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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 09/12/2024 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services 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 7:02 pm. Commission Member Singh and Student Commission Members Lambal and Hassan were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There were no guests in attendance this evening. III. INTRODUCTION OF STUDENT COMMISSIONERS Xiong asked the Student Commissioners and HRDC Commissioners to introduce themselves and share why they joined the Commission. Commissioner Khan said he has been with the Commission for 2 years and shared that he had been with Interfaith and joined the Commission to work on the inside to make a difference. Student Commissioner Halbe is a senior at EPHS and joined the Commission to help make an impact within the City. Student Commissioner Aneja is a senior at EPHS and grew up in Eden Prairie and saw diversity was increasing and because of that wanted to help to get everyone included and that is why she joined the Commission. Commissioner Knight has been with the Commission for 2 years and had previously been in the military and joined to be able to make a difference within the community. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES September 12, 2024 Page 2 of 6 Commissioner Skeie has been on the Commission for 6 years and was a former firefighter. He joined the Commission because it aligns with his values. Student Commissioner Arora is a senior at EPHS and a member of Core Council and wanted to take that experience forward to the Commission. Student Commissioner Li is a senior at EPHS and joined the Commission because she wanted to make an impact within the community. Chair Leeper has been on the Commission for 10 years and joined because he wanted to make a difference in the community. Commissioner Bates joined the Commission this year and shared she has a background in education and helped start an equity and inclusion department and joined the Commission to bring the experience forward to help make a difference in the community. Student Commissioner Umar is a senior at EPHS and stated it is important that everyone has their voices heard and she joined the Commission to help with that. Student Commissioner Shah is a senior at EPHS and joined the Commission to be a part of helping with Eden Prairie diversity. Commissioner Riese joined the Commission this year and shared in her professional life she has a background in DEI and wanted to bring it to her personal life and that was her reason for joining the Commission. Commissioner Urbanski has been on the Commission for 4 years and got involved when he found out the City was creating a Race Equity Report and wanted to be involved in that. Commissioner Pfahnl has been on the Commission for 3 years and said when she was in law school in 2019 one of her instructors challenged the students to go out and join a Commission and that prompted her to join the HRDC. Commissioner Weaver has been on the Commission for 4 years. She is a Lutheran pastor and joined the Commission after retiring because she wanted to get involved to help her community. Commissioner Oaxaca joined the Commission this year because she does advocacy at the state level and wanted to be a part of the Race Equity Report. Commissioner Asad is in his third term with the Commission. He previously was a teacher at EPHS and started an after-school program to help students succeed in graduating and joined the Commission to get involved to help the community. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES September 12, 2024 Page 3 of 6 IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Khan moved, seconded by Riese, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 11-0. V. APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 8, 2024 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Skeie, to approve the August 8, 2024 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 11-0. VI. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION There was no Community Presentation this evening. VI. OLD BUSINESS There was no Old Business this evening. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. CITYWIDE OPEN HOUSE Chair Leeper shared this is an opportunity for residents to visit City Hall and pointed out the HRDC will host a table for this event. He is looking for volunteers to assist with manning the table. The event will take place on October 5th from 11 am to 2 pm. There will be two shifts, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, and 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. The following Commissioners and Student Commissioners volunteered. 10:30 am (set-up) – 12:30 pm – Khan, Weaver, Aliweyd, Aneja 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm (take-down) – Knight, Halbe, Umar B. 2024 WORK PLAN REVIEW AND REFLECTION Xiong presented a PowerPoint discussing the 2024 Work Plan Review and Reflection and polled Commission on certain topics. Some of the results are below but she also will be supplying an update at the October meeting. Question: What standing activity would rank as most impactful in 2024? Ranking Results: Human Rights Award Community Presentation and Speakers Words in Action Community Tabling Question: Which speaker was the most educational in 1024? Ranking Results: Park and Recreation Department Disability and Inclusion Services Eden Prairie City Clerk on voter engagement HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES September 12, 2024 Page 4 of 6 Justice Page Vicki from Prop Shop Question: When reflecting on work done in 2024, are we missing anything? Ranking Results: Community Conversation Cultural Competence and Data and Measuring Impact tied for second