Mission

The Human Rights Centered Design community brings together people at the intersection between human rights and design, tool development, and user education. All efforts aim to foster and extend the community. Through gatherings and meetups, we aim to create space, both on and offline, for interested parties to come together to discuss relevant topics, explore potential partnerships, and close gaps in this space.

Governance Structure

A “core group” will maintain the logistics and administration of the group. The expectations and responsibilities of the core group include:

• Joining a weekly hour-long check-in call

• Committing to tasks, and following through with them

• Lead & organize opportunities for events (e.g. upcoming conferences or convenings in the spirit)

• Maintaining and monitoring communication channels, namely the mailing list ([email protected]) and the Simply Secure Slack HRCD channel

• Publishing relevant updates from the community (via GitHub)

• Managing logistics for events (booking venues, travel, catering, etc.) and sorting out administrative procedures with funders as required

• Coordinating with potential funders, submitting funding proposals and applications, and completing appropriate reporting for any funds received

• Maintaining a long-term mindset about this initiative, thinking strategically about next steps and opportunities.

**Estimated time commitment: 10-15 hours per month**

How to Participate[1]

Any individual interested in Human Rights Centered Design is invited to join the “HRCD Community.” The expectations and responsibilities of the general community include:

• Joining the mailing list and Simply Secure Slack

• Joining a monthly hour-long community call

• Identifying opportunities for events (e.g. upcoming conferences or convenings in the spirit)

• Collaboratively setting the agenda for events and convenings

• Volunteering to facilitate/co-facilitate a meeting, event, or convening

• Actively engaging in community discussions (both online and offline)

• Sharing relevant updates, questions, and opportunities with the community via the mailing list or Simply Secure Slack

**Estimated time commitment: 1-3 hours per month**

Processes

• The core group will share an invite for the monthly community call on the mailing list with at least two weeks’ notice.

• The time of the monthly community call will rotate to accommodate attendees from all parts of the globe.

• The core group will send a survey to collect and vote on topics for the monthly community calls. Community members can also volunteer to facilitate or present.

• The core group will announce a “Call for Participation” on the mailing list leading up to each event, where all relevant actors/potential facilitators/interested parties can come together to organize the event.

  • Individual community members will be encouraged to take on specific responsibilities, e.g. facilitators, logistics, timekeeping, and additional roles.

  • Additional coordination calls leading up to the event may be scheduled.

Level of Engagement

There are many ways to be involved in the HRCD community. We’ve draft an overview of what those look like to help with understanding time commitment and what it might look like to help run a session, or help run a few sessions, or join as a speaker in a session.

1) Community Participant

• Join calls, Join the mailing list, join slack

• Share your work on the mailing list and in slack!

• Share about your work on calls

2) Guest speaker (1 time)

• Time commitment:

  • Prep call for what we’ll talk about

  • Some time to review the agenda and content we’ll discuss

  • Joining the warm-up call before the session 

  • The time of the call itself (90 minutes)

  • Reviewing notes for anything you’re not okay with, and for the email we’ll send out summarizing what was discussed

3) Session Lead (could be for one or a few sessions)

• Time commitment:

  • Organize prep calls for the session

  • Coordinate with speakers to create and flesh out session agenda

  • Join the warm-up call before the session 

  • Facilitate or find the facilitator for the session 

  • Draft and coordinate with the core group to send email invitations and reminders ahead of the session

4) Theme Lead (could be for one or a few sessions)

• Time commitment:

  • Propose sessions for monthly community calls

  • Organize prep calls for the session

  • Coordinate with speakers to create and flesh out session agenda

  • Join the warm-up call before the session 

  • Facilitate or find the facilitator for the session 

  • Draft and coordinate with the core group to send email invitations and reminders ahead of the session

  • Maintain the Theme in the HRCD Pubpub, including blog posts for each session, resource hub, and any other material content crucial to the theme

  • Actively share resources and events on the theme through the HRCD platforms, including mailing list, Slack channel, Pubpub, and other community calls 

5) Joining core organizing group (for at least a few months, more involved)

• Time commitment — see the Structure doc

Contact Us

Individuals interested in joining the core organizing group should email [email protected].