Food Not Bombs Boulder

Signal is the primary platform for operational communication. Group chats are strictly for logistics, sensitive coordination, and governance. Social conversations and community building should happen elsewhere.

Structure: Official channels are prepended with the 🥗 emoji. Public Channels are for active volunteers; Core Channels are restricted to Core Members.

Administration: All Core Members are admins (strictly a technical role). All channels use a standard 4-week disappearing message timer.

Access: The Stewardship & Process Working Group manages rosters, removing inactive volunteers with a "soft touch" message so they know they are welcome back.

Norms: Use emoji reactions for acknowledgments to prevent notification spam. Only join channels where you actively contribute; do not lurk.

The In-person Code of Conduct applies equally to all off-platform and synchronous interactions. Always assume good intentions and give others the benefit of the doubt before reacting.

Synchronous mediums are the dedicated spaces for social connection, community building, and navigating emotionally nuanced conversations.

Members are strongly encouraged to meet up outside of official operations to build friendship. If a text chat in Signal becomes heated or controversial, members must immediately transition the conversation to a synchronous medium (phone, video chat, or in-person meeting).

We don't have strict rules but we aspire to operate within these principles:

1. We don't need to see eye to eye on everything, but the core point of unity that ties this group together is the belief that the world can be improved by both individual and collective action.

2. Willfully spreading obviously false or misleading information will not be tolerated.

3. We have zero tolerance for racism, sexism, and bigotry. We explicitly reject all identity-based hierarchies. No group is singled out for priority, special classification, or unique levels of responsibility. We do not create segregated spaces based on race, gender, or sexuality.

4. Aspire to do no harm, especially to members of this community. We distinguish actual harm from intellectual discomfort. Vigorous disagreement is encouraged and does not constitute harm. We face difficult topics directly and minimize the use of content warnings.

Access to critical resources is restricted to safeguard the project. Safety and accountability are prioritized.

Volunteers who have completed two full Saturday distributions can submit a request via the Stewardship & Process Working Group form. The request is subject to a 15-day lazy consensus period. If an existing Core Member raises a concern, the volunteer must address it. If the objection stands, the volunteer can reapply after 15 days.

Any single Core Member may immediately ask a participant to leave for physical safety threats. For non-emergent issues:

Volunteers: Exclusion requires agreement from at least five Core Members or a ratified conflict management plan.

Core Members: Revoking membership requires a 3/4 supermajority vote of the full Core Membership, excluding the member in question.

Roles are tiered between Volunteers and Core Members. Core Membership is not a status symbol, it grants access privileges (keys, door codes, independent pickups, internal Signal chats) required to facilitate logistics.

Volunteers advance to Core Membership through sustained contribution. Once a Core Member, individuals can sign up to "bottom-line" (take responsibility for) shifts via the roll call channel in the week leading up to a distribution.

Labor Requirements: Core Members must complete at least one shift, pickup, or two hours of labor (distribution, cleaning, admin, or working group participation) every month to maintain standing.

Shift Coverage & Bottom-Lining: Ensuring coverage is a collective responsibility; members must proactively monitor the schedule for gaps. Bottom-liners (experienced Core Members) must ensure all operational checklists are completed.

Hand-off Protocol: The last Core Member on-site must not leave until a new bottom-liner is confirmed or all checklist items are complete. If leaving early, they must ping the chat immediately to request coverage.

Loss of Standing: The Stewardship & Process Working Group posts potentially inactive members to the chat. If an individual's activity is not verified, they revert to volunteer status and must restart the entry process.

Manage behavior so the project functions safely, establishing boundaries rather than forcing friendship. Handle conflicts at the lowest possible level to preserve capacity for serious issues.

Lower-level disputes, initial conflicts.

Level 1 requires Direct Engagement to communicate clearly without triangulation. Level 2 utilizes Supported Conversations where each person brings a sympathetic third-party witness to help them remain calm and clear, not to argue or advocate.

If direct engagement feels unsafe, or if third-party witnesses begin to argue, the meeting is considered a failure and the process escalates immediately to Formal Facilitation.

The Conflict Management Working Group acts as facilitators and investigators, not judges. They do not unilaterally punish, but propose solutions for the broader group to ratify.

Serious violations, conflicts that fail lower-level resolution.

The Working Group interviews parties to establish a behavioral timeline, focusing on facts rather than blame. They draft a Conflict Management Plan outlining specific consequences or boundaries. A dry, factual Redacted Summary, explicitly stating any disputed facts—is presented to the Core Membership for ratification under a standard 15-day lazy consensus.

The Working Group can issue an immediate Precautionary Suspension (restricting access to keys/chats) if safety is a concern. If a plan faces unresolved objections or recommends removing a Core Member, ratification requires a 3/4 supermajority vote of the full Core Membership.

Consensus is assumed if no specific concerns are raised within a set timeframe.

Decisions that cannot be easily reverted, Amendments to the governance manuial

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Any Core Member can propose an amendment or global decision by posting it to the Core Member chat. If no concern is raised within 15 days, it is adopted. To protect shared time, facilitators strictly enforce this model during meetings, redirecting complex policy debates to async written deliberation or authorized ad-hoc breakout meetings.

If objections occur, the group must make a good faith effort to resolve them. If attempts fail and the decision is critical, the Stewardship & Process Working Group must certify that efforts are exhausted and organize a vote. A 3/4 supermajority of the full Core Membership is required to override the objection and pass the decision.

Distribute authority and operate on trust to move efficiently. Decisions are made by those doing the work or by specific empowered groups. It is better to try a solution and adjust later than to do nothing.

Reversible Implementation Details, Low-Risk Experiments

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Core Members and Bottom-liners possess a broad mandate to act and can immediately try new approaches to solve problems. Simultaneously, Working Groups execute binding decisions within their domains independently, without seeking chapter-wide consent.

If an individual's experiment is permanent, costly, or hard to undo, they must seek advice first. Working Groups must seek consent from the full Core Membership if a decision has a material impact on the broader group (e.g., unbudgeted Finance expenses over $500, or actions that fundamentally change chapter operations or public reputation).