place Question: What activities would you like to continue in 2025? Ranking Results: PeopleFest Party for Pride Community Tabling Splash Pad Question: What are the top 3 activities you are looking forward to in 2025? Ranking Results: PeopleFest and Community Outreach tied for first place More education for the HRDC Words in Action Human Rights Award and Being part of the Community tied for fourth place Weaver asked why the Commission has to do some of the activities that have had low numbers. Chair Leeper responded that some of the activities that come up are legacy and so it may be time to ask if we should drop some of these off. He also added to make things more effective and get more things done the HRDC needs to establish subcommittees. Klima said that some topics like community outreach or education are very broad and Xiong will follow up with those. In some of the legacy activities, like the Human Rights Awards, it is important the Commission participates in these. Aliweyd also agreed that it is important to keep the legacy items. Li said she thought community engagement was broad enough that some of these items could fall under them, like Words in Action. Halbe commented she noticed there is not a lot of outreach with the students at Eden Prairie High School and has not noticed the City reaching out to the students. Chair Leeper responded that was a very good point and going forward the students will be utilized more in the Commission. Xiong said in regards to tabling, the Commission should come up with a process. Klima responded if students have ideas where they feel tabling could take place let the Commission know and it can be discussed at a meeting and subcommittees set up. Li suggested coming up with different marketing ideas to reach the students. Xiong said establishing subcommittees would be effective. Aneja said she did notice a little bit more outreach at the school this year than in previous years. Khan said he would like to see more promotion and feels being in the school is very important. Riese agreed that engaging with the students is impactful. Xiong summarized that Connection with the Community is important. Khan also suggested the Commission should have a discussion with the Chamber of Commerce. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES September 12, 2024 Page 5 of 6 Xiong said for the October meeting she will go over the themes from the PowerPoint survey. She said she will also have two examples of a work plan that the Commission can choose from and this will need to be finalized in the November meeting. In December, the Commission will have a speaker on Foundational Language of Ethnicity and Inclusion. VIII. STAFF REPORT – PAJA XIONG A. RACE EQUITY ACTION TEAM (REAT) UPDATE Xiong updated the group and said in the past workshop that she and Klima attended they gave a presentation to the City Council on what the group has been doing and the updates that have been made. Klima said there was a lot of positive feedback from the City Council and they were happy the dashboard is on the City website. Urbanski said he has re-read the report and looked at the dashboard and questioned why some of the action items are not on the dashboard. He said he would also like to see more numbers in the report versus just saying that the issues are being addressed; he would like to see percentages addressed. Klima responded by saying she would like to have an offline conversation with Urbanski as to what items he is referencing and then she can respond back to the Commission. She also stated there may not just be one measure of success for an action item, that the measures could vary. Oaxaca agreed with Urbanski that some of the information is unclear, such as if the issue is on-going or completed. Chair Leeper stated in regards to the six areas of inquiry he would like a more comprehensive look at those. He also said there are a lot of action items that need to be taken and that will be the work of the Commission to do on a regular basis. Khan commented the Commission needs to review some of the projects to see if they are still working and if not, it may be time to change them. He felt this year the Commission really has not seen the impact and would like to have that information. Xiong said she could bring in City Departments for their updates. Oaxaca said she feels the HRDC should be more involved in what is in the Race Equity Report. Brenda stated she thinks the surveys are important to see if change is actually taking place. Klima responded that surveys go out every two years. Arora asked where the Race Equity Report is located. Klima responded it is on the City website. Li said she was a little confused on what is City owned in the report and what is HRDC focus. Chair Leeper pointed out there are six areas of inquiry and one, for example, is Public Safety and the HRDC would not be involved in that but would have influence in communication. Umar asked if there was a breakdown with ethnicity and not just race. Chair Leeper said this was discussed and decided to go with what is out there in comparison to other cities. Xiong asked if everyone could send her priorities, strategies and activities and they then can be discussed at the next meeting. Klima reiterated to send Xiong information and she and Chair Leeper can discuss it and bring it forward to the next meeting. Chair Leeper thanked the students for attending and being engaged with the first meeting. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES September 12, 2024 Page 6 of 6 IX. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. October 10, 2024 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Bates, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 11-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m.