BLACK POLITICAL NETWORK
Code of Conduct
This Code governs the conduct of all BPN members in their capacity as members of the Network. It applies to interactions with other members, use of Network platforms and resources, and conduct that bears on the reputation or interests of the Network as an institution.
This Code does not govern how members practice their profession. Members operate under their own professional obligations, client relationships, and applicable law. The Network does not adjudicate those matters here.
Violations of this Code are subject to the Network's Enforcement Policy, which is maintained as a separate document and incorporated by reference.
PART I: STANDARDS
BPN holds its members to four standards. They are conditions of membership.
Integrity
Members represent themselves accurately to the Network and to other members. This includes accurate representation of their practice, their clients, their standing in the profession, and their basis for attestation when introducing another member. Misrepresentation at any point during membership, including at admission, is a violation of this standard.
Discretion
Members handle information about other members, Network deliberations, and platform intelligence with care. What is shared within the Network stays within the Network. Discretion is a structural requirement of a closed association, not a courtesy. Members who cannot be trusted with information about their colleagues cannot be trusted with access to collective intelligence.
Accountability
Members stand behind their conduct and their introductions. When a member attests for another, they accept ongoing accountability for that introduction. When a member's conduct is called into question, they engage with the process rather than withdraw from it. Accountability also means members do not use their standing in the Network to shield themselves or others from legitimate scrutiny.
Alignment
Members do not use Network resources or intelligence in ways that demonstrably work against the communities they represent membership from. This standard recognizes that members serve clients and causes that do not always align, and it does not require ideological consistency. It requires only that the tools and intelligence of this Network not be turned against the people this Network exists to serve.
PART II: OBLIGATIONS
The following obligations translate the standards above into specific conduct requirements. A violation of any obligation below is a violation of the corresponding standard and subject to the Enforcement Policy.
1. Honest Representation
Members must represent their professional practice, client relationships, and credentials accurately in all BPN contexts. This includes applications, attestations, member directory listings, and any communications made in a member capacity.
Members may not claim standing, experience, or affiliations they do not hold. Members may not omit information about their practice that would be material to another member's decision to engage with them professionally.
2. Attestation Responsibility
A member who attests for a prospective member takes responsibility for that introduction. Attestation is a representation that the member being introduced is known to the attesting member, is currently active in the profession, and is, to the attesting member's knowledge, someone who can be trusted to uphold these standards.
An attesting member who later becomes aware that their introduction was materially inaccurate, whether because they were misled or because they attested without adequate knowledge, must notify the board promptly.
Attestation may not be provided in exchange for compensation, reciprocal favors, or as a condition of any business arrangement.
3. Platform Conduct
Members interact with other members and contribute to Network platforms in good faith. Contributions to Marun and other Network platforms are made to advance collective intelligence, not to manipulate outcomes, mislead other members, or serve interests adverse to the Network.
Members may not contribute knowingly false or misleading information to any Network platform. Members may not attempt to reverse-engineer, identify, or expose the contributions of other members where those contributions are made under anonymity protections.
Members may not use platform access or the intelligence derived from it to benefit a client or third party in a way that works against other members of the Network.
4. Confidentiality
Members do not share, publish, reproduce, or disclose information obtained through BPN membership outside the membership without board approval. This includes intelligence from Marun, member contact information, content from internal communications, and details of Network deliberations.
This obligation applies regardless of how the information was obtained, whether through direct disclosure, platform access, or inference from Network activity. It applies during membership and after membership ends.
5. Member Relations
Members treat other members with professional respect. The Network is a closed association of peers. Conduct that would be unacceptable in any professional setting is unacceptable here. This includes harassment, intimidation, bad-faith dealing, and deliberate misrepresentation.
Disputes between members that arise in a professional context outside the Network are not automatically Network matters. However, conduct toward another member that rises to harassment, retaliation, or deliberate harm to that member's standing in the Network is subject to this Code.
6. Use of Network Resources
Network resources, including platforms, member data, intelligence, and the BPN name and identity, are for member use in furtherance of the Network's purposes. Members may not use Network resources for commercial purposes unrelated to their practice, for political purposes unrelated to the Network's mission, or in any way that could damage the reputation or standing of the Network.
Members may not represent themselves as speaking on behalf of the Network without explicit board authorization.
7. Alignment with Community Interests
BPN exists to serve the professionals who have long been excluded from the infrastructure of political influence. Members are admitted on the premise that they are part of, or in service to, those communities.
A member may not knowingly use Network resources, intelligence, or the credibility of BPN membership in ways that demonstrably and materially harm the communities from which they claim membership. This is not a prohibition on representing clients whose interests are complex or contested. It is a prohibition on turning the tools of this Network against the people this Network was built for.
The board has discretion to determine whether conduct under this section rises to a violation, and will weigh the specificity, materiality, and directness of any alleged harm. Claims under this section require more than policy disagreement. They require evidence of specific, demonstrable harm.
PART III: REPORTING
Members who become aware of conduct that may violate this Code are expected to report it to the board. Reports should be specific and factual. The Network does not act on anonymous complaints alone, but will protect the identity of reporting members to the extent practicable.
Members may not retaliate against another member for making a good-faith report under this Code. Retaliation is itself a violation.
The process for investigating reports and determining outcomes is governed by the Network's Enforcement Policy.
This Code is Exhibit A to the BPN Member Agreement and is incorporated by reference. It is binding on all members as a condition of membership. The Network may update this Code with reasonable notice; continued membership constitutes acceptance.