GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Here are some things we encourage our members to think about, whether you’re hanging out with us online or at the in-person meet up:

– Seek help but do your own work.

– Have a bias towards action – bring a problem to solve or be ready to help someone else solve a problem or figure out how to test it.

– Respect people’s time, space and experience – provide information and perspective, instead of saying “you should do XYZ.”

– When you don’t have enough info, say “I don’t know” and look for a way to get it.

– Use the information that works for you, discard what doesn’t.

– Be willing to give first without expecting anything in return.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Coffee + Creatives is a group driven by the needs of our diverse members. Based in Albuquerque, we acknowledge that our events happen on the traditional, ancestral, and occupied homelands of the Tiwa people. This land was a site of trade, gathering, and healing for numerous Pueblos and Nations, including but not limited to Diné, Apache, and Comanche.

With this truth spoken, we hope to build mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We recognize Native and Indigenous peoples are an integral part of our community, resilient in responding to and healing from a legacy of violence, displacement, and migration. We are grateful and offer our thanks to Native American and Indigenous members of Coffee + Creatives that lead, inform, collaborate and create together.

OUR COMMITTMENT TO INCLUSIVITY AND ANTI-RACISM

Coffee + Creatives is a vibrant and wide ranging community, driven by the needs of our members.

With approx. 500 unique visitors attending the in-person meetup each year and 3,000+ active on a monthly basis in the online Facebook group, Twitter, Instagram, and email newsletter, there are people from a wide spectrum of ethnicities, ages, abilities, religious and spiritual beliefs, gender and gender identity/expressions.

Both online and offline, we ask that our members be respectful, focus on sharing work and ideas, and avoid name calling (e.g. “you’re an idiot” “why are you so stupid”) and SHOUTING. We do not and will not tolerate racist / sexist / ableist / homophobic or otherwise abusive language, and encourage you to make every possible effort (as we do) to be honest about and work on your own bias and/or conflicts of interest.

Any large and healthy community will have differences of opinion at times, but we can still all be constructive. If you engage in abusive behavior and/or hate speech in any Coffee + Creatives hosted forum (online or offline) we reserve the right to ask you to leave the community immediately and permanently.

Additionally, as a team and as a community we are committed to the work of anti-racism.

Our community is shaped by the values of access, equity, and justice.

To foster and bolster the creative economy, both locally and as a way of thinking about the value of creative work on a larger scale, we are committed to connecting creatives to what they need not just to survive, but to thrive.

As part of this approach, we put in extra work to direct resources, opportunities, and education to creatives who carry a heavier weight. This includes but is not limited to African-American, Indigenous/Native, Chican(o)(a)(x)/Latin(o)(a)(x), Asian and Pacific Islander members of our community.

We invite you to consider where the value that you have to offer will create the deepest impact; to think about what it means to raise each other up as creatives to a stable place of commensurate value; to act in acknowledgment and to push back on the impact of social structures that do not treat all members of our communities fairly.

In other words, we invite you to embody the values of access, equity, and justice. We ask that you, our members, be prepared to do this important work as you engage with the community.

We believe, without reservation, in the humanity, and the deserving rights and dignity that come with it, of every person. We are here to close chasms, provide opportunities for upward mobility, and foster an ecosystem for creatives that reflects the true depth, diversity, and power of its participants.

PARTNERSHIPS POLICY

Since our founding in 2016, Coffee + Creatives has worked to reinforce creatives and creative work. While we do not directly administer funding, we are a recognized hub for creatives and entrepreneurs across New Mexico. 

As part of our work we regularly highlight and/or partner with a range of creative economy companies and organizations. Our guidelines address our respect for and commitment to the principles of equity, equality, and anti-racism. 

While we welcome any and all creatives and creative organizations to take part in our community, as of July 1, 2020 we no longer partner and/or host events with companies, groups, or organizations unless they are at least 50% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) led or owned. 

Over the last two years we have worked to better reflect our community. We as co-founders and leaders of this creative community meet that same criteria, and we will continue to push ourselves to model the world we want to live in. We encourage our community to do the same, and to tap the many experts in our group who have deep practice and expertise in diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice. 

Additionally, we are currently considering what this policy means for vendors, including Facebook which does not currently meet our partnership policy, well evidenced by their choices to consistently amplify white supremacy. While we do not pay them in money, we are aware that we provide credibility and cover for their work even as they refuse to move the needle on representation at the executive and board level. Please stay tuned for more information regarding this area.