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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity Commission (HRDC) - 12/11/2025EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY DECEMBER 11, 2025 7:00 PM, EDEN PRAIRIE CITY CENTER Heritage Rooms 3 & 4 COMMISSION MEMBERS: Gregory Leeper, Chair; Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Shalanda Berry, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Wendi Russo, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Nawal Abdullahi, Omar Abdulle, Abdulrahman Ali, Jia Chenchlani, Roshini Drakshapally, Ikra Ibrahim, Shivashish Khanna, Anjolaoluwa Raimi, Gatrika Ravella COMMISSION STAFF: Paja Xiong, Community Services Manager & Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recorder CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL I. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS - NONE II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER MEETING MINUTES IV. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION – NONE V. OLD BUSINESS A. 2026 WORK PLAN – 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm VI. NEW BUSINESS A. WORDS IN ACTION – 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm IX. NEXT MEETING: JANUARY 8, 2025 X. ADJOURNMENT UNAPPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2025 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CITY CENTER Heritage Rooms 3 & 4 COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Shalanda Berry, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Wendi Russo, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Nawal Abdullahi, Omar Abdulle, Abdulrahman Ali, Jia Chenchlani, Roshini Drakshapally, Ikra Ibrahim, Shivashish Khanna, Anjolaoluwa Raimi, Gatrika Ravella 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 7:04 p.m. Commission Members Aliweyd, Khan, Oaxaca, Russo, and Student Commission Members Abdulle, Ali, and Raimi were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS There were no guests this evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Weaver, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 9, 2025 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Knight moved, seconded by Pfahnl, to approve the October 9, 2025 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 7-0. V. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION There was no presentation this evening. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. RECAP OF 2025 HRDC ACTIVITIES Xiong presented a PowerPoint presentation of the responses taken at the October 2025 HRDC meeting. The successes of the HRDC in 2025 are as follows: 1. Community Conversation 2. Community Engagement 3. PeopleFest! – HRDC received the highest kudos for the Restaurant Guide Looking ahead to 2026, these are the items the HRDC would like to keep: 1. Doing Community Conversation and doing it well. 2. Continue spreading awareness of HRDC and local events to the BIPOC community. 3. Inviting speakers from TASSEL and the EPHS Affinity Group to speak at the HRDC meeting. 4. Potentially assist Eden Prairie Family Services Collaborative in data collection for their community needs assessment. These are the HRDC Legacy Events: 1. PeopleFest! 2. Words in Action 3. Human Rights Award 4. City-Wide Open House Iftar, which was historically an HRDC event will be handed off to the New American Event Center. Aliweyd will be leading this new collaborative. HRDC engagement with youth – Student Commissioners Suggestions: 1. Enlist the help of student commissioners to help with Human Rights Awards, Words in Action and Culture Day at Eden Prairie High School. 2. Connect with Key Club and NHS at Eden Prairie High School. 3. Offer volunteer opportunities to youth; such as tabling events, community conversation, etc. 4. Set up panels at the Eden Prairie High School during the flex period. 5. Connect and partner with the Unity Advisory Council at Eden Prairie High School as a way for teachers to get students involved in activities. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. 2026 WORK PLAN For the Education Section of the Work Plan, Xiong asked the Commission what they want to see the HRDC doing in the coming year. Weaver suggested discussing historic Eden Prairie, including the indigenous people. Pfahnl suggested a speaker on PFLAG. Xiong suggested a speaker from the MN Human Rights Department. Weaver also suggested a speaker discussing seniors, and issues they are facing, as this was brought up in the suggestion jar. Chair Leeper also commented individuals from the City Departments will be coming in to speak to the Commission. Bates said she learned a lot from the PROP Shop speaker and commented if they cannot speak to the Commission she would still like an update as to how they are doing. Berry suggested having a speaker discuss bullying. Under the Community Experience section, Xiong asked for Commission feedback. Pfahnl said she would like to see a discussion on PFLAG. Chair Leeper asked the Commission to comment on past events. Bates said at the PeopleFest event, the group Upfront had a speaker and after that the HRDC hosted a discussion on what they spoke about and she thought that was a successful event. Pfahnl suggested if they have this event next year to have it at a more centralized location. Xiong asked the Student Commissioners, when hosting student conversations, do they think students will attend this event. The students concurred that they felt these events would be well attended by students. Xiong suggested the Student Commissioners talk to students and see what topics they would like to discuss. Xiong suggested having the student speaker in March and then an adult speaker during PeopleFest! She said at the January meeting the Commission can discuss feedback from the Student Commissioners to see what topics to have at the March meeting and who will be speaking. Abdullah suggested having parents there to see what the youth are going through. Chair Leeper suggested having the event at the Eden Prairie High School auditorium. Weaver responded the auditorium would not work well for discussion. Chair Leeper said they could discuss other alternatives at the January meeting. Ibrahim suggested getting the Eagle News involved to spread news on the event. Xiong asked the Commission what they would like to do for the PeopleFest discussion. Pfahnl suggested discussing immigration issues. Xiong suggested a discussion on addressing people’s journey to Eden Prairie. Pfahnl said it is important to have information on immigration and to educate people who are not immigrants. Urbanski agreed to have a discussion on increasing the knowledge on immigration. These are the events listed under the Community Experience section of the Work Plan: 1. Community Conversations 2. Human Rights Award 3. PeopleFest! 4. Party for Pride Under the Developing Future Leaders section, these are the events Xiong had listed: 1. Words in Action Contest 2. Creating conversation with BIPOC Youth. 3. Invite Dare2BeReal and/or EPHS Affinity Group to speak to the Commission. 4. Attend the Eden Prairie High School Culture week. For the Admin Task Section of the Work Plan these are standing events: 1. Work Plan presented to the City Council. 2. Boards and Commission Awards Banquet Xiong stated the Words in Action Contest will be launching soon. The presentation to the City Council will be in February. She would like to see the Student Commissioners present at the City Council meeting and to also spread the word regarding this contest to 9-12 graders. Chair Leeper thanked Xiong for all of her work putting the draft 2026 Work Plan together. Xiong stated the 2026 Work Plan will be finalized at the December meeting. XI. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. December 11, 2025 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Pfahnl moved, seconded by Weaver, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.