our promises. If we commit to do something, we do our best to do it. If we can’t keep our promises for some reason then we strive to make it right in any way possible.

18.   We work for the benefit of our initiatives and target groups. We always work for the benefit of our initiatives and our target groups, not for our own personal benefit.

19.   We encourage professional development. As initiators of spicy social change innovations, we do everything we can to ensure the happiness and professional growth of those we work with.

20.   If we fail, we fail honourably. If we are closing down our initiatives, going out of business or are struggling, we will notify our stakeholders and provide the chance to discuss what went wrong in a live conversation. 

The Spice Without Borders Code of Conduct is a living document managed by our participants, catalysts, guests and stakeholders. Feel free to suggest changes and if you witness a violation of our Code of Conduct please report it at http://www.spicewithoutborders.org/speakup

This Code of Conduct can also be found at: http://www.spicewithoutborders.org/conduct/