Overview

International CIO Leadership Association, LLC, d.b.a. Inspire Leadership Network, InspireCIO, or InspireCISO (“Inspire”) is committed to providing a safe, tolerant, open, inclusive, and confidential environment for all Members, Underwriters, Sponsors, Staff, Guests, and other event attendees, speakers, partners, and facilities staff that engage with Inspire (collectively the “Inspire Community”). By joining the Inspire Community you personally commit to upholding the standard of behaviors outlined in this Code of Conduct (“Code”).

Inspire is an executive peer leadership network consisting of local Member chapters, each with a Member Advisory Board (“Advisory Board”) and an Inspire Representative (“Executive Director”) to support effective chapter governance. The Inspire Leadership Team (“Inspire Leadership”) supports effective networkwide governance and escalations of chapter Code violations. The Advisory Board along with the Executive Director will enforce this Code for each chapter, keeping Inspire Leadership notified and involved when and where needed, and Inspire Leadership will enforce this Code for networkwide events.  If there is a need for escalation, Inspire Leadership will make the ultimate decision on enforcement of this Code, with the input of the respective chapter Advisory Board and Executive Director.

Everyone within the Inspire Community is personally responsible for their own behavior within Inspire events, collaboration platforms, social media sites, and websites. Inspire has no tolerance for illegal activity, physical/verbal/sexual harassment, or breaking of Inspire Community members’ confidence. Any person found to be in violation of this Code will be subject to disciplinary actions, up and to including being removed from the Inspire Community, and may be subject to further disciplinary action.

Inclusivity

Inspire’s events, discussions, and collaboration platforms require everyone to be treated with respect and equal opportunities irrespective of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender).

Illegal Activity

Undertaking, encouraging, or enabling any illegal activity at Inspire events, or on community platforms will be immediately reported to appropriate authorities. Each member of the Inspire Community is obliged to alert Inspire without delay if they become suspicious or aware of such activity.

Confidentiality

Summary

To encourage openness of discussion and to facilitate the sharing of information, all Inspire events and collaboration platforms are – unless otherwise explicitly stated – assumed to take place under the Chatham House Rule:

When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.

In conjunction with the Chatham House Rule, a specific Inspire event, portion of an event, discussion, or thread on a collaboration platform may be designated by the Advisory Board, Executive Director, or Inspire Leadership to be conducted under the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP), a set of designations used to ensure that sensitive information is shared with the appropriate audience.

Expectations

The Chatham House Rule and Traffic Light Protocol are tools to encourage free discussion amongst the Inspire Community. It provides a way for the Inspire Community to discuss their views confidentially and openly at Inspire events while allowing the topic and nature of the debate to be utilized by others within the Inspire Community and contribute to a broader conversation that further the cause of good information technology practices.

The Inspire Community may use information that has been shared within the Inspire Community for the purposes of furthering the interests of the information technology profession as long as the information:

• Remains non-attributable to an individual, organization, or affiliation.

Does not include any material that could allow someone to identify or infer an individual (or their organization’s) technology and security posture

Violations

The nature of Inspire events and discussions can mean that sensitive information regarding specific organizations’ technology and security postures, and specific individuals’ opinions on (for example) suppliers and other third parties, are shared within the Inspire Community under the Chatham House Rule and TLP, when designated.

A violation of the Chatham House Rule and TLP when designated will be considered to be a Confidentiality Violation of this Code.

Behavior

Expectations

We expect everyone in the Inspire Community to always remain professional and respectful to others, and to be aware of the impact their behavior can have on others.

• Respect the Inspire Community, and any platform, venue, staff, or equipment you may be allowed to use.
• Be courteous and well-mannered when speaking to someone or engaging with them.
• Treat people the same way you would like to be treated.
• Respect others’ personal space and body.

Violations

Behavior that is in violation of the Behavior Expectations above (“Behavior Violations”) can include:

• Derogatory, inflammatory, or discriminatory language, comments, or conduct.
• Engineered episodes of intimidation, aggressive actions, or repeated gestures.
• Repetitive heckling and disruption of talks.
• Inappropriate or sexualized clothing; using sexual images in public spaces.
• Inappropriate photography or recordings.
• Stalking or unwanted following.
• Persistent and unwanted sexual advances.
• Bullying behavior.
• Unwanted physical contact.
• Encouraging any of the above behaviors.

Prevention of Harrassment

Harassment is any behavior that makes others feel uncomfortable. It includes, but is not limited to: intimidation, harassment, assault, unfair discrimination, derogatory or demeaning conduct, reinforcement of social stereotypes, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation/stalking, unwanted photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks, unwanted physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, or encouraging any of this behavior. Asking questions to get clarity or debate a point is appropriate – heckling or berating others within the Inspire Community is not appropriate. If you are concerned that something you wish to say may fall under this umbrella of harassment, then please do not share those words.

Reporting and Addressing Code Violations 

Summary 

All members of the Inspire Community are empowered and encouraged, if they feel comfortable, to politely engage when they witness or become aware of Confidentiality or Behavior Violations. Engage politely with the person(s) involved and let them know that their behavior is in violation of this Code. The person responsible may not be aware that their behavior is in violation, and discreetly bringing the issue to their attention, and giving them the opportunity to apologize and change how they are interacting with others, and may prevent an escalation.

Reporting

You can report Confidentiality or Behavior Violations of this Code (each a “Violation” and collectively “Violations”) directly to your respective Chapter’s Advisory Board or Executive Director, or to Inspire Leadership by emailing your concern to conduct@inspirecio.com.

While there is no time limit for reporting a Violation, we encourage you to submit a report immediately, as it can be difficult to evaluate the situation the longer time passes. If you report a Violation more than three.

Addressing 

When you report Violations, Inspire will respond promptly and with care, consideration, and respect. Our process does not replace nor remove the formal mechanisms available to you as an individual or organization to report Violations, such as making a police report or taking legal action.

• We will acknowledge your report and reply via email within seventy-two (72) hours that we have received your query to the email conduct@inspirecio.com.
• We will perform a thorough evaluation within thirty (30) days unless more time is reasonably required. We will keep the evaluation professional and confidential, gathering supporting material such as witness statements, CCTV if available, etc., and set expectations around what the person reporting the alleged Violation should expect in terms of the final report findings or statement. We will treat all Inspire Community members involved fairly and objectively, irrespective of our relationship with them.
• We will seek the input and recommendations from the involved chapter Advisory Board and then take appropriate action against Inspire Community members who are shown to have committed a Violation, e.g. issue warnings; exclude them from future events; give direction to learning resources on the topic of confidentiality, harassment, bullying or anti-social behavior; enforce temporary or permanent suspensions and removal from the Inspire Community; and if necessary, make a report to the police.
• We reserve the right to remove individuals or their organization from the Inspire Community or prevent individuals from joining the Inspire Community at the discretion of Inspire Leadership, taking into consideration the input and recommendation of the involved chapter Advisory Board.
• We will take into consideration your wishes in any enforcement of this Code.
• We will suggest measures we can take to ensure Violations do not reoccur in future and implement those which are appropriate to the specific platform or event.
• We will analyze our progress with regards to reported Violations, and inform the involved parties periodically about our progress.