AE Community Guidelines + Terms of Participation

Advocates Empowered communtiy is a free, global space for disabled, neurodivergent, and marginalized humans to connect, share skills, and build real community.

Our goal is to create a space where you can:
Find friends and belonging
Share and receive support
Offer and learn new skills
Create mutual aid opportunities
Connect with folks near you for IRL meetups

What to Expect

This community is hosted on Discord and lightly moderated by Kris, the founder of Advocates Empowered. but the goal is for it to grow into a self-sustaining ecosystem of care.
You’re not here for Kris, you’re here with community.

There’s no expectation to join every event or channel.
Show up however and whenever makes sense for you - your presence is enough.

Our Commitment to Interdependence

We are learning how to build community differently - away from the hyper-independence, productivity pressure, and individualism that capitalism and white supremacy have taught us.

Here, we practice interdependence:

  • Learning to rely on each other in healthy, reciprocal ways.

  • Celebrating our differences as sources of wisdom, not barriers.

  • Remembering that community care is self-care.

  • Allowing ourselves to both give and receive support without guilt.

This space will include people from many backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. We expect everyone to approach difference with openness, humility, and curiosity. We will get things wrong - and we’ll repair, learn, and grow together.

Our Shared Agreements

By joining this community, you agree to:

  • Treat every member with respect and dignity.

  • Honor the lived experiences of disabled, neurodivergent, BIPOC, queer, trans, Indigenous and all marginalized people.

  • Maintain confidentiality - what’s shared in the group, stays in the group.

  • Ask for consent before giving advice, feedback, or personal commentary.

  • Use content warnings for potentially triggering topics (e.g., trauma, abuse, suicide).

  • Assume best intent, but always take accountability for your impact.

  • Support collective care - check in, uplift, and include.

You Will Be Removed For:

We have a zero tolerance policy for:

  • Harassment, bullying, or threats of any kind

  • Racism, ableism, classism, queerphobia, transphobia, or xenophobia

  • Sharing or reposting others’ personal content without consent

  • Spamming, self-promotion without permission, or solicitation

  • Targeting or fetishizing marginalized identities

  • Disregarding moderator requests or boundaries

Decisions around removal are made thoughtfully, but community safety always comes first.

Our Approach to Safety

We prioritize harm reduction, not the promise of total safety.

This means:

  • Being honest about platform limitations

  • Setting boundaries around high-risk conversations

  • Moderating proactively when lines are crossed

  • Naming missteps and adjusting when needed

While the community is moderated and on an application basis, Discord is not encrypted, participants cannot be fully vetted, and content may be screenshot and shared outside the space. Marginalized communities are disproportionately targeted online, and we take that reality seriously.

How We Talk About Community Safety & Organizing

We believe conversations about safety and organizing matter. We also believe how and where those conversations happen is critical. This community is a space for learning, shared reflection, and mutual support. It is not a space for safety planning, crisis response, organizing under threat, or sharing tactics that could put individuals or groups at risk.

What Is Welcome Here

  • Emotional processing (fear, anger, grief, uncertainty)

  • Values-based discussion (what we believe, what we care about)

  • Awareness-building and education

  • Sharing publicly available resources, trainings, or organizations

  • High-level discussion about frameworks, principles, and ethics

What Does Not Happen Here

  • Tactical or strategic planning

  • Step-by-step guidance, instructions, or checklists

  • Scenario-building around real-world threats

  • Coordination of actions, logistics, or timelines

The key distinction is processing vs. planning:

  • Processing belongs here

  • Planning requires smaller, trusted, purpose-built containers

Keep public Discord conversations limited to:

  • Personal reflections (no instructions or planning)

  • Educational resources (articles, books, public info)

  • Emotional processing without tactical detail

  • Values-based discussion

Explicitly redirect or prohibit:

  • Safety or defense planning

  • Organizing strategies

  • Surveillance, threat response, or protective tactics

  • “What should we do if…” scenarios involving real-world risk

Where Planning Happens

Planning, organizing, and safety strategy should take place in:

  • Small, trusted affinity groups

  • Existing organizations already doing this work

  • Private, vetted, or encrypted spaces

  • Offline or one-on-one conversations

This community may help people find resources, but it does not host or coordinate action.

Moderation & Accountability

This space is community-driven, but Kris serves as the host and final point of contact for moderation needs.
If you experience harm or see behavior that violates these terms, please DM Kris directly.

Confidentiality will be honored whenever possible, and follow-up will always prioritize safety, repair, and accountability - not punishment.

We believe that accountability is not about shame; it’s about growth, understanding, and restoring connection when possible.

Final Notes

This community is rooted in collective care - a living, breathing space built by and for us.
Your presence, your voice, and your story matter here.

If you need time away, that’s okay.
If you come back after months, we’ll be glad to see you again.

Together, we’re unlearning isolation and practicing what it means to truly be in community with one another.

We’re not aiming for perfection! We’re practicing belonging.