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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 03/11/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021 7:00 P.M., VIRTUAL MEETING Virtual Participants via Webex COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), Katherine Lucht, Leslie Philmon, Sana Elassar, Philip Skeie, Asad Aliweyd, Tyler Aman, Anjali Limaye STUDENT MEMBERS: Ifrah Edow, Jillian Pearson, Nadiah Johnson, Rashmi Acharya, Sehan Adan, Serena Jain COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission Member Limaye and Student Commissioners Edow, Johnson, Acharya, Adan and Jain were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There was a resident guest attending and she introduced herself as Barb. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Aliweyd moved, seconded by Philmon, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 8-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 11, 2021 MEETING MINUTES Elassar had a correction to the minutes on page 4, paragraph 5, and sentence 6. She would like it to read, “Elassar commented she would like the individuals with disabilities included on the flyer.” MOTION: Missaghi moved, seconded by Philmon, to approve the amended February 11, 2021 minutes. Motion carried 8-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATION There was no presentation. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 11, 2021 Page 2 VI. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. COMMUNITY NEWS Yerks said she had a conversation with the HRDC in Brooklyn Park; Skeie was also on the call. In regards to interviewing individuals, they are taking a different approach in that they are going for a smaller number of people for what they are experiencing in their community. They also supplied a stipend to participants. The representative also said there is a good relationship between the city departments and the community. Yerks said that Brooklyn Park is exclusively working with the police department which is different than what Eden Prairie is doing. The Wilder Foundation, which is out of St. Paul, is working with them. They will compile results in the spring time. Also discussed on this call were outreach programs. Skeie commented the representative said the police department may not be promoted as well as it should be in the community. Yerks said she had a conversation with Chaska, as they are also doing a Land Acknowledgement Statement. They have met with two community members and a liaison. Yerks commented it was good to share our information with them. B. HRDC NEWS Yerks stated the City Council voted on three renewals for the Commissioners; they are Elassar, Chair Leeper and Aliweyd. They also passed an ordinance to increase the size of the Commission to 7-13 members. Yerks pointed out there will be 4 new commissioners at the April meeting, with an orientation in March. Chair Leeper congratulated Aliweyd and Elassar and stated he is pleased to be on the Commission. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. EDEN PRAIRIE RACE EQUITY INITIATIVE: 1. Worlds Café Training with the Improve Group Anna Peters gave an overview of the updates. They are as follows: Internal Interviews - three groups were interviewed 1. Emergency Response (the majority of time was spent with this group). 1 hour interview with police leadership, 11 30-minute interviews with police and fire, and 1.5 hours focus group with police leadership. 2. Hiring, Recruitment and Retention – 1 hour dual interview with human resources, 1.5 hours diverse employees focus group. 3. Connection to Community – two 1 hour interviews with leadership, communications. Six – 30-minute interviews with Council Members and the Mayor. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES February 11, 2021 Page 3 Ms. Peters pointed out they have begun the process to make sense of what everyone has commented on but stated she will not be sharing that information tonight but will be at a future meeting. Elassar asked who was included in the police leadership interviews. Ms. Peters said that group included the police captain and police lieutenants. Ms. Peters said the second component of the scan was the document review and pointed out they are using framework to go through all of the documents. The next topic update Ms. Peter addressed was the engagement process and will discuss World Cafes, 3 breakout rooms and specific questions for each. The first breakout room was for Emergency Response. The questions focused on the perception of the Emergency Response team, which includes police, fire and medical responders. The next set of questions focused on what could be changed to build trust between these groups and the community members, especially from BIPOC communities. The second breakout room was for Facility Program Accessibility and Culture, and Connection to the City. This breakout session focused on utilizing public-facing City facilities. These facilities include the City Center, Community Center, Arts Center, Senior Center, Outdoor Center, parks and other public-facing facilities. The questions in this room focused on when using these facilities what would make the experience positive, what challenges have been faced when using them, and what changes would be made to make sure the City provides an excellent experience. The third breakout room was Community Experience and Developing Future Leaders. This session focused on talking about the overall experience of members of the Eden Prairie Community including how residents relate to one another and their experience as a whole. These interactions can be with neighbors, place of worship, businesses frequented, teachers, etc. Specific questions pertaining to what factors would go into creating a positive experience and what are negative experiences. In regards to developing future leaders, it was discussed how the City can empower youth and young adults as future leaders, educational equity, and building career pathways for youth. The questions posed would be what opportunities exist for youth in Eden Prairie to build leadership skills, what opportunities would you like to see in place and what barriers would make it difficult for youth to build leadership skills or participate in career opportunities. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 11, 2021 Page 2 Ms. Peters said the next topic they would like to address is the World Café. They will be addressing facilitation and design principles, confidentiality and the World Café Method. Missaghi asked if all the Commissioners are being trained as being moderators for the World Cafes. Ms. Peters said yes, all Commissioners will be trained. Yerks added that the consultant group will be doing the bulk of the moderation but said it was a good idea for everyone to have these skills to develop conversations. Chair Leeper commented Ms. Gaidzanwa will be conducting more in-depth training with Aliweyd as he is the one doing an in person World Café. The following are World Café’ Design Principles: 1. Set the Context 2. Create Hospitable Space 3. Explore Questions that Matter 4. Encourage Everyone’s Contribution 5. Connect Diverse Perspectives 6. The table host and note-taker should listen together for patterns and insights. 