Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 04/09/2026Approved Minutes Eden Prairie Human Rights and Diversity Commission 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9, 2026 Heritage Rooms 1 & 2 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES 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 City Staff: Paja Xiong, Community Services Manager & Staff Liaison, Julie Krull, Recorder MEETING AGENDA I. Call to Order/Roll Call Chair Leeper called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Commission Members Berry, Khan, Oaxaca, Weaver, and Student Commission Members Abdulle, Abdulle, Ali, Chenchlani, Drakshapally, Ibrahim, Khanna, Raimi, and Ravella were absent. Commission Members Aliweyd and Russo arrived during Old Business; because of that there was not a quorum when the meeting started. The Approval of Agenda and Approval of the Minutes happened after Old Business. II. Introduction of Guests There were no guests this evening. III. Approval of Agenda MOTION: KNIGHT moved, seconded by RUSSO, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. IV. Approval of the March 12, 2026 Meeting Minutes MOTION: URBANSKI moved, seconded by ALIWEYD, to approve the March 12, 2016 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 7-0. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES April 9, 2026 2 V. Community Presentation There was no Community Presentation this evening. VI. Old Business a. Community Conversation Xiong stated she has been trying to connect with Eden Prairie High School but that has been unsuccessful. She said given that she has been unable to connect with the high school there are two options for planning the HRDC standalone student commissioner led community conversation. The first option would be to conduct the standalone event without the school district involvement. The second option would be to continue pursuing partnership with the Eden Prairie High School and postpone the event until the fall. Xiong said it we would wait until the fall, that would give her time to meet with Falicia and the principal and there would also be new student commissioners hosting the event. She pointed out the fall is light, in regards to activities, and could be done before the winter break. After some discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission to wait until the fall to host this event. Xiong said she connected with Falicia Danes to see if would be willing to participate and she said she would participate. Chair Leeper recognized Xiong's hard work on this event. b. PeopleFest! Planning and Updates Xiong started the discussion by pointing out the restaurant guide is the responsibility of the HRDC. She previewed the restaurant guide and asked the Commissioners to review it and pointed out the goal it to make sure the restaurants are still in business and to verify their websites. The final details of the restaurant guide need to be completed by May 29th. She asked the Commissioners to pick restaurants from the guide to follow up on and to get back to her before the deadline. Urbanski suggested getting the information back to her by May 14th, as that is the next HRDC meeting. Xiong agreed and also stated if there are any new restaurants to email her with that information. Urbanski asked if the PeopleFest committee thinks it would be a good idea to buy gift cards. Xiong said the committee has no money in the budget and suggested HRDC see if they could get a grant or sponsors. Xiong said the next PeopleFest meeting is next week and she can address it. Urbanski asked how many gift cards would be needed. Chair Leeper said last year he thought there were 30 gift cards. Chair Leeper and Urbanski discussed and thought if the Commission could get $500 in grant money that would be sufficient for the gift cards. Xiong asked if there would be a commissioner to take the lead on this. Urbanski said he would be willing to take the lead. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES April 9, 2026 3 Xiong said she would like to discuss the Community Conversation topic. Her suggestion was to have a cultural norm panel and have topics where they could share with the group and afterwards the individuals that are attending could do a gallery walk to find out more about the different cultures. Chair Leeper asked for responses to Xiong's suggestion. Knight said it is a great idea and likes the idea of a gallery walk for people attending. Xiong suggested having three topics the speakers could discuss in regards to their culture. She said they would create an open environment where people could ask questions afterwards. Urbanski asked if there would be a closing session. Xiong said they certainly could have a closing session. Urbanski commented he would like to have a closing session to bring the conversations together. Chair Leeper thought this would be a very positive event. Russo asked if it would be food and family for the topics and suggested a cultural tradition for the third conversation. Chair Leeper commented that was a good suggestion and said they could discuss specific topics at a later meeting. Bates commented that the Commission should make sure what the panelists are going to discuss before the event; will it be their personal experiences or their culture in general. Xiong asked the Commissioners to come up with a list of different speakers and to have that information for the June meeting. Knight suggested there should be more than three topics. Xiong said they could definitely have more than three topics. She also commented this event will take place on Tuesday, July 28th. Urbanski suggested to have a broad representation of cultural groups. Chair Leeper suggested having it start at 6:30 pm. Xiong said another idea discussed at the meeting was to have a cultural clothing showcase. She stated she was going to ask the students if they would like to be in charge of this project. She will email the students to see if there is any interest. Xiong said there will be no HRDC meeting in May as the Commissioner Banquet is on that date. VII. New Business There was no New Business this evening. VIII. Adjournment MOTION: URBANSKI moved, seconded by RUSSO, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. CHAIR LEEPER adjourned the meeting at 7:47 pm.