This is your space
This is a platform for your views - where we centre your work and give you a space to share your ideas. GAIN is co-created and co-curated by alumni. If you feel like there's something missing in these community guidelines, get in touch - and tell us.
No hierarchies here
GAIN is a space where are nobody is better than anyone else - and no one is seen as less than anyone else either! That means that whatever social background you come from, whichever gender you identify as, whatever your sexuality is - you are all equal in GAIN. Discrimination based on race, caste, sexuality, ethnicity, gender, or age will not be tolerated in GAIN.
Check your privilege
We all bring our differences to the table at GAIN. Some of us might come from the Global North, have years of high quality education under our belt, or be native English speakers. That can create a level of hierarchy that we want to stamp out at GAIN. So please - check your privilege. Understand your positionality, and use your privilege to create space for your peers, listen to them, and be open to learning from them.
Problem is the problem not the person
At GAIN, we are radical, critical thinkers. We're challenging societal norms, power structures, and hegemonies. Sometimes, that might mean we have to challenge each other too. That's ok - that's even encouraged! But this is a space to challenge one another in a constructive way, where we are critical of ideas rather than people.
We stand together
GAIN is an intersectional space where we show solidarity for different identities' struggles for recognition and equality. We don't just stand up for the people who look like us - we stand up for all those who are oppressed. As Audre Lorde says, there's no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we don't live single-issue lives.
Spirituality has many shapes
At GAIN, we respect people of different faiths, we respect people who don't have a faith, and we respect people who are somewhere in between. Spiritual transformation can lead to societal change - but we don't decide what that transformation looks like. Whatever that looks like for you, you're welcome here.
Challenge the narrative
GAIN Alumni don't just take the world at face value. We interrogate, we question, we challenge. And that's how we create change.
Safe space
GAIN is a safe space, a closed circle, a family. It's a place where alumni can share their thoughts and ideas in confidence - and where their peers will protect their feelings, their anonymity, and their safety. We don't all come from the same cultural contexts, and sharing information about our personal lives or our work could carry risks for some of us. We must all recognise that and look after each other. This is personal. Your stories are sacred and no one has the right to tell them - except you!
Think global - act local
GAIN is a powerful global network. We believe in the power of working locally - we believe that you are all striving to create change at a community level. But by staying connected at a global level, we can harness that local initiative to the best of our ability.
The personal is political
The personal is political. We're not talking about abstract, intellectual things there. We're talking about people's lives - people's flesh and blood. We get that this matters and that it's vital that we talk and deal with issues in a sensitive and respectful way.