Equity Board · Wednesday, May 7, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of March 5, 2025 Meeting and April 2, 2025 Meeting

packet pp.3–8

Previously discussed: Environmental Board · Apr 9, 2025

▶ Watch from 9:02 Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 03-05-25 Equity Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Equity Board 6:00 PM Steelhead Room, 235 1st Ave. March 5, 2025 MINUTES SE, Issaquah

4. CHAIR REPORT

Opening Question

10 min · Priti Mody-Pan, Equity Board Chair

5. STAFF REPORT

Updates Since March 2025 Meeting

5 min · Dale Markey-Crimp, Assistant to the City Administrator

6. AGENDA ITEMS

Equity and the City's Board and Commissions - Evans Consulting Group Presentation

45 min · Gillian Straub, Management Analyst · packet pp.9–40

Topics: Equity

Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

Receive Equity Board feedback on the draft recommendations for diversity, equity and inclusion in Issaquah’s advisory boards and commissions

7. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Equity Board Interim Liaison

5 min · Gillian Straub, Management Analyst

Topics: Equity

▶ Watch from 1:27:12

2173 segments .txt ↗

0:03 ↗ Okay, I think we're ready to go. All

0:04 ↗ right, it is 6:07 and I call this May

0:09 ↗ 7th meeting of the equity board to

0:11 ↗ order. And with that, uh we are doing uh

0:16 ↗ probably roll call. Roll call. Indeed.

0:19 ↗ Um so I'll for new members, I'll say

0:21 ↗ your name and you just say if you're

0:22 ↗ here and then for our excused absences,

0:25 ↗ I'll let us know who's excused at the

0:26 ↗ end. Um, and then if I pronounce your

0:29 ↗ name incorrectly, just correct me. So,

0:31 ↗ um, starting with folks in the room,

0:33 ↗ Oscar Montano here. Varnaoka here. Quan

0:37 ↗ Palmer here. Modi Pan here. Caric Kasha

0:41 ↗ here. Leslie Millinder Irwin is

0:43 ↗ currently absent. Lorna Gilmore here.

0:45 ↗ Kelly has an excused absence. Oh, Chris

0:48 ↗ Zade here. And Nishaire

0:52 ↗ here. Heather Young's

0:55 ↗ here. And Kunal, last but certainly not

0:59 ↗ least. Excellent. We have quorum and we

1:02 ↗ can proceed. Great. Okay, then I think

1:04 ↗ we are ready for public comment. And uh

1:07 ↗ first up we have Deputy Council

1:09 ↗ President D. Michelle.

1:11 ↗ Thank you so much. Um and I'll try. Is

1:14 ↗ there a five minute limit on public

1:16 ↗ comment?

1:18 ↗ Feel

1:19 ↗ free. I'll do my best. So, um, I am Barb

1:23 ↗ Dashelle, the deputy council president,

1:25 ↗ and this is the time of the year that

1:27 ↗ the council and the mayor come out to

1:29 ↗ our boards and commissions to say thank

1:32 ↗ you to the people who have already

1:33 ↗ served and say welcome to the new

1:35 ↗ members. So, can I just ask who who's

1:38 ↗ new to the equity board this time? Well,

1:41 ↗ welcome and there and I see you online

1:44 ↗ as well. So, welcome. uh we so

1:47 ↗ appreciate uh your being willing to step

1:50 ↗ up and uh be involved in your community

1:53 ↗ and we hope this is a really good

1:55 ↗ experience for you and I think it says

1:58 ↗ something this wonderful turnout uh of

2:00 ↗ the board. So when I first came in the

2:02 ↗ room I said this is a really important

2:04 ↗ board and I didn't mean that uh you know

2:08 ↗ uh to be an exaggeration. This really is

2:10 ↗ a very important board. And there's a

2:12 ↗ couple of things I want to mention that

2:15 ↗ you've done and then a little bit of a

2:16 ↗ preview of what I think is coming down

2:18 ↗ the pike. So, first of all, I want to

2:20 ↗ talk about the equity calendar. We are

2:23 ↗ so proud. We brave about that all the

2:25 ↗ time. I think we're now into the third

2:27 ↗ year of using that calendar and it is

2:30 ↗ proving to be absolutely wonderful. um

2:33 ↗ the way that we were able to acknowledge

2:35 ↗ so many different holidays and

2:37 ↗ celebrations and maintain going forward

2:40 ↗ as a community. And so we've proved a

2:43 ↗ lot of people said it couldn't be done.

2:44 ↗ We've proved that it can be done. And

2:46 ↗ that was the work that this board did so

2:49 ↗ well and so thoughtfully that it has

2:52 ↗ been a beautiful thing for us. And the

2:55 ↗ other thing I just want to say is that

2:57 ↗ over the past couple of years, I've

2:59 ↗ really noticed that people are coming

3:01 ↗ more and more to the equity board to get

3:03 ↗ the equity lens. And that is exactly

3:06 ↗ what the council lease initiated this

3:08 ↗ group. We wanted to be sure that

3:10 ↗ everything we did went through an equity

3:12 ↗ lens. And I'm seeing that that that is

3:16 ↗ developing over time and people are

3:18 ↗ coming to you more and more. that means

3:20 ↗ they respect your opinions and also that

3:22 ↗ that equity lens is becoming just part

3:25 ↗ of our culture. Um and that's so

3:28 ↗ important. So um then this morning uh

3:32 ↗ Mayor Paulie and I held a convening of

3:37 ↗ 17 nonprofits

3:39 ↗ uh in the area and these are nonprofits

3:41 ↗ that provide human services to our

3:44 ↗ community. And as you might imagine, it

3:47 ↗ was pretty heavy listening. Um, people

3:50 ↗ are losing grants. Um, they're not being

3:53 ↗ reimbursed for expenses that they've

3:54 ↗ already done. Uh, they're seeing a much

3:57 ↗ higher demand and lower resources. And

4:00 ↗ so, it was a pretty heavy thing. And so

4:03 ↗ as we're going forward into this next

4:05 ↗ year, this group, I think, is going to

4:08 ↗ be instrumental in making sure that

4:10 ↗ these tough decisions that we're facing,

4:12 ↗ this really hard time that's coming down

4:14 ↗ the pike, uh, Mayor Paulie described it

4:17 ↗ as a human services uh, crisis is coming

4:20 ↗ down the pike at us. And so I don't want

4:23 ↗ to be a downer, but I mean, this is the

4:25 ↗ reality what is happening around us. And

4:28 ↗ I see this group as just being

4:30 ↗ instrumental in being sure that the

4:32 ↗ council, the mayor, all of us are

4:35 ↗ looking at the decisions that we have to

4:36 ↗ make and making sure that they are done

4:38 ↗ equitably and fairly. So I uh I can't

4:43 ↗ thank you enough for the um

4:46 ↗ thoughtfulness and the passion that you

4:48 ↗ bring to to this board and I wish you

4:51 ↗ well and again welcome to the new

4:53 ↗ people. Thank you for stepping up. Um

4:56 ↗ thank you. I think that's what I'm going

4:59 ↗ to say. Can you think of anything else I

5:01 ↗ need to add? No, that was excellent. Oh,

5:04 ↗ good. I looked to Dale for

5:07 ↗ All right. So, I do not want to disrupt

5:10 ↗ this meeting. Um, so I'm going to head

5:12 ↗ out, but again, thank you so much for

5:14 ↗ everything you do. Thanks. Thank you.

