Hello! I am Shaowen Bardzell, Vice President at Large of the SIGCHI
Executive Committee I’m excited to introduce you to SIGCHI
CARES
First let me walk you through the motivation behind SIGCHI CARES.
As our community grows, many of our members have felt
discriminated against or harassed at SIGCHI
sponsor events. We have addressed these issues as they came up in the past,
but not in a systematic manner. The result is potentially harmful
to the members and to SIGCHI itself
SIGCHI CARES is a resource for those who experience
discrimination and or harassment around our professional event.
SIGCHI CARES supports such individuals by allowing them to work with established
members of the SIGCHI community who are approachable and willing to
listen and help navigate the ACM reporting and
accountability process.
Harassment and discrimination are difficult issues to eliminate altogether.
But as a start we believe that a formerly established committee
consisting of familiar and respected members of the community
with a proven record and commitment on diversity inclusion
can inspire trust, and we hope that those who experience harassment and
discrimination in our professional events
will be more willing to come forward.
We want to support those who had have had such experiences directly,
offering them an open and confidential conversation
in hopes of creating better awareness of discriminatory dynamics on the part
of the event organizers and increasing the
accountability of conference organizers event staff and
conference
attendees. SIGCHI CARES is a committee of SIGCHI. The
committee was initially formed in January of this year. The SIGCHI
Executive Committee approved and appointed an initial 14
members. The committee is co-chaired by Shaowen
Bardzell, Vice President at Large and Allison
Druin, Adjunct Chair for Diversity and
Inclusion and overseen by Helena Mentis, President
of SIGCHI EC
SIGCHI CARES offers informal support and advice only.
It does not formally represent individuals who have experienced
discrimination in any actions. Individuals experiencing discrimination
and harassment will still be responsible for initiating formal complaints to the
ACM where it will be handled according to
ACM policies. The CARES committee may assist those who
experience discrimination and or harassment during the reporting
process; it may not serve as an intermediary in
that official process and they cannot be
formally involved in any aspect of handling of the
complaint by ACM. For accountability, wherever possible
we will have two CARES members present for discussions
with the reporting individual, who can choose
whom from the cares committee they want to be involved
in that conversation.
The CARE's goal is to have at least one committee member present
at all SIGCHI-sponsored conferences as well as the program committee meetings
for those conferences. To support this goal,
committee members expected to attend at least one SIGCHI-sponsored event
per year. However, because SIGCHI sponsors 24 conferences, in-person
participation may not always be possible. In the event that no CARES committee
members are available to attend a given conference,
the co-chairs of CARES will work with the SIGCHI VP
for Conferences to pair one CARES member with a representative of that
conference, who will be physically present at the
conference, before it is held, so that the designated
care member can train the conference representative
on ACM harassment and discrimination guidelines and reporting mechanisms.
SIGCHI CARES currently has a total of 16 members,
and you can see their names and photos on this slide.
There's no upper bound on the number of cares committee members. Committee
members normally are invited to serve for a three-year term with a maximum of
six years, served consecutively.
Beginning this year, during the opening remarks of each
SIGCHI-sponsored conferences and events, the organizing committee
will announce the purpose of SIGCHI CARES, CARES committee members present and/or
the designated trained representative, and any particular events the CARES
members or point person will attend, so that
the conference or event attendees can reach out to CARES
if necessary.
In closing, I’d like to encourage you to visit the SIGCHI CARES website
and reach out if you have any questions. Together, we can make SIGCHI events safe
spaces for everyone. Thank you!