7. Share Collective Discoveries The next topic is that of Confidentiality. It is important that the main host let the community members know that the feedback will be aggregated. Also the City is actively working on balancing privacy while data privacy laws. And lastly, the note takers will use numbers, such as Person 1, Person 2, etc. to preserve anonymity. The World Café Method was discussed next. Here are the following methods: 1. In-Person Setting: create a special environment, modeled after a café utilizing small round tables. It is recommended that 4 tables be at each table as to allow everyone to talk. 2. Virtual Setting: in order to create a special environment with this method use breakout rooms instead of tables. There should be four people per breakout room and no more than five. Begin with a warm welcome and an introduction to the World Café process, setting the context and putting the participants at ease. The main host will talk about the City’s Race Equity Initiative, thank them for attending, and talk about how the City wants to respond to community needs. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES February 11, 2021 Page 3 There will be 3 or more twenty minute rounds of conversation at each table or room. At the end of the twenty minutes each member of the group will move but the table host and note taker will stay. The next part of the World Café is to ask a question specially crafted for the City of Eden Prairie’s Race Equity Initiative. The same questions will be used for more than one round. The last part of the World Café Method is the harvest. After the small groups, individuals are invited to share insights or other results from their conversations with the rest of the large group. It is best to have a post event debrief to discuss what went well, what needs improvements and cleaning up notes and confirming who to send them too. Elassar asked if she could be a drop in person at a World Café. Ms. Peters said it would be helpful as a commission to see what people are saying. She also said a disadvantage would be participants may think that person is representing the City and there could be trust issues and because of that they may not say as much as they otherwise would have. Aliweyd commented he does not see the issue of trust with the group he will be facilitating. Philmon said an in-person World Café may not be as big of an issue as with a virtual café. Ms. Peters said she will discuss this topic with Yerks and will let the Commission know what they agreed upon. Ms. Peters pointed out the role of the note-taker is critical. They are the person that will be capturing all of the information. Ms. Gaidzanwa said Yerks will send out a protocol of what will be asked at each event. Yerks reiterated the consultants will be facilitating all three virtual World Cafes and asked who the note takers will be. Ms. Peters said they will supply the note takers. Elassar asked about the youth and how does parental consent factor it. Yerks said she will check with Parks and Rec for a consent form. She also said anyone under 18 has to supply an adult contact. Ms. Peters said she can find a form if Yerks is unable. 2. Community Liaison Update Yerks said a small group of Commissioners met to discuss the roles and assignments of the community liaison person. The group consisted of Chair Leeper, Elassar, and Aliweyd. Chair Leeper said he has an invitation out for representation from the Chinese community and is waiting to hear back. Elassar said she has three liaisons confirmed; Latino, Asian and Caucasian. She pointed out she got a lot of questions about this initiative and would like a list of talking points for potential HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 11, 2021 Page 2 recruiters. Aliweyd said he has talked to a group of people and found many to be interested. Chair Leeper asked Yerks if there is a sheet she could put together regarding confidentiality. Ms. Gaidzanwa said they did already send out this information. Elassar asked what the City is doing with all this information. Ms. Gaidzanwa said the information is confidential and will be used to make improvements with the City. She said today’s presentation and last month’s outreach information should be enough information for this evening. Yerks said she is discussing with the City how the in-person café’ will go and pointed out they are looking at an outdoor event, but will have to wait and see. Food will most likely not be allowed at this event. B. NOMINATIONS FOR EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS Chair Leeper said the Commission will go over the nominations and get as far as time will allow and continue at the April meeting if need be. The four categories are: Business, Individual, Non-Profit and Youth. Each nominee will be reviewed and given a brief overview. They are as follows: Business Nominees– there was only 1 nomination. 1. SWT Prime MD Services Elassar pointed out this was a re-nomination from last year. This service has been around for 1 ½ years and supplies door to door service for people who cannot get to their appointments. This is a non-emergency service. They work with clinics in Victoria, Chaska, Chanhassen and Eden Prairie. Chair Leeper asked everyone to vote in the chat window. Everyone voted yes and this will be the winner. Individual Nominees 1. Fadumo Hassan Elassar re-nominated this individual. She is extremely involved in equity and diversity in Eden Prairie and founded the EP Somali Association, represented the Somali booth at the World Culture Night and has held monthly parent empowerment meetings. She is also one of the Founders of Umi’s Boutique in EP Mall. 2. Joan Howe-Pullis Chair Leeper, Cheri White and Maura Schnorbach nominated this individual. Chair Leeper gave the overview stating Joan has been very involved in diversity in Eden Prairie, housing initiatives and her church Pax Christi. She has been on the HRDC Commission. Aliweyd said she is an advocator for HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES February 11, 2021 Page 3 many and deserves to be nominated for this award. He stated she was a key figure in making housing issues a priority in Eden Prairie and advocated for many on this. 3. Kim Rathjen Jennifer Urbanski nominated Kim for this award. Jennifer said that Kim focuses on inclusion and addresses homelessness. She founded OnWard Eden Prairie for Youth. She also has been serving on the PROP Board for the past 7 years. 4. Tara Kalar Amanda Matchett nominated Tara for this position. She stated she is a passionate advocate for human rights. She has worked to ensure that the Minnesota Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution applies to transgender students in the community. Aliweyd said that Fadumo has been very involved with community issues, like youth, housing and deserves to be nominated. Elassar said Joan deserves a life- time achievement award and not just this HRDC award. Yerks said that is something in the future we can consider. Chair asked for a vote. Joan received 7 votes and Tara received 1 vote. Joan Howe-Pullis is the individual winner. Aliweyd commented some cities have a Mayor’s award and suggested we look into that. VIII. OLD BUSINESS IX. UPCOMING MEETING A. MARCH 11, 2021 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Aliweyd moved, seconded by Skeie, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.