5:17 ↗ Thank you.

5:19 ↗ Hello. Nice to see you. Okay. And I

5:22 ↗ think up next we have our friends from

5:24 ↗ the Bahigh with some public comments.

5:27 ↗ Thank you very much. There is a good

5:30 ↗ place for me to I think take that corner

5:32 ↗ that corner seat. Yeah. Pull up.

5:39 ↗ So yeah, for those that may not know,

5:42 ↗ we've been doing this community building

5:44 ↗ social which is even though it's done is

5:48 ↗ hosted by the Bahigh communities, but it

5:50 ↗ is for everyone. It is not for just the

5:53 ↗ Bahigh. It's for everyone. And this time

5:57 ↗ it's going to be a little bit different.

5:59 ↗ Usually we invite um someone who has

6:01 ↗ been very active in the in the path of

6:04 ↗ service to the community. Um this time

6:08 ↗ we decided to have a conversation and

6:11 ↗ the conversation is about the place of

6:15 ↗ spirituality in community

6:17 ↗ building

6:19 ↗ and you know spirituality is defined in

6:23 ↗ many ways and there are many quote

6:26 ↗ unquote sources of

6:28 ↗ spirituality. Some people their yoga

6:31 ↗ exercise is their um source of

6:35 ↗ spirituality or the way they focus on

6:38 ↗ their breath or the way they walk in the

6:41 ↗ forest or the classical religious um

6:45 ↗ form of spirituality in the in a church

6:50 ↗ in a synagogue mosque or a temple. But

6:53 ↗ regardless of where we find that and

6:57 ↗ where we draw from that spirituality,

7:00 ↗ the the thing that we want to explore

7:03 ↗ all of us together is does it have a

7:07 ↗ place

7:09 ↗ in community building? I mean creating

7:12 ↗ connection among people. Mhm. So this is

7:18 ↗ so it's not going to have a speaker,

7:20 ↗ it's going to have two facilitators and

7:23 ↗ hopefully everyone can

7:27 ↗ um give us the benefit of their thought

7:29 ↗ and their feelings.

7:32 ↗ May I have some of those invitations

7:36 ↗ hopefully pass it around?

7:39 ↗ Yes. I don't know how many I need, but

7:43 ↗ I would say give us as many as you're

7:45 ↗ willing to give. Oh, yes. And feel free

7:47 ↗ to take extras and share them with.

7:52 ↗ Yeah. So, just this is a chance for

7:56 ↗ everybody to talk with each other like

7:58 ↗ it's just a sharing and learning from

8:00 ↗ each other about something that's

8:02 ↗ probably near and dear to everybody in

8:04 ↗ their own personal their own way. But we

8:07 ↗ all kind of feel that it does have it

8:10 ↗ does spirituality has a role. It

8:12 ↗ contributes in some mystical some you

8:15 ↗ know any number of ways to our wanting

8:17 ↗ to help other people community building

8:19 ↗ and service and stuff like that. So it's

8:22 ↗ a really I think going to be a really

8:23 ↗ exciting kind of creative conversation

8:26 ↗ followed by some food and dinner

8:28 ↗ together like we do at these community

8:30 ↗ building sessions. So share with others

8:31 ↗ too and invite anybody you'd like.

8:33 ↗ everybody and everybody who have been

8:34 ↗ speakers in the past like from the

8:36 ↗ garage from the food bank from what the

8:39 ↗ network and Barbie Michelle has been

8:41 ↗ there two or three times I know she'll

8:43 ↗ probably be there and they'll all bring

8:45 ↗ everybody each of you bring your

8:46 ↗ thoughts and ideas about this.

8:50 ↗ Awesome. Thank you. Thank you both.

8:55 ↗ Okay, so next up just to give you all a

8:58 ↗ preview of what's happening. So, we're

8:59 ↗ going through our agenda. And so, the

9:02 ↗ next item is approval of minutes. And

9:03 ↗ then after that, we'll hold a little bit

9:05 ↗ of time for some introductions uh for

9:07 ↗ everyone as part of our get to know you

9:10 ↗ in terms of the opening question. So, uh

9:13 ↗ just one moment to get through some of

9:14 ↗ the other process steps of the agenda.

9:17 ↗ Um and so, the next item is approval of

9:20 ↗ minutes. And uh we have two sets of

9:22 ↗ minutes in the packet. And so, the first

9:26 ↗ set was from our March meeting. Second

9:28 ↗ set is from our uh April meeting which

9:30 ↗ was a joint meeting with the

9:32 ↗ environmental board. So I'll um maybe

9:36 ↗ give you a couple of minutes to do a

9:38 ↗ scan and then after that I'd like a a

9:41 ↗ call for um approving the minutes and

9:44 ↗ then we can have a brief discussion if

9:46 ↗ anyone has any changes, questions or uh

9:51 ↗ addendums

9:53 ↗ today. Okay.

10:46 ↗ All right. And when someone is ready,

10:49 ↗ um, could you make a motion to approve?

10:53 ↗ I'll make a motion. Okay. And we need a

10:57 ↗ second and put it in. Okay. Anyone

10:59 ↗ seconding? We'll second. Okay. And then

11:03 ↗ um do folks have any uh questions,

11:05 ↗ comments, or edits to make to uh let's

11:09 ↗ start with the merch, I guess. Yeah.

11:16 ↗ All right. Any changes or

11:19 ↗ edits? All right. Then I think we can

11:21 ↗ consider those approved. Okay. And could

11:24 ↗ I get a motion to approve the April

11:27 ↗ meeting minutes?

11:32 ↗ Okay. And then a second. Second. A

11:34 ↗ second. Okay. Any uh changes, addendums,

11:38 ↗ or corrections?

11:42 ↗ There's one tiny

11:44 ↗ typo. There's I usually I rely upon you

11:47 ↗ to find all my typos. There's one tiny

11:49 ↗ typo in um item B under regular

11:52 ↗ business. Um the word projects in the

11:56 ↗ first line should be presenters.

11:58 ↗ I will make that tiny edit. Thank you,

12:02 ↗ Dale. Okay. And not hearing any uh

12:06 ↗ changes or discussion needed, I think we

12:08 ↗ can consider the April minutes

12:11 ↗ approved. All right. So, okay. Next up

12:15 ↗ on our agenda is uh the chair report and

12:18 ↗ opening question. And um just for

12:22 ↗ context and for our new members, we do

12:25 ↗ um we have an opening question. It's

12:27 ↗ been a new pract well no longer new but

12:30 ↗ a practice that the equity board started

12:31 ↗ probably a couple of years ago and I

12:34 ↗ think you know I like to think it's for

12:36 ↗ two reasons. One is that I think in

12:39 ↗ order to have uh like candid

12:41 ↗ conversations and open dialogue. It's

12:44 ↗ nice that we take a few minutes at the

12:46 ↗ start of meetings to get to know each

12:48 ↗ other. And then the second reason for

12:50 ↗ this is to get everyone's voice into

12:52 ↗ them. Um I think you know once we have

12:54 ↗ you know once someone speaks up in the

12:56 ↗ meeting it's easier for them to speak up

12:58 ↗ again and again and again. So that those

13:00 ↗ are the two reasons and so with that I

13:03 ↗ think as part by way of introduction and

13:05 ↗ us getting to know each other.

