Community Guidelines


TRANSFORM Community Guidelines

Welcome to the TRANSFORM website. We extend the warmest welcome and we look forward to engaging with you.

We’ve created this site for social entrepreneurs and SMEs serving the needs of low-income households in emerging markets. The Collaboration Hub serves this purpose, to foster collaboration, partnership and learning. To that end, these community guidelines set our expectation of how to act within the community and what to expect from others.

  • The collaboration hub is set up for you. Your voice belongs here. We ask you to bring your perspective and participate with kindness and professionalism. Please help us create a space that is inclusive and welcoming.
  • We ask you to treat others as you would in real life. That means being respectful, listen carefully, be polite, and thank someone for their contributions. If you disagree, then please do so respectfully. Diverse viewpoints are to be expected.
  • Please do not make personal attacks on other members, make false or prejudiced statements or make remarks intended to cause anger. If you see this behaviour, please report it to using the Contact Us form

Here’s some guidance on using the Forum:

  • Choosing a Forum: Feel free to participate in whichever forums are most relevant to you. They’re split by geography and interest area. We suggest posting in the geography forum for topics relevant to your context and in the interest area for topics that are not bound by geography. So for example, if you have a question about importing products into Ghana, this could be relevant to all types of business, so go ahead and post it into the Sub Saharan Africa forum. If you have a question about recycled plastics suppliers, post it into the circular economy forum. Questions that don’t have an obvious home can be posted into the ‘Seeking help’ forum.
  • Discussion Title: Put all relevant information into the title. The message may go out to many registered users by email, many of who will look no further than the email subject line. So for example instead of “Solar Question” say “Solar company looking for battery supplier in China for import to Nigeria.”
  • Main body: Put all relevant details in the body of the message. Try to be succinct and get straight to the point, ensuring your question or point is clear. Be aware of jargon and acronyms, as these can confuse and alienate people. Provide as much context as possible so people can respond tailored to your situation: assume people know nothing about your project or context. Include links if appropriate so people can click through to other content, but make sure enough information is in the body and clicking links is optional. It is possible to attach documents or photos to your post, but don’t assume people will open them. You can tag specific people by typing a ‘@’ and then their name. A box will come up allowing you to choose a specific person. People are more likely to respond directly to discussions they’re tagged in. But don’t just put anyone’s name in as this is spamming! Consider how precious people’s time is so make each message count. If you need help writing and want advice, reach out to our Community Manager, @andynarracott, directly.