Stay Connected
North Star Ethics Pledge is a step in the process of centering integrity in the emerging field of psychedelics. Enter your email to stay up to date on the pledge, resource development, and the North Star community.
Part of taking the North Star Ethics Pledge is answering the question: "What does putting this pledge into action look like for you?" Below are some of the responses to that question.
North Star Ethics Pledge
Signatory
Responses:
Responses:
North Star Ethics Pledge
Join the community of people and organizations committed to delivering psychedelic healing to the world with integrity.
Taking the pledge is only the beginning. The real work lies with each of us, in our earnest efforts to live its principles every day, and the initiative we take to raise integrity and ethics as central to the culture of the field.
About North Star
North Star is a non-profit initiative incubated by Auryn Project dedicated to seeing an ethics-first, patient-focused approach in the emerging psychedelic field. The North Star team is comprised of five psychedelic advocates representing different coalitions in the field, including a clinician, facilitator and trained sitter, a drug policy activist, an investor (with no financial interests at stake), a business operations specialist, and an artist and storyteller.
North Star is proudly a women-led initiative, with women holding the positions of executive director and board chair. The organization is comprised of three women and two men, of which two identify as people of color and three identify as white.
During the six months of the pledge creation process two team members worked full time while three worked on North Star in addition to other full time commitments. Four team members have volunteered their time throughout this process, and one has been paid a part time rate through April, 2020. North Star is currently fundraising to better operationalize its work. However, to date, North Star has been supported by grants from founding members, and one donation from a close ally.
North Star is proudly a women-led initiative, with women holding the positions of executive director and board chair. The organization is comprised of three women and two men, of which two identify as people of color and three identify as white.
During the six months of the pledge creation process two team members worked full time while three worked on North Star in addition to other full time commitments. Four team members have volunteered their time throughout this process, and one has been paid a part time rate through April, 2020. North Star is currently fundraising to better operationalize its work. However, to date, North Star has been supported by grants from founding members, and one donation from a close ally.
Organizations & Accountability
The culture of any organization starts with its people. Organizational values are an extension of the individuals making business decisions day-to-day. The North Star pledge does not refer to organizations. However, individuals may use it as a tool for engaging their workplaces on key questions around integrity and ethics.
North Star will form a working group to evaluate the feasibility and define the requirements to create accountability around ethics at the organizational level. Signatories will be invited to contribute to the development of criteria and metrics to measure an organization's adherence to ethics. We believe in an inclusive-stakeholder approach to creating principles and standards. If bringing accountability into organizations is important to you, please reach out.
North Star will form a working group to evaluate the feasibility and define the requirements to create accountability around ethics at the organizational level. Signatories will be invited to contribute to the development of criteria and metrics to measure an organization's adherence to ethics. We believe in an inclusive-stakeholder approach to creating principles and standards. If bringing accountability into organizations is important to you, please reach out.
Pledge Creation Process
The North Star team came together after the publishing of We Will Call It Pala. Each of us saw a need to raise a critical dialogue around integrity in the commercialization of psychedelics. We shared a concern that unethical actors were going to not only seize power, but control the narrative and shape the culture of the emerging field. We believed there might be a better way.
Thus began a six month process of community dialogue. It started with a dinner with twenty of the elders we respect and admire most, asking questions around their hopes and fears for this moment in psychedelics, and what they'd like to see done. Similar dinners happened with clinicians and therapists, asking for their perspectives on commercialization and what would support them in this time, and investors oriented around impact. Here a concern was raised of a "nuclear arms race" effect, where unethical actors would have a competitive advantage to seize power, rapidly scale and control the narrative.
During this time gathering perspective, the North Star team was distilling the feedback into categories, the basis for the principles, and researching other examples of ethics commitments across industries and time. From that point forward the pledge went through four drafts, with one on one feedback with dozens and dozens of stakeholders representing different coalitions in the field.
The pledge is only a beginning. It is participatory and not prescriptive. It serves as a foundation for conversations around integrity and ethics. How impactful the pledge is depends on the earnest efforts we all make to put its principles into action every day. The pledge serves as a starting point for helping people step into their power in shaping the culture of the emerging psychedelic field.