13:07 ↗ Um, so I have like two related prompts.

13:11 ↗ And so the two prompts are uh what

13:15 ↗ compelled you to apply to the equity

13:17 ↗ board? And for maybe our continuing

13:20 ↗ members if that's been a while um what

13:23 ↗ continues to keep you engaged and want

13:25 ↗ to be on the equity board. And so um

13:29 ↗ yeah, and we usually start off someone

13:30 ↗ goes first and then just popcorns it to

13:32 ↗ the next person until everyone's gone.

13:35 ↗ And so, um, if you can all, you know,

13:38 ↗ say your name, your preferred pronouns,

13:40 ↗ and the response to the prompts, and

13:43 ↗ we'll, uh, take a few minutes to get

13:45 ↗ cover everyone in the room. So, who

13:47 ↗ would like to go first? Awesome.

13:50 ↗ Everyone, my name is Boston. I'm a

13:52 ↗ junior high school and I'm one of the

13:55 ↗ youth representatives for this board.

13:56 ↗ And I'll just answer both questions. Um,

13:59 ↗ so I was first interested in the equity

14:02 ↗ board because I'm also on the school

14:03 ↗ youth advisory board and I heard about

14:05 ↗ the opportunity through that and thought

14:08 ↗ it sounded interesting and another way I

14:10 ↗ can make an

14:11 ↗ impact. Um, and then since then one of

14:14 ↗ the main things that's appeals me about

14:17 ↗ this board is just like the

14:19 ↗ collaboration we have with other boards

14:21 ↗ and um, like we and the knowledge I've

14:25 ↗ gained from that. And so like every

14:27 ↗ meeting I'm learning something cool

14:29 ↗ about like cyber security or like

14:32 ↗ national natural disasters cool stuff

14:35 ↗ like that. And I think for the new

14:38 ↗ members you're going to find that

14:39 ↗ interesting as

14:42 ↗ well. Uh you want to go next? Uh sure.

14:45 ↗ Yeah. Thanks. Um I think I've been on

14:48 ↗ the board for I think about a year now

14:50 ↗ almost two years now.

14:52 ↗ uh joined the equity board because I was

14:55 ↗ interested in just understanding a bit

14:57 ↗ more about how um sort of listening to

15:01 ↗ various different perspectives can be

15:03 ↗ brought into action in in our community

15:06 ↗ and still the equity board. I'm very

15:09 ↗ much interested in this work because I'm

15:11 ↗ discovering just so many more layers to

15:13 ↗ it and how it's at the core of so much

15:15 ↗ of what we do. Um

15:19 ↗ yeah, on to Oscar. Hi, I am Oscar

15:23 ↗ Montano, a new member. I work at

15:26 ↗ Costco's corporate office as an ecom

15:29 ↗ depot operation supervisor.

15:32 ↗ Uh what compelled me to join the board

15:34 ↗ was

15:36 ↗ um just the wanting to give a new a

15:40 ↗ different perspective at least my

15:42 ↗ perspective

15:43 ↗ um being coming from a Hispanic

15:47 ↗ background.

15:49 ↗ um being raised in Southern California

15:51 ↗ where the Hispanics have the majority

15:53 ↗ and then moving up to Washington like

15:56 ↗ four years ago

15:59 ↗ and suddenly becoming more of a

16:01 ↗ minority. So just um hoping to um give

16:06 ↗ as much feedback as I can from the

16:08 ↗ Hispanic point of view.

16:14 ↗ Pass it to someone else. Yeah, Chris.

16:16 ↗ Yeah. So, hi everyone. new board member

16:18 ↗ also Chris Zed or Christopher but I go

16:21 ↗ by Chris. Um I also work at Costco

16:24 ↗ corporate. I work in change management

16:26 ↗ which is part of HR focused on people's

16:29 ↗ side of change. So always had a passion

16:33 ↗ for helping people um even at work and

16:36 ↗ grew up in Lebanon then moved to

16:38 ↗ California, Southern California for

16:40 ↗ about six years before moving up here

16:43 ↗ and um I've always done stuff that's

16:46 ↗ part of the community. however that

16:48 ↗ looks. Um, and more recently with

16:50 ↗ Costco, I was working um on the DEI

16:53 ↗ initiatives and I kind of wanted to be

16:56 ↗ more involved in the community aspect of

16:58 ↗ it too, which is what prompted me to um

17:01 ↗ kind of apply to join here because I was

17:03 ↗ like, you could do so much and I could

17:05 ↗ learn so much at the same time. So, that

17:07 ↗ was kind of what brought me here. Um,

17:10 ↗ yeah. Awesome. Multi. Okay. um Priy Modi

17:13 ↗ Pan. I use she her pronouns and um as I

17:17 ↗ was saying to some folks in the room

17:18 ↗ that I'm one of the the few remaining um

17:22 ↗ folks who have been part of the the

17:25 ↗ beginning of the equity board but um

17:27 ↗ which was

17:28 ↗ 2021 and um I'll just say what continues

17:32 ↗ to keep me engaged especially now is

17:34 ↗ that I feel at the federal level things

17:36 ↗ are not looking very positive in terms

17:40 ↗ of making progress on equity social

17:43 ↗ justice, diversity, inclusion, you know,

17:46 ↗ just all of those things. And so I think

17:48 ↗ it's so important for the role of uh

17:51 ↗ community and local governments to hold

17:53 ↗ down the fort so we don't backslide. And

17:57 ↗ um I just think it's important that we

17:59 ↗ don't lose sight of those issues right

18:01 ↗ now.

18:04 ↗ You la she her pronouns like Piti. I'm

18:09 ↗ also a part of the original group. Uh

18:12 ↗ what brought me in was like as Chris

18:16 ↗ said in his work, he saw the need for

18:20 ↗ equity and has been having to work in

18:21 ↗ that and wanted to expand that. And in

18:24 ↗ my work as a teacher working in equity

18:28 ↗ in my district, I saw that the students

18:31 ↗ were saying, "Thank you for doing this

18:32 ↗ work for our students in a school

18:35 ↗ community, but what about outside? Who's

18:38 ↗ helping us in the community when people

18:40 ↗ are calling us names? when we are

18:42 ↗ feeling um the racism in stores in in

18:47 ↗ our neighborhoods. And that led me to

18:50 ↗ work with a community group that was

18:51 ↗ having conversations about racism, about

18:54 ↗ inequities, about hate, about prejudice.

