Our Definitions
Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity are central to the goals of Boulder Startup Week. By this we mean:
- Inclusion is about all of us consciously creating an environment where every participant is welcomed, respected, and safe to engage to their own preferred capacity
- Equity is about creating opportunities where everyone has access to what they need to succeed by naming and breaking down biases and obstacles as well as systemic, societal, and undue barriers
- Diversity is about recognizing, embracing and celebrating the beauty of our differences.
We leverage these definitions to align around common goals at Boulder Startup Week to educate, inspire, and manifest exciting, valuable and successful companies.
Our Imagining
We actively encourage inclusive behaviors among conference participants. Examples of inclusion in action are:
- Verbal affirmations or praise
- Positive connection-building through exchange of business cards, follows on social media, and tagging to give mad props
- Consenting selfies with new friends and contacts
- Reiterating others’ ideas with proper attribution to the originator
- Empathetic listening to understand others’ lived experiences
- Sharing stories to help build and explain personal connections
- Invitations to connect personally via coffee chats, zoom hangouts, holiday parties, etc.
- Being mindful of your airtime and how you make space for others’ curiosity
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior
Our Policy
The open exchange of ideas and the freedom of thought and expression are central to the aims and goals of Boulder Startup Week (BSW). We aim to provide a safe, respectful, and harassment-free conference environment for everyone involved regardless of age, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, nationality, marital status, military status, veteran status, religious beliefs, dietary requirements, childbirth- and pregnancy-related medical conditions or childcare requirements. We also respect any other status protected by laws of the country in which the conference or program is being held.
We want every participant to feel welcome, included, and safe at the conference. Moreover, we will do our best to accommodate specific needs related to a disability if you contact us a minimum of two weeks prior to the event (via [email protected]) to allow time for us to procure services. However, as a volunteer-led event, we cannot promise to solve every issue but will try our best.
Our Support
Anyone witnessing or subject to unacceptable behavior should notify the Inclusion Team ([email protected] or text (720) 575-4848). If you need help or have questions about any of the content provided here, please do not hesitate to reach out.
This statement was adopted as the Diversity and Inclusion Statement for Boulder Startup Week in February 2020.
