Future Front Guidelines

OUR VALUES

✰ Creative Thinking

✰ Collaborative Community

✰ Professional And Personal Curiosity

✰ Experimental DIY Entrepreneurship

✰ Intersectional Design

 

our BE A GOOD HUMAN GUIDELINES

1.) Be kind and courteous to yourself and others.

Our spaces and programs are community spaces, which mean they are as much for collaboration, discovery and diversity of worldview, as they are for difference of opinion.

We’re committed to creating environment of mutual respect, so we ask that you treat everyone with respect, too. Bullying or harassment of any kind isn't allowed, and degrading comments about race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender, body sizes, skin colors or different identities will not be tolerated.

As a 501c3, our spaces also cannot serve as grounds for campaigns surrounding elections, candidates for office and/or any lobbying.

2.) Embrace your curiosity.

We want to nurture brave spaces at Future Front Texas, and we acknowledge that gathering in community settings can be just as awkward, uncomfortable and intimidating, as they are exciting, validating and nurturing.

So, here at FFTX, we like to embrace the chaos of getting together as friends and strangers. Whether you’re joining us online or off, we encourage you to lean into your curiosity.

Adopt each space’s rules around safety, community interaction and boundaries. Be gentle with yourself as you learn alongside other members, attendees and friends.

3.) Take and make space.

You are invited to share and contribute within our programs. You are invited to connect, exhibit your work and find friends. You are invited to make use of the space.

4.) Aim to eliminate racial, sexual or gender discrimination, as well as ableism, fatphobia, transphobia, or other forms of discrimination.

We know life’s a spectrum. We believe and understand gender, sex, race and culture to operate on a spectrum, too. We each come to the table with disadvantages and privileges, depending on our experiences and access to resources. We recognize there are distinct disparities that exist as a result of white supremacy, and we do not live in a post-racist society.

So, we strive to cultivate spaces that are welcoming, centering and celebratory of a spectrum of identities. We encourage you to nurture this with us and refine your own personal relationship to anti-sexism, anti-racism and anti-discrimination work.

5.) Mind the power of language.

Language is a tool for shared understanding and knowledge—which makes it powerful. So, in our goal to create spaces where we can all learn about creativity, community-building and creative work, we regularly assess our language and determine who we are designing for and who we should be designing for.

Expect the words and terms we use at FFTX to describe ourselves, our community and our work to shift as we collectively establish and examine meaning.

6.) Welcome feedback.

We know that conflicts in community can and will come up. So, we encourage a culture of active listening and de-escalation.

We do our best to find resolutions that are rooted in our values and preventing or reducing harm, too. If you witness behavior that violates the above guidelines or policies within our programs, please alert our staff. We want to hear from you, and we will ensure the issue is addressed and responded to in a timely fashion by our team.

 

our HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICIES

1.) We do not tolerate any forms of abuse, assault, harassment or other behaviors that compromise community safety. Abusive behaviors that warrant immediate investigation when reported include:

  • Harassment, defined as offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact and unwelcome sexual or romantic attention.

  • Threats, defined as threatening someone physically or verbally with violence, privacy violations and/or continued harassment.

  • Assault, defined as intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of imminently harmful or offensive contact. (Physical injury is not required.)

  • Abuses of power, defined by our bylaws as knowingly misusing organizational funds and/or resources or making intentionally false statements about the organization’s community members, operations, staff, volunteers and/or partners for personal gain.

The above definitions have been adopted/adapted from Recurse’s code of conduct, as well as BABES FEST, Inc’s bylaws.

2.) we engage in safety policies that ensure healthier workspaces and community GATHERINGS, too.

  • All Future Front staff, volunteers and guests will be required to practice mutual respect, as well as demonstrate an alignment with Future Front’s guidelines and values as established on this webpage, as well as within our Inclusivity Measures.

  • All Future Front sessions are currently held online, outdoors or in open-air spaces where quality air flow is possible, ADA compliance is prioritized and assisted mobility devices can be utilized.

  • All Future Front sessions follow capacity limits to reduce crowding of any kind.

  • At Future Front events, all guests are expected to follow Austin-local health and safety guidelines for gatherings, as well as practice consideration with the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and any other legal, mind-altering substances.

    • Tobacco use and electronic smoking device use are not permitted at any time within Future Front properties and event spaces at least 15 ft from entrances, exits, operational windows, or ventilation system intake vents. 

    • Littering of tobacco-related products on the grounds or parking lots is also prohibited.

To learn more about our inclusivity and accountability measures once an incident is reported, or request information around these processes, head here.

Please email hello@futurefronttexas.org to request accommodations to any of the above policies. You can always submit reports anonymously or via email to our staff at hello@futurefronttexas.org or to our board at board@futurefronttexas.org.

 

OUR LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

At Future Front, we believe that land is not simply the space that our bodies occupy. It’s a depository of culture, experience, history and tradition. 

From soil to cement, the buildings and spaces that house our programs have a long, living history that precedes us. We acknowledge and honor Austin’s Black Cultural District, the diverse Indigenous peoples and all elders—past, present and future—who have shaped and continue to shape the lands on which we gather. We invite you to celebrate their active cultural contributions, causes and traditions, too.

Make space and tend good relations here and now.

“Before we begin our events—physical and virtual—we take a moment of reflection on the land on which we inhabit. Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory we reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land since time immemorial. It is important to understand the long existing history that has brought us to reside on the land. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation. It is also worth noting that acknowledging the land is Indigenous protocol. Additionally, a powerful way of showing respect to Indigenous people is to support Indigenous sovereignty.

We acknowledge that, in Austin, Texas, we are on the occupied ancestral territory of the Tonkawa, Lipan-Apache, Karankawa, Comanche, and Coahuiltecan people. We also want to acknowledge and give respect to the various Indigenous people and nations who live in the land we now call Texas, specifically the Miakan-Garza band, Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, Kitikiti’sh people (Wichita), the Seminole people, the Jumano Nation of Texas, the Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. We recognize Indigenous people regardless of federal/state recognition and we understand this list is not exhaustive and that there are names and nations of people that history is still working to recover and include. 

We acknowledge and honor the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this territory on which we gather and pay our respects to elders past and present.”
— Xochi Solis, FFTX Board President (2020-24)

*Here’s how to pronounce the tribes referenced in our acknowledgements:

  • Tonkawa (Ton-kah-wa)

  • Lipan-Apache (Li-pahn Uh-pach-ee)

  • Karankawa (Kuh-rang-kuh-wah)

  • Jumano (Who-ma-no)

  • Wichita (Wich-i-taw)

  • Kitikiti-sh (Kirikirish)

  • Comanche (Kuh-man-chee)

  • Coahuiltecan (Kaw-wheel-teh-kans)

  • Maikan-Garza (May-ya-kan Gar-zah)

  • Alabama-Coushatta (Al-uh-bam-a Coo-shaw-ta)

  • Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (E-sled-da del pwebb-low)

  • Yaqui (Ya-key)

Thank you to those who contributed to this statement and informed our understanding:

*Want to identify the Indigenous peoples of the land on which you live? Visit this living resource and map.