18:58 ↗ And when this group was formed, I was

19:00 ↗ happy to join this group to support the

19:03 ↗ city in systemic ways to make changes to

19:06 ↗ support our community because it is you

19:09 ↗ have to go systemically. you just can't

19:11 ↗ make, you know, changes it doesn't. So,

19:15 ↗ making sure we're addressing root,

19:16 ↗ making sure that we have systems in

19:18 ↗ place to support the our community

19:21 ↗ members, all community members to lift

19:23 ↗ them up. And so, it's also making sure

19:26 ↗ people understand the difference between

19:28 ↗ equity versus equality. And that has

19:31 ↗ been one of the main things that I've

19:33 ↗ seen our our work do and helping people

19:35 ↗ understand

19:36 ↗ that. And so I've been proud of the work

19:39 ↗ with in this group and happy to continue

19:42 ↗ as long as I feel like I can make the

19:44 ↗ difference in this group with this

19:45 ↗ group. Thank you.

19:49 ↗ Uh yeah. Uh my name is Palmer. Uh she

19:52 ↗ her pronouns. Um similar to Lorna and

19:55 ↗ Chris. Um I've worked in HR for 10 years

19:58 ↗ and I've worked in public sector. I've

20:00 ↗ worked in tech sector. And I think that

20:03 ↗ something that really compels me first.

20:05 ↗ I really love living in Isla. That's

20:06 ↗ one. I love the community. Um I love my

20:09 ↗ neighbors. Um but when you work in an

20:12 ↗ organization, you can only make internal

20:15 ↗ impact. You can't make a lot of I think

20:17 ↗ a lot of people work in HR want to help

20:19 ↗ people want to be able to make changes

20:20 ↗ and assess you know uh unfortunately it

20:24 ↗ only stays within the organization. So I

20:26 ↗ was looking for something that would

20:27 ↗ impact externally with direct

20:29 ↗ communities. I want to do more I for a

20:31 ↗ long time I've wanted to do like

20:32 ↗ volunteer work or like some big impact

20:35 ↗ but I didn't know where to start and I

20:36 ↗ felt like this is a good spot just

20:37 ↗ because I have a lot of background in uh

20:39 ↗ DI stuff equity and you know um you know

20:43 ↗ also being a female minority in the

20:44 ↗ workplace kind have a lot of different

20:46 ↗ lens

20:49 ↗ um hi I'm Veronica um she her pronouns

20:52 ↗ I'm currently a freshman at UDub and I

20:54 ↗ think what's continuously engaging me on

20:57 ↗ this board is just the different amount

20:59 ↗ of topics that we can bring an equity

21:00 ↗ lens to. Um like from being on this

21:02 ↗ board for about like two years, I

21:04 ↗ learned there's equity lens to like

21:06 ↗ transportation all the way to like so

21:08 ↗ many different topics like um natural

21:10 ↗ disasters and all that stuff. Um which

21:12 ↗ has been really interesting to learn

21:13 ↗ about. Um and being a youth member, I

21:15 ↗ really wanted to bring a youth

21:16 ↗ perspective to this board that's filled

21:17 ↗ with adults, but I've also had the

21:19 ↗ opportunity to learn so much more from

21:21 ↗ all the other board members. So I'm

21:23 ↗ really happy to be on this board and the

21:25 ↗ vast amount of opportunities that it's

21:27 ↗ given. But

21:29 ↗ Um, so I'm not a board member. I'm

21:32 ↗ Jillian. Um, I'm not quite sure what

21:35 ↗ question I should Oh, well, maybe uh

21:38 ↗ maybe as someone who's about to

21:40 ↗ become for a short period of time. Oh,

21:43 ↗ yes. Talk about why that's exciting.

21:45 ↗ Yeah. Okay. So, hi everyone. I'm

21:47 ↗ Jillian. I'm a

21:50 ↗ manager. Um, and I'll be serving as your

21:54 ↗ board leazison while Dale is out for

21:56 ↗ summer mostly. Um, and I've served in

22:00 ↗ roles like that before, um, at different

22:02 ↗ cities that I've worked at, and I really

22:04 ↗ enjoyed working with community members

22:06 ↗ directly who are also really engaged in

22:08 ↗ the work of bettering their community.

22:09 ↗ Like that's why I got into public

22:11 ↗ service. Um, so it was exciting to work

22:13 ↗ with people who are also missiondriven

22:15 ↗ in that way.

22:17 ↗ Let's kick it to our two members online

22:19 ↗ and then I'll close us out. So maybe

22:22 ↗ Heather and then Nisha.

22:25 ↗ Hey guys. Yeah, despite what it says on

22:28 ↗ the screen. Yeah, I'm Heather Young's.

22:29 ↗ Um, live in the Isakqua community. I'm a

22:33 ↗ licensed mental health counselor, work a

22:35 ↗ lot with like trauma and OCD, and I have

22:37 ↗ a pretty diverse array of clients. So,

22:40 ↗ um, what brought me to the board

22:42 ↗ honestly was really wanting to kind of,

22:46 ↗ I guess, expand, um, the reach of being

22:49 ↗ able to promote like equity and

22:51 ↗ diversity in our community. And also

22:53 ↗ with the recent political climate, I

22:55 ↗ guess I felt driven to take action in a

22:59 ↗ healthfully fighty kind of

23:01 ↗ way.

23:03 ↗ So I'm excited to learn more about it.

23:07 ↗ Thanks Heather.

23:10 ↗ Hi everybody. I'm Nisha. Um I am she her

23:14 ↗ pronouns as well. I use she her

23:16 ↗ pronouns. Um, I wanted to join this

23:17 ↗ board

23:18 ↗ because in my career, I've I've

23:22 ↗ primarily um done work on behalf of

23:25 ↗ children. And I think that if you're

23:27 ↗ going to build a community with equity,

23:29 ↗ start at the bottom and work your way

23:31 ↗ up. And so I wanted to make sure that

23:35 ↗ I contributed to a community that's

23:38 ↗ working towards common goals, which I

23:39 ↗ think my goals are in line with those.

23:42 ↗ um and that we also consider the voices

23:44 ↗ of kids in in what we're doing to help

23:47 ↗ shape their views of social justice and

23:49 ↗ equity.

23:51 ↗ So that's why I joined the board. Thank

23:54 ↗ you. And then Dale, do you want to close

23:56 ↗ us out and then jump into the next? Yes.

23:58 ↗ Close us out and then we'll jump into

24:00 ↗ our regular business. Um Dale Marquy

24:02 ↗ Crimp. I use she her pronouns. I am the

24:04 ↗ assistant to the city administrator here

24:06 ↗ at the city of Isiqua and I've been the

24:08 ↗ board liaison for a little

24:11 ↗ gosh over two years now maybe maybe a

24:15 ↗ year and a half it's hard to tell time

24:16 ↗ is but a but a flat circle um uh and I

24:22 ↗ would say similar to Lorna I my

24:24 ↗ background is in K12 education I was a

24:26 ↗ middle school English teacher um

24:29 ↗ and through that experience became um

24:33 ↗ deeply convicted about the importance of

24:35 ↗ of

24:36 ↗ equity in all facets of our society and

24:40 ↗ and within all of our systems needing to

24:42 ↗ really rethink the structures um that

24:45 ↗ exist um to call out the barriers and

24:48 ↗ the harm that they're causing and to

24:50 ↗ think about how that we can rethink and

24:51 ↗ reimagine and transform those systems.

