| Dear Friend, This past week, the Huffington Post published an important and devastating story on Clay Johnson, a leader in the political technology world, and his long history of physical and verbal abuse against women, many of whom work in our community. Some the misconduct described in the article occurred at Personal Democracy Forum in 2013, and unfortunately it was not only unreported, it was apparently tolerated. At the time, PDF did not have a formal code of conduct--a mistake that we only rectified in 2016. Today, his behavior would be in direct violation of our code of conduct which every attendee and speaker is obliged to follow. We expect professionalism, kindness, and decency from our attendees. Any behavior short of this will not be tolerated. This and other public revelations of sexual abuse and harassment (by Johnson and also, more recently, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman) have shaken many people we know and care about. For some, these revelations are new and shocking knowledge that is rattling the interpersonal trust and sense of safety within our community. For others, these reports are, sadly, not new information. Personal Democracy Forum is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion (or lack thereof). We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. We are speaking with many people in the community to find ways to make PDF an even safer and healthier conference. If you have thoughts, experiences, or feedback that you would like to share with us as we improve our processes, the experience of reporting misconduct, the code of conduct, and our conference structure, please do not hesitate to reach out to Micah, Andrew, or Danielle. If you feel like you do not want to speak to the conference team directly, please reach out to Sherry Hakimi, who can act as an intermediary and deliver your feedback to us anonymously. Sherry is the Executive Director of genEquality, a nonprofit organization that focuses on gender equality and inclusion. You can reach her at pdf@genEquality.org
Please take the time to read our code of conduct. By choosing to participate in PDF, you are agreeing to abide by it during all of our official programming as well as the side events associated with the conference. New Speakers
We are adding new speakers to our workshops and PDFopen sessions all the time. Here is a new crop of speakers who will be at PDF this year. - Hsiao-wei Chiu (Ipa), Co-founder of g0v.tw
- Chris Kuang, Co-Founder of Coding it Forward and Harvard Student
- Luther Lowe, Senior Vice President of Public Policy at Yelp
- Katy Pearce, Professor at the University of Washington
- Ben Tarnoff, Author and Columnist for The Guardian
- Wu Min Hsuan (Ttcat), Deputy CEO of Open Culture Foundation
- Moira Weigel, Writer, Academic, and Author of Labors of Love
Speaker Spotlight: Natalie Evans Harris
Each week, we will be featuring small interviews with our speakers conducted by our awesome intern, Toby Childs (who is graduating this weekend from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, congrats Toby!)
Natalie Evans Harris reminds us “data are people.” Data has evolved into a tool that is used to describe our communities and drive decision-making. As technologists, we hold a wealth of power through the data we have on the public. So how do we ensure that the collection, analysis, and use of this data is done so in an ethical way? Join Natalie as she discusses the importance of remembering the individual behind the data and the need for a code of ethics to drive data use. The accompanying workshop at PDF will be a space to have your ethical imagination stirred; a place to dig deeper into the principles that guide, shape, and drive our work with data. Learn more about Natalie's talk and workshop by clicking this link.
Calling All Volunteers!!
Every year we solicit volunteers for PDF to help with check-in, note-taking during workshops, directing folks, and more. Volunteers work one day and come to PDF as a regular attendee on another. This is a great way to come to help out the PDF team and also participate for free. We are ever so grateful to our volunteers who make this event happen. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form here.
Civic Hall Members
If you are a Civic Hall Individual Member, you have received a special, limited time discount code in your inbox this week through the Civic Hall members-only email. This discount only lasts another week and a half, so be sure to purchase your tickets soon.
Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Andrew, Micah & Danielle |
