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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 10/10/2024 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2024 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CITY CENTER Heritage Rooms 3 & 4 COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Samuel Griffin, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Savannah Riese, Kuhu Singh, Philip Skeie, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Jude Lambal, Ayanna Arora, Kayna Aneja, Alisha Shah, Melody Li, Swara Halbe, Tamia Hassan, Zahara Umar COMMISSION STAFF: Paja Xiong, Community Services Manager & 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 Members Riese and Singh and Student Commission Members Arora, Aneja and Hassan were absent. Oaxaca arrived during the approval of the minutes and Aliweyd arrived during discussion of old business and Khan during new business. Aliweyd also left during new business. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There were no guests in attendance this evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Pfahnl, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Urbanski, to approve the September 12, 2024 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 8-0. V. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION There was no Community Presentation this evening. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. CITYWIDE OPEN HOUSE DEBRIEF HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 10, 2024 Page 2 of 6 Xiong thanked all that volunteered at the event and said the table was well attended. She asked for feedback from the volunteers that were in attendance. Weaver commented it was busy and lively and said Aneja was helpful with the bracelets. Weaver also suggested having handouts about the HRDC at the table. Khan concurred about the handouts. He also stated there were a lot of people wanting bracelets and it was hard to do that activity and the questions and suggested next time having more volunteers to help. Knight pointed out they ran out of snacks. She also thought it was a good idea to have information about the HRDC at the table and also suggested having surveys about the HRDC that visitors could take to quantify the needs of individuals. Weaver said that she and Knight thought having HRDC t-shirts while volunteering at the table would be a good idea. Aliweyd worked the first shift and thought there was less traffic than in previous years. Chair Leeper agreed that the morning was a little slower than the afternoon. Bates asked with Commissioners being at events like this, what is the purpose, is it to get the Commission’s name out there. Knight responded by saying they let visitors know what the HRDC does. Bates suggested having a QR code that would give information regarding the HRDC. Chair Leeper said that was a good idea to have a QR code for Commission information. Aliweyd commented that by being at a table the volunteers are educating the people in regards to the Commission. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. RACE EQUITY REPORT DEBIEF Klima presented a PowerPoint on the history of the Race Equity Report. Some of the key points of this presentation are as follows: 1. Timeline: • June 2020 – Review of the Race Equity Report was directed by City Council. • Summer 2020-2021 – Preparation of the Race Equity Report by the HRDC, City Staff and DeYoung Consulting Services. • January 2022 – Race Equity Report was accepted by the City Council and moved to the Implementation stage. 2. Implementing the Dashboard • Formatting (activities/goals measurement, departments, timeline) • Feedback from the HRDC will be incorporated. • How to keep the HRDC updated – -Updates from City Departments -Quarterly REAT updates -Annual updates to the City Council and dashboard Klima illustrated what the dashboard looks like and stated there is a timeline on the dashboard to say if the effort is ongoing or when it will start. She previously heard from HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 10, 2024 Page 3 of 6 this Commission that there should be more detailed information on the dashboard and she pointed out they are working on that. 3. City Staff Areas of Impact • Emergency response • Facilities and programs • Recruiting, hiring and retention • Connection to community • Develop future leaders 4. HRDC Areas of Impact • Community Experience • Develop future leaders – such as camp counselors 5. Moving Implementation Forward • Community Experience – how do residents relate to one another 6. HRDC Initiated Events • Iftar celebration • Splash pads • Land Acknowledgement Statement • PeopleFest! • Event tabling • All examples of Community Outreach and Interaction 7. HRDC Annual Commitments • Words in Action Contest • Human Rights Awards • PeopleFest! • Party for Pride • Workplan preparation and presentation to City Council Aliweyd asked if there are any improvements from starting the Race Equity Report. Klima said the dashboard was important and pointed out it will be beneficial to bring different City Departments to the HRDC meetings to discuss what they are implementing. Oaxaca commented she would like more information on the annual updates to the City Council and asked who gives those updates. Klima said the Staff Liaison and the Chair of the HRDC work together to create a PowerPoint for the presentation. This presentation will take place in January or February and all HRDC members are encouraged to attend. The presentation will discuss what the HRDC has accomplished in the past year and what will be done in the next year. The Commission will review the PowerPoint in December. Urbanski commented in the past, other Commissioners have presented to the City Council. Chair Leeper agreed that was correct. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 10, 2024 Page 4 of 6 Khan said he appreciated the PowerPoint this evening. He stated it was very informative for himself and others. In regards to the quarterly meeting, he said he was unaware of those. Klima said that is a standing item on the agenda that will be updated by Xiong and Chair Leeper that they will give quarterly updates to the HRDC. Xiong also pointed out that quarterly updates would involve bringing in different City Departments for updates. Khan said in regards to hiring and recruiting, he would like to be able to see that in all City Departments. Klima said when the City Departments come and talk to the HRDC they will present that information. Chair Leeper commented that past speakers from other City Departments were very informative. B. 2025 DRAFT WORK PLAN PREPARATION Xiong presented the draft work plan based on the survey and feedback results. 1. HRDC Focus Areas for 2025 • Community Experience • Education • Building Future Leaders 2. Focus Areas • LGBTQ+ Community • BIPOC Youth • This can be done by community engagement and education, promoting inclusivity. 