24:54 ↗ Um and so when I came to local

24:55 ↗ government, the opportunity was not

24:57 ↗ immediately here for me to to work with

25:00 ↗ this board. Uh but when the opportunity

25:01 ↗ arose for me to take over liaison role

25:04 ↗ for this particular board, I was

25:05 ↗ thrilled um to be able to to step into

25:09 ↗ that role and to get to work with this

25:10 ↗ group that I think is really pushing our

25:13 ↗ organization to think differently. and

25:15 ↗ as deputy council president shared has

25:18 ↗ been creating and collaborating on

25:20 ↗ really incredible tools for our staff

25:22 ↗ and for our community to really change

25:23 ↗ the way we do we provide service the way

25:26 ↗ we think about our service um and the

25:28 ↗ way we communicate and interact with

25:30 ↗ each other internally and externally at

25:32 ↗ the city. So just feeling lucky to be

25:37 ↗ here to the staff report.

25:40 ↗ Staff report will be quite brief. At our

25:42 ↗ last meeting, we had two presenters from

25:44 ↗ King County Flood Plane Management that

25:46 ↗ came and co and presented both to this

25:48 ↗ board and to the environmental board.

25:50 ↗ They were here with us. Um,

25:52 ↗ specifically, their ask of this group

25:54 ↗ was for I was for organizations,

25:57 ↗ individuals to reach out to about their

26:00 ↗ upcoming flood plane um, management

26:03 ↗ process and survey. Um, this group and

26:06 ↗ the environmental board shared a number

26:07 ↗ of organizations and individuals with

26:09 ↗ them. They literally just emailed me

26:11 ↗ today with their list. They're like,

26:13 ↗ "Here's who we're planning to reach out

26:15 ↗ to." So, I will send that out to the

26:16 ↗ whole board for you all to take a look

26:18 ↗ at. Um, and if there's anything you feel

26:20 ↗ like is missing from that group, just

26:23 ↗ email me back and we'll add that to

26:24 ↗ them. They also sent a very nice card in

26:26 ↗ the mail just thanking thanking you for

26:29 ↗ your time. Um, which I'll take a

26:31 ↗ screenshot of and send that out in the

26:33 ↗ email as well. So, that is the update

26:34 ↗ from our most recent meeting.

26:37 ↗ Thank you. And so next up on the agenda

26:40 ↗ is the Evans Consulting Group

26:42 ↗ presentation. And Jillian, would you

26:44 ↗ like to set it up? Yeah, absolutely. So

26:47 ↗ with us today, we have several members

26:50 ↗ from the Evans School of Public Policy.

26:52 ↗ Um, and we've contracted with them to

26:55 ↗ conduct an equity assessment of our

26:57 ↗ boards and commissions. So they're here

26:59 ↗ to present their preliminary findings.

27:01 ↗ Um, and I'll go into a little bit more

27:02 ↗ detail about some of the backstory to

27:04 ↗ this project. I also want to note that

27:06 ↗ we have Andrea Snider, deputy CB

27:08 ↗ administrator on the line who's been

27:10 ↗ quite involved in this work. Um, we can

27:12 ↗ provide context and answer questions as

27:13 ↗ needed as well. So, with that, um,

27:17 ↗ before we jump in, my team on the phone,

27:19 ↗ are you guys can you guys hear us? And

27:21 ↗ can we check and see if we can hear you?

27:24 ↗ I can hear. Yep. Yep. Testine, can you

27:27 ↗ hear our audio? Yes. Thank you. Okay,

27:30 ↗ great. And we're sharing one mic. Can

27:32 ↗ you hear all of us? Yes. Yes. Great. Can

27:34 ↗ you hear me as well? Oh, wow. Golden.

27:39 ↗ All right, that's some technology now.

27:41 ↗ Okay. Yeah, we're really broadening our

27:43 ↗ our tech tonight. Um, so with that, I'll

27:46 ↗ let Jillian jump in. Okay, so like I

27:49 ↗ mentioned, we're here to today sort of

27:51 ↗ need your feedback. Um,

27:56 ↗ okay. We're here today to receive your

27:58 ↗ feedback on the draft recommendations um

28:00 ↗ for diversity, equity, inclusion and

28:03 ↗ issu boards and commissions. This is

28:05 ↗ situated in a larger project as well.

28:08 ↗ This is just one portion or one topic

28:10 ↗ area that we know we need to explore um

28:12 ↗ and identify uh improvements to um so

28:16 ↗ they'll go into a little bit more about

28:17 ↗ what they did. Um and I can also situate

28:20 ↗ it in a larger project as well. But we

28:22 ↗ did want to preview here for you the

28:24 ↗ policy questions that we'll be asking

28:26 ↗ you. um so that you can consider these

28:28 ↗ as as they as they present their

28:30 ↗ recommendations. So, first, are there

28:32 ↗ any significant gaps that you see in the

28:35 ↗ recommendations? And second, we'd like

28:37 ↗ your help in prioritizing these actions

28:38 ↗ knowing that we can't do everything at

28:40 ↗ once. What's most urgent? What's some

28:42 ↗ lowhanging fruit? Um where do you think

28:45 ↗ administration should should dive in

28:47 ↗ once we move into the implementation

28:48 ↗ phases of this

28:51 ↗ plan? Okay. So, like I said, this is

28:53 ↗ situated in a larger project. So the

28:55 ↗ city of Isiqua has been engaged in

28:57 ↗ equity work in one way or another for

28:58 ↗ many years. Part of that work is the

29:00 ↗ creation of this board itself and like

29:03 ↗ council president or deputy council

29:04 ↗ president D. Michelle mentioned some of

29:06 ↗ the work with the uh religious and

29:08 ↗ cultural holidays calendar um the equity

29:11 ↗ framework um and other items like that.

29:13 ↗ So, there's been uh there's been motion

29:16 ↗ on this for a long time, but the

29:19 ↗ community, this board um and the

29:21 ↗ strategic plan update task force in 2024

29:24 ↗ um all noted the need for more strategic

29:26 ↗ action on this to help us all get

29:28 ↗ aligned with where we're going on

29:30 ↗ equity. So where we see the first stage

29:32 ↗ of this larger project being is some

29:34 ↗ goal setting with community members and

29:36 ↗ leadership to understand what is this

29:39 ↗ applause think where what does this

29:40 ↗ think equity is where we need to be. The

29:43 ↗ second stage of that is a gaps analysis

29:45 ↗ to understand here are our current

29:47 ↗ policies, practices, programs as a city.

