SFS 2017 Inclusivity Plan

SFS and the Raleigh Planning committee are committed to: providing a safe and inclusive environment for all of its members and attendees; raising awareness across the broad membership; providing access and platform to members who are unable to attend the meeting; and increasing formal institutional support of inclusivity within SFS

To those ends, and in response to the recommendations of the ad hoc inclusivity committee, we will:

1. Provide a safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ members and attendees
   • We will draw restaurant recommendations from lists of inclusive businesses and restaurants in Raleigh
   • We have confirmed access to gender-neutral bathrooms in the convention center and meeting hotels
   • We will provide space on nametags for attendees to identify their preferred pronoun
   • We are providing listening and sharing spaces that will be marked and available throughout the meeting
2. Raise awareness across the broad membership
   • LGBTQ Raleigh will offer diversity and inclusivity training workshops on Sunday prior to the meeting and during two lunch periods
   • We have and will make anti-discrimination and meeting code of conduct widely available during registration and during the meeting.
   • We will make discussions of inclusivity a focal point of the welcome mixer and opening plenary
   • We will share information about local organizations who are working toward inclusivity in North Carolina
3. Provide access and platform to members who are unable to attend the meeting
   • We will stream all plenary sessions, and hope to also be able to stream a sample of contributed and special sessions
   • During the opening session, we will be soliciting and sharing science and personal stories from SFS members who cannot attend because of travel bans or voluntary decisions
   • We will encourage presenters to opt-in to social media discussions of their work
4. Increase formal institutional support of inclusivity within SFS
   • We will provide a list of longer-term recommendations to the president, board, and planning committees for future meetings
   • Solicit feedback from members via suggestion box, social media, and other means

We thank you all for your continued efforts to make SFS a welcoming and inclusive society.

Jim Heffernan and Mike Paul, SFS 2017 Raleigh co-chairs
Emily Bernhardt, President