3. HRDC Standing Commitments • December – Work Plan presentation to the City Council • January – Words in Action Contest • February – Human Rights Award • August – PeopleFest! • October and November – Work Plan 4. Structuring Commission Activities for Greater Impact • Up to 8 speakers a year • Focus on 1-2 activities per month • Intentional outreach to priority communities, such as a round table • Quarterly Race Equity Report update • Time conscious planning and intentional debrief • Limit 2 subcommittees per Commission Xiong said the goal for the Work Plan this evening is to discuss 1-2 activities for each focus area and target time for each activity, keeping in mind to find time to plan the activity and have a debrief of the activity. Oaxaca said she would like to understand better the REAT quarterly update versus just quarterly Department updates. Klima said the REAT updates will be done quarterly to give more information on what has been taking place HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 10, 2024 Page 5 of 6 versus just a brief monthly update. With each Department, they will be specific about their efforts. Oaxaca responded she was concerned about what type of questions would be asked to the Departments. Xiong suggested the meeting prior to a speaker coming the Commission could discuss the questions to be asked. Khan said what he would like to discuss would be what items they have been working on and what their role would be in accomplishing that. Oaxaca suggested when working with Eden Prairie High School, the Commission needs to be engaged with the students. She also asked how the subcommittees work. Xiong said there would be a chair for each subcommittee that would schedule the meetings. In regards to Eden Prairie High School, Xiong pointed out she works with them and is the conduit between them and the Commission as that is part of her role as Staff Liaison. She said she is also a member of the Community Engagement Impact Council that works with the high school. Khan asked if this is something new. Klima said this was not new and has been around for a while and pointed out there will be more updates coming up in the future. Oaxaca said she would like to hear what the students want and bring those needs forward to the Commissioners for their input. Lambal responded that she is on the Youth Advisory Board at EPHS and said that would be beneficial. She has also worked with Luanna Halloway at the high school. Xiong said another suggestion would be to do something with art and suggested the student commissioners may want to work on this to create a project at the end of their term to showcase this. Umar asked what the HRDC can offer high school students. Chair posed the question back to her and asked what can be done. He talked about past projects in which the Commission had a mental health session at the high school led by student commissioners. Another project would be the Words in Action contest. Xiong said in looking at the calendar and planning for BIPOC youth, the Commission could have a listening session or round table or could have a speaker from the high school come in and talk to the Commission about barriers to them and establish a round table. Li suggested reaching out to student groups or clubs that are already interested in these topics. Chair Leeper said there will be a listening session in April for BIPOC youth. It was discussed to move this up in the year and Chair Leeper suggested promoting it in January and having it in February. Xiong recapped that what she was hearing was to promote this in January and to have the listening session in February. Klima suggested the sooner these events can be promoted the better and suggested promoting it in November. Umar said in regards to the Equity Advisory Council, that would be a good group to have come and speak first and then from there reach out to each group separately. Oaxaca said the Commission should also be prepared when these groups come before the group and have questions ready to ask them. Chair Leeper wanted to discuss the six events the Commission had listed under Activities. The first event listed was to attend community events and asked the Commission what they would like to do with this. Oaxaca responded she could work with Riese in their subcommittee to come up with a list of questions. Chair Leeper said he liked the idea of a survey with a QR code that was previously suggested. Xiong said in regards to these activities, she also liked the feedback and will use it for HRDC benefit or for general feedback to other departments. Oaxaca responded debriefs are important for the future involvement in these activities and then to show the City Council what we are doing. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES October 10, 2024 Page 6 of 6 Chair Leeper asked if tabling is good for the HRDC and asked if listening sessions should continue. Weaver would like to see the tabling be more intentional and not just for participating at an event. Xiong stated in regards to doing a round table, that activity could also be a listening session. Chair Leeper responded by stating the Commission will do some tabling and a listening session with students. Knight commented when she first started with the Commission, they had a listening session with City Officials and it was very informative and asked if they would be doing another one in the future. It was a town hall session where residents talked and City Officials listened along with Commissioners. Klima responded the City is no longer doing town hall meetings. Khan said this town hall was very informative and asked why they are not doing them anymore and suggested having other ethnic groups do listening sessions. Xiong said when reviewing the survey, LGBTQ and BIPOC were listed as the top priorities and that these will be our focus areas for 2025. Khan raised the importance of acknowledging and considering intersectionality as the Commission identifies priority work, for example in any ethnic group there are people that identify as LGBTQ. Oaxaca voiced concern about potentially excluding other underserved communities from proactive outreach if we only engage these two groups all year. Chair Leeper said the Commission should do three listening sessions; one broad focus, one LGBTQ and one BIPOC. Pfahnl suggested the Commission should do two listening sessions and one town hall meeting. Chair Leeper stated in regards to the list, the Commission will do the Human Rights Awards, PeopleFest and Party for Pride. Not on the list was Iftar and Chair Leeper said the Commission should also participate in that activity and the Commission concurred. Xiong said she will re-do the work plan and next month focus on target times for the activities discussed this evening. She will update the spreadsheet and next month will discuss subcommittees. VIII. STAFF REPORT – PAJA XIONG A. RACE EQUITY ACTION TEAM (REAT) UPDATE IX. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. November 14, 2024 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Khan moved, seconded by Bates, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 9-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.