29:50 ↗ How are we meeting that shared vision

29:51 ↗ that we've established and then creating

29:54 ↗ a plan um a way to implement it? Isa has

29:57 ↗ a lot of operational or functional plans

29:58 ↗ but we don't have one for equity. So

30:01 ↗ creating a road map for us to follow um

30:03 ↗ and track progress too. So that's uh

30:06 ↗ that's a short version of of what that

30:08 ↗ larger project is going to be. The work

30:11 ↗ with the Evans School focuses on one

30:13 ↗ portion of that with the uh boards and

30:15 ↗ commissions. We felt that this is a

30:16 ↗ place where it was pretty clear where

30:18 ↗ the city needs to go in terms of

30:20 ↗ representation so we could move forward

30:22 ↗ into that kind of gaps analysis and make

30:24 ↗ forward progress without waiting for

30:26 ↗ that larger uh that larger project which

30:29 ↗ is underway in 2025. Um so I can also

30:32 ↗ speak more to that if there are

30:33 ↗ questions about it. Um, but with that,

30:36 ↗ I'll hand it over to the Evans School

30:38 ↗ for the bulk of this this presentation.

30:40 ↗ Great. Thank you, Jillian. Thank you

30:42 ↗ all. We're really happy to be here. I'm

30:44 ↗ Sarah. You're going to hear from me as

30:46 ↗ well as from my colleagues on the phone.

30:48 ↗ Uh, just to set some quick expectations.

30:50 ↗ You're going to see a lot of information

30:51 ↗ on the slides. We're going to be talking

30:53 ↗ about a lot. There's even more that we

30:55 ↗ did in our research. So, there'll be

30:57 ↗ time for some questions and discussion

30:59 ↗ between se sections and we can go back

31:01 ↗ to any slides at the end. So I just ask

31:03 ↗ for your grace and patience because

31:05 ↗ we'll be getting through a lot in the

31:06 ↗ next, you know, 20 to 30 minutes. So as

31:10 ↗ Julian mentioned, we really focused in

31:12 ↗ very directly on the boards and

31:14 ↗ commissions and just do a little bit of

31:16 ↗ thinking about what equity might look

31:18 ↗ like in those spaces. So we focus really

31:21 ↗ specifically around things like

31:23 ↗ demographic composition. So who's on the

31:25 ↗ boards now and are those demographics

31:28 ↗ representative of the broader city of

31:30 ↗ Isiqua?

31:32 ↗ Recruitment. How do folks hear about

31:33 ↗ boards? Why do they join? Why don't they

31:36 ↗ join? Um retention. Once people are on

31:39 ↗ the boards, why do they stay for years?

31:41 ↗ Like preta, why might they not be able

31:43 ↗ to? What are their expectations while

31:45 ↗ they serve on this board? Uh lastly,

31:48 ↗ thinking about governance. So, how do

31:50 ↗ the boards operate? What mechanisms are

31:52 ↗ in place to ensure everyone's voices are

31:54 ↗ heard and valued? you know when and

31:57 ↗ where are equity cons when and where is

32:00 ↗ equity considered as part of the

32:02 ↗ recommendations for

32:04 ↗ example. So our methodology involved a

32:07 ↗ literature review some data analysis on

32:10 ↗ applicant demographics in comparison to

32:13 ↗ the census and using GIS data. We did a

32:16 ↗ whole slew of interviews including a

32:18 ↗ bunch with board and commission members,

32:20 ↗ some of you all here, as well as other

32:22 ↗ boards around Isiqua, some staff and

32:24 ↗ liaison from Isiqua, as well as some

32:26 ↗ staff from nine other jurisdictions to

32:29 ↗ get a sense a little bit of how other

32:30 ↗ cities might be thinking about this. We

32:32 ↗ did a bit of a gap analysis to find

32:34 ↗ areas where things were going really

32:36 ↗ well and areas where there might be

32:37 ↗ opportunities.

32:39 ↗ And then we've uh created some

32:41 ↗ recommendations primarily based on the

32:43 ↗ literature review, what we heard was

32:45 ↗ successful or being pursued in other

32:47 ↗ cities or on different Isiqua

32:50 ↗ boards. So I'm going to talk to you a

32:52 ↗ little bit for a moment about how we're

32:54 ↗ thinking about framing our findings

32:55 ↗ tonight. So there's some kind of

32:58 ↗ fundamental positions we took from our

33:00 ↗ research. Public meetings, as I'm sure

33:02 ↗ we know, are a key part of the

33:04 ↗ democratic process. Boards and

33:06 ↗ commissions, as we've already talked

33:08 ↗ about a little bit tonight, are really

33:09 ↗ critical way that local governments

33:11 ↗ engage their citizens and understand

33:14 ↗ their community interests. To ensure all

33:16 ↗ members of community are heard equally

33:19 ↗ and that diverse viewpoints are

33:21 ↗ considered, it's really necessary to

33:23 ↗ ensure boards and commissions are

33:24 ↗ representative of that community and

33:26 ↗ they operate with equity in mind. So we

33:29 ↗ found probably unsurprisingly that

33:31 ↗ representation on boards matters but to

33:34 ↗ be effective it requires folding in

33:36 ↗ practices that uphold diversity and in

33:39 ↗ ensure inclusion creating spaces where

33:42 ↗ everyone feels safe, valued, engaged and

33:46 ↗ fully themselves. So we found that

33:48 ↗ policies and practices supporting

33:50 ↗ diversity really elevate the

33:52 ↗ effectiveness of having diverse

33:54 ↗ representation.

33:56 ↗ We also found that diverse

33:57 ↗ representation and inclusive practices

34:00 ↗ are necessary to ensure boards and

34:02 ↗ commissions can operate with equitable

34:04 ↗ principles. So in talking to board

34:07 ↗ representatives and staff, we found that

34:10 ↗ board experience plays a large part in

34:12 ↗ that inclusion piece. So people describe

34:16 ↗ recruitment processes, how they're

34:17 ↗ onboarded, trainings they receive,

34:20 ↗ expectations of their role, you know,

34:22 ↗ and how their voices are called in to

34:24 ↗ participate in discussions. And from

34:26 ↗ that, we've framed our presentation kind

34:28 ↗ of around these two areas. One around

34:30 ↗ recruitment, which we believe aids in

34:32 ↗ diverse representation, and board

34:34 ↗ practices and experience, which we

34:36 ↗ believe lead to a sense of inclusion. So

34:38 ↗ we'll talk about our findings and

34:40 ↗ recommendations in each of these areas

34:43 ↗ with a pause in between for some

34:45 ↗ discussion questions etc. So I'm going

34:48 ↗ to hand it off to my colleague Mory to

34:50 ↗ speak a little bit more specifically on

34:52 ↗ our findings around that uh recruitment

34:55 ↗ and diversity piece.

