Incidences of violence in our communities over the past several decades have culminated to create hostile and unwelcoming climates for people who don’t experience the privileges of the majority. While we make concerted efforts to recruit new women and people of color, retention rates are much lower than their white men peers. Centering my talk on sexual violence and gender constructs, particularly contemporary masculinities, I’ll provide specific actions we can take in order to make our spaces less toxic for the women and people of color already in our communities.