YES! Media is a nonprofit, independent media organization that inspires people to create a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world through reporting, commentary, and reader engagement. We aim to uphold our mission and values in all of our spaces; this includes online, on social media, and during events. 

The goal of our events is to provide an inclusive space where we can analyze societal issues together while exploring opportunities for systemic and structural change. All of our events are designed with the intent to invite all of our readers to consider alternative ways of thinking that can produce a more equitable and just world.

To meet this goal, it is imperative that all members of our YES! community feel safe and respected, including readers, participants, and staff. While we know everyone may not always agree with one another, we remain firm in our expectation that all of our attendees will participate in our events with a lens of collective care and solidarity. This means abiding by the community guidelines we’ve outlined below:

• Be Kind and Respectful
  • We hope to build a positive and welcoming environment where we all feel safe to share ideas, thoughts, and feedback. Let’s support each other, respect our opinions, and report disrespectful or harmful comments if they arise. 
• Be Relevant
  • Our events are designed with the intent to focus on the theme we’ve developed. Please stay inline with the topics, solutions, or bodies of work we planned to discuss during the event. No rabbit holes please! 
• Avoid Harm
  • YES! Media has zero tolerance for harassment. While we encourage ideas that challenge oppressive norms, our values are rooted in the liberation of all people from unjust systems. Comments should never disrespect someone’s identity or invalidate their experience—especially if they are a member of a marginalized community. 
  • Any comments or direct messages to our staff or other event attendees that are racist, sexist, ableist, ageist, elitist, homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic, xenophobic, or rooted in any other form of prejudice will be immediately deleted, and may result in us removing the person who made them.

If a YES! community member violates these guidelines, we will take action to protect other members of the community. This might include a warning, removing a person from an event, or banning someone from future YES! events. 

If you experience or witness any behavior that does not follow our community guidelines that you believe we may have missed, please contact our Audience Engagement Team at [email protected].

Thanks for helping keep our community safe and cared for!