34:58 ↗ Awesome. Uh thanks Sarah. Um, as Sarah

35:02 ↗ mentioned, the literature view really

35:04 ↗ surfaced what diversity is and and what

35:06 ↗ it can or cannot do at the advisory

35:08 ↗ board level. Um, recruitment was then

35:12 ↗ identified and affirmed as the mechanism

35:14 ↗ for how we are obtaining diversely

35:16 ↗ represented advisory boards. So, this

35:18 ↗ section that we're about to talk about

35:20 ↗ is really framing how these concepts of

35:22 ↗ recruitment and diversity um are showing

35:25 ↗ up right now across isqua's boards and

35:27 ↗ commissions. Um, and this is going to

35:29 ↗ ground the recommendations we'll go over

35:30 ↗ at the end of the section.

35:35 ↗ Um, Sarah, you can go ahead and click

35:37 ↗ the first two. Yes. Sorry, my um,

35:42 ↗ there we go. It just has a a delay. No

35:45 ↗ worries. Um, so the first two findings

35:48 ↗ here on this slide are related to the

35:50 ↗ power and the purpose of diversity.

35:52 ↗ Um firstly the literature suggests that

35:54 ↗ when a certain threshold of diversity is

35:57 ↗ obtained it can lead to better outcomes

35:59 ↗ and innovation. So this was something

36:01 ↗ affirmed in the literature. Um secondly

36:03 ↗ the literature framed that diverse

36:05 ↗ representation is an essential component

36:08 ↗ for interrupting historical barriers um

36:11 ↗ such as aspects of white supremacy

36:13 ↗ culture that have permeated our our

36:15 ↗ public institutions in the United

36:17 ↗ States. Um some of these attributes that

36:19 ↗ are being interrupted by diverse groups

36:21 ↗ might include um how we we tend to

36:24 ↗ operate under a rigidness of time um or

36:26 ↗ how we push a grinding grip mentality

36:29 ↗ onto um onto

36:31 ↗ folks. So then you'll see um these final

36:34 ↗ points on the slide articulate how

36:35 ↗ advisory boards can approach obtaining

36:38 ↗ diverse membership through their

36:39 ↗ recruitment practices. Um the third

36:42 ↗ point on the screen, um the literature

36:44 ↗ really frames that a diverse array of

36:46 ↗ candidates will be more inclined to

36:48 ↗ serve on boards when they're providing

36:50 ↗ with an opportunity to both build

36:52 ↗ capacity and participate in meaningful

36:55 ↗ work. Um related to the fourth point on

36:58 ↗ the slide,

37:00 ↗ um boards are likely to become more

37:02 ↗ diverse when the recruitment strategies

37:05 ↗ to obtain them are broadly inviting of

37:07 ↗ both self-recruiting and nominated

37:10 ↗ candidates. So in other words, what I

37:12 ↗ mean by that is um it's important to

37:15 ↗ recruit members who are are seeking

37:16 ↗ opportunities on their own accord. Um,

37:19 ↗ it's also important to specifically

37:21 ↗ invite certain candidates to apply

37:23 ↗ through nominations from from other

37:25 ↗ board members or from city city

37:27 ↗ officials. Um, from our interviews, the

37:30 ↗ city of Isiqua is currently doing this

37:32 ↗ pretty well with with strong balance.

37:35 ↗ Um, so that's was encouraging to hear.

37:37 ↗ Um, and with that, I'll pass it to

37:39 ↗ Jordan.

37:41 ↗ Thanks, Mayor. Uh I will be presenting

37:43 ↗ our findings related to representation

37:45 ↗ and recruitment. Starting with our

37:48 ↗ analysis of the geographic

37:49 ↗ representation of Isiqua's boards. We

37:52 ↗ compared the percentage of members on

37:54 ↗ the boards and commissions from each

37:55 ↗ neighborhood for the percentage of the

37:57 ↗ city population in the neighborhood

37:59 ↗ using the 2024 census numbers. And we

38:02 ↗ found Squawk Mountain, Isiqua Valley,

38:04 ↗ and Oldtown were the most over

38:05 ↗ represented areas or they had higher

38:07 ↗ percentages of members than would be

38:09 ↗ expected based on the population.

38:11 ↗ Whereas Isiqua Highlands, North Isiqua,

38:14 ↗ and Montro were the most

38:15 ↗ underreresented. We also looked at

38:17 ↗ applicant numbers from the past few two

38:19 ↗ years and found similar although not

38:21 ↗ identical trends. The same three were

38:24 ↗ the most under represented and the same

38:26 ↗ three were the most over represented.

38:28 ↗ However, when looking at applicant

38:30 ↗ trends, Squawk Mountain was only 4% over

38:32 ↗ represented whereas Isiqua Valley was

38:34 ↗ 15% more represented and those numbers

38:38 ↗ are in the appendix as well. One other

38:40 ↗ thing to note here is that about 20% of

38:43 ↗ the members are from outside of the

38:45 ↗ jurisdiction and so those are not

38:47 ↗ included in this analysis. So the total

38:49 ↗ number of members is a little bit lower

38:51 ↗ than what is true for all boards and

38:53 ↗ commissions because we're only looking

38:55 ↗ at those who reported living inside of

38:57 ↗ Isiqua in one of those

39:00 ↗ neighborhoods. We also looked at that

39:02 ↗ demographic representation in terms of

39:05 ↗ gender and race and ethnicity. Overall,

39:08 ↗ we found members were relatively

39:10 ↗ representative of the community

39:11 ↗ population with the exception of those

39:13 ↗ identifying as Asian which are under

39:15 ↗ reppresented on boards and commissions.

39:18 ↗ You can see these trends are relatively

39:19 ↗ consistent with applicants and members.

39:22 ↗ However, there are some fluctuations in

39:24 ↗ applicants over the years. For example,

39:26 ↗ in 2024, nearly 60% of applicants were

39:29 ↗ female. However, in 2023, only a little

39:32 ↗ over 40% were. So, we do see some

39:35 ↗ changes over time that are occurring.

39:38 ↗ Similarly, while looking at boards and

39:39 ↗ commissions as a whole, it's fairly

39:41 ↗ representative. When we looked at

39:42 ↗ specific boards and broke down that

39:44 ↗ representation, we found that it was not

39:47 ↗ consistent. For example, some boards are

39:49 ↗ approximately 75% white with little

39:52 ↗ representation of other

39:54 ↗ races. All of this should however be

39:56 ↗ taken with a grain of salt as there are

39:58 ↗ significant amounts of missing data for

40:01 ↗ reporting gender, race, and ethnicity is

40:03 ↗ not a requirement. So we have somewhere

40:05 ↗ between 13 and 19% missing data which

40:08 ↗ could vastly change our findings if we

40:11 ↗ did have that full data. We did also

40:13 ↗ find that this was reflected in our

40:16 ↗ interviews with members who perceived

40:18 ↗ their boards as fairly representative

40:19 ↗ with some roof room for improvement.

40:22 ↗ Members also noted additional aspects of

40:24 ↗ diversity such as socioeconomic status,

40:27 ↗ age, profession, and renters versus

40:29 ↗ homeowners as important aspects of

40:31 ↗ diversity and places where there wasn't

40:33 ↗ full representation on their boards. We

40:35 ↗ however were not able to do an analysis

40:38 ↗ such as this with those aspects of

40:40 ↗ diversity because we did not have that

40:42 ↗ data available.