Thus began a six month process of community dialogue. It started with a dinner with twenty of the elders we respect and admire most, asking questions around their hopes and fears for this moment in psychedelics, and what they'd like to see done. Similar dinners happened with clinicians and therapists, asking for their perspectives on commercialization and what would support them in this time, and investors oriented around impact. Here a concern was raised of a "nuclear arms race" effect, where unethical actors would have a competitive advantage to seize power, rapidly scale and control the narrative.
During this time gathering perspective, the North Star team was distilling the feedback into categories, the basis for the principles, and researching other examples of ethics commitments across industries and time. From that point forward the pledge went through four drafts, with one on one feedback with dozens and dozens of stakeholders representing different coalitions in the field.
The pledge is only a beginning. It is participatory and not prescriptive. It serves as a foundation for conversations around integrity and ethics. How impactful the pledge is depends on the earnest efforts we all make to put its principles into action every day. The pledge serves as a starting point for helping people step into their power in shaping the culture of the emerging psychedelic field.
Stay Connected
We invite you to take the North Star Ethics Pledge and to share your own ethics statement far and wide. If you'd like to support North Star - in time, resources, or feedback - please email us, [email protected].
Pledge Creation Process
The North Star team came together after the publishing of We Will Call It Pala. Each of us saw a need to raise a critical dialogue around integrity in the commercialization of psychedelics. We shared a concern that moneyed interests were not only going to take power, but control the narrative. We believed there could be a better way.
Thus began a six month process of community dialogue. It started with a dinner with twenty of the elders we respect and admire most, asking questions around their hopes and fears for this moment in psychedelics, and what they'd like to see done. Similar dinners happened with clinicians and therapists, asking for their perspectives on commercialization and what would support them in this time, and investors oriented around impact. Here a concern was raised of a "nuclear arms race" effect, where unethical actors would have a competitive advantage to seize power, rapidly scale and control the narrative.
During this time gathering perspective, the North Star team was distilling the feedback into categories, the basis for the principles, and researching other examples of ethics commitments across industries and time. From that point forward the pledge went through four drafts, with one on one feedback with dozens and dozens of stakeholders representing different coalitions in the field.
The principles in the pledge, and the possible actions, are generated by the community. We see our role at North Star as stewarding this process, soliciting perspectives, opinions, concerns, considerations and feedback. This is reflected in the framing of the pledge - it is participatory, not prescriptive. It doesn't tell anyone how they have to behave. It invites people into a dialogue with themselves and others around what it means to put integrity at the heart of their work in the field. The hope for the pledge is that it helps people step into their own power in culture shaping, and serves as the foundation of a community that can take an ethics-first, patient-focused approach to safely scaling psychedelic healing.
Thus began a six month process of community dialogue. It started with a dinner with twenty of the elders we respect and admire most, asking questions around their hopes and fears for this moment in psychedelics, and what they'd like to see done. Similar dinners happened with clinicians and therapists, asking for their perspectives on commercialization and what would support them in this time, and investors oriented around impact. Here a concern was raised of a "nuclear arms race" effect, where unethical actors would have a competitive advantage to seize power, rapidly scale and control the narrative.
During this time gathering perspective, the North Star team was distilling the feedback into categories, the basis for the principles, and researching other examples of ethics commitments across industries and time. From that point forward the pledge went through four drafts, with one on one feedback with dozens and dozens of stakeholders representing different coalitions in the field.
The principles in the pledge, and the possible actions, are generated by the community. We see our role at North Star as stewarding this process, soliciting perspectives, opinions, concerns, considerations and feedback. This is reflected in the framing of the pledge - it is participatory, not prescriptive. It doesn't tell anyone how they have to behave. It invites people into a dialogue with themselves and others around what it means to put integrity at the heart of their work in the field. The hope for the pledge is that it helps people step into their own power in culture shaping, and serves as the foundation of a community that can take an ethics-first, patient-focused approach to safely scaling psychedelic healing.