40:45 ↗ Next up, we are going to talk about

40:47 ↗ recruitment practices and in terms of

40:51 ↗ perception of folks on the board and

40:53 ↗ what we heard from our interviews with

40:55 ↗ city staff and members of the boards and

40:57 ↗ commissions. Staff also provided us with

40:59 ↗ some documentation which we reviewed,

41:01 ↗ but this is heavily based on perceptions

41:04 ↗ that were shared on those interviews.

41:06 ↗ One area where perception in actual

41:08 ↗ activities may vary is in the outreach

41:10 ↗ from city staff. While this came up with

41:13 ↗ a perceived gap in some interviews and

41:15 ↗ in particular specific postcard outreach

41:17 ↗ was not mentioned, we do know that

41:19 ↗ postcards went out across the city

41:21 ↗ during previous

41:23 ↗ years. Staff also highlighted places

41:25 ↗ where the city works with some local

41:26 ↗ community groups such as the circle on

41:29 ↗ Gilman and Y in the highlands, HOAs,

41:31 ↗ economic development groups, and a

41:33 ↗ presence in various city and HOA

41:36 ↗ newsletters. The perception here is that

41:38 ↗ anyone not part of these existing

41:40 ↗ networks is not being reached as part of

41:42 ↗ the recruitment process. We don't know

41:44 ↗ for sure who recruitment is reaching

41:45 ↗ since we cannot assess those who did not

41:48 ↗ apply, but there's a perception that

41:50 ↗ it's reaching the same people every

41:51 ↗ time. Finally, there's a perception that

41:54 ↗ materials are not translated widely into

41:56 ↗ languages other than English, which may

41:58 ↗ present barriers to reaching groups that

42:01 ↗ have other primary

42:03 ↗ languages. In terms

42:06 ↗ of our other findings, we looked at why

42:09 ↗ do people join. So very similar to your

42:11 ↗ opening question today as well as how

42:14 ↗ they found the position and barriers to

42:16 ↗ joining. In terms of why people joined,

42:19 ↗ we found that individuals shared

42:21 ↗ multiple reasons for joining, but by far

42:23 ↗ the two most common were a desire to

42:25 ↗ give back and to connect with community,

42:27 ↗ which was reflected, I think, today

42:29 ↗ during your opening and what all of you

42:31 ↗ shared for your reasons for coming to

42:32 ↗ the equity board. In terms of finding

42:35 ↗ the position, overall members found the

42:38 ↗ position either through existing

42:40 ↗ personal connections or when seeking out

42:42 ↗ a way to get more involved in the

42:44 ↗ community. Multiple cited the city

42:46 ↗ newsletter in particular as a place

42:48 ↗ where they first noticed the posting

42:50 ↗ when they were seeking a way to get

42:52 ↗ involved. Finally, members mentioned

42:54 ↗ overall that they had very little

42:56 ↗ hesitation and faced few barriers to

42:58 ↗ joining the board themselves. However,

43:01 ↗ they shared that they perceived others

43:02 ↗ may face hurdles to joining particularly

43:05 ↗ in terms of time commitment, a

43:07 ↗ perception of the expertise, background

43:09 ↗ or knowledge needed, lack of clarity

43:11 ↗ around what would be asked of them and

43:13 ↗ the scope of duties and a lack of

43:15 ↗ awareness of the board in general. I

43:18 ↗ will now pass it to Carter and he will

43:21 ↗ share our recommendations based on these

43:24 ↗ findings.

43:26 ↗ Uh hello. Uh I will be speaking to the

43:28 ↗ recommendation slides. In our findings,

43:30 ↗ we found a perceived hurdle that people

43:32 ↗ will self- select out due to a lack

43:35 ↗ experience and a need to increase the

43:37 ↗ visibility of translated materials. We

43:39 ↗ also found that there was an abundance

43:41 ↗ of traditional recruitment methods such

43:43 ↗ as print advertising, internal

43:45 ↗ hiring/board member referrals, and

43:47 ↗ in-person interviews. We also found the

43:49 ↗ gap in the board and dem demographics.

43:51 ↗ Uh while current practices attempt to

43:53 ↗ bridge that gap uh while working with

43:56 ↗ community local community groups and

43:58 ↗ increased presence in newsletters, we

44:00 ↗ find expo we find that exploring more

44:02 ↗ non-traditional recruitment methods can

44:04 ↗ improve this recruitment gap. Some

44:06 ↗ actions that could be associated with

44:08 ↗ non-traditional recruitment methods

44:09 ↗ include uh attending network events,

44:12 ↗ community events and conferences,

44:13 ↗ distributing fires in common languages

44:15 ↗ at specialty grocery stores, and

44:17 ↗ recruiting through social media to

44:19 ↗ create a more inclusive recruitment

44:21 ↗ process. Uh reduce the number of

44:23 ↗ interviews needed uh for the application

44:25 ↗ process and utilize ongoing partnerships

44:28 ↗ with nonprofit to communicate

44:30 ↗ expectations for serving by exploring

44:32 ↗ non-traditional uh methods of

44:34 ↗ recruitment. We believe that these can

44:37 ↗ pro uh could bridge the current

44:39 ↗ gaps for our uh recruitment related

44:42 ↗ recommendations. We believe that an

44:44 ↗ increase in communication and standard

44:46 ↗ uhization the board's process will

44:48 ↗ greatly improve the ability to find

44:50 ↗ solutions. For this, we recommend

44:52 ↗ following a co-creation style meeting

44:55 ↗ process. Co-creation uh is a powerful

44:57 ↗ tool to enhance brainstorming and can

45:00 ↗ empower board members to contribute.

45:02 ↗ These co-creation meetings can be uh

45:04 ↗ with a diverse networks that boards have

45:07 ↗ and use to help discover new and

45:09 ↗ creative ways to recruit. In our recruit

45:12 ↗ in our research and interviews, we found

45:14 ↗ uh many different types of board roles.

45:17 ↗ One of the most prominent ones we found

45:18 ↗ in Washington suburbs was the use of uh

45:22 ↗ community engagement. To that end, we

45:24 ↗ recommend increasing community

45:25 ↗ engagement opportunities. This can look

45:27 ↗ like attending and or co-planning

45:30 ↗ community- based events, creating

45:32 ↗ civicmies, supporting communitydriven

45:34 ↗ policy development, and co-undraising

45:37 ↗ with community- based

45:39 ↗ organizations. Now that we have

45:41 ↗ discussed the recruitment and

45:42 ↗ representation findings uh and our

45:44 ↗ current recommendations, we would love

45:46 ↗ to hear some feedback on them.

45:49 ↗ Is our first gap for any discussion,

45:51 ↗ thoughts,

45:52 ↗ questions? I'm happy to cut back to

45:54 ↗ slides.

45:57 ↗ Do you by chance have like retention

45:59 ↗ data about people because I see that you

46:02 ↗ have those who have applied from the

46:04 ↗ previous year. I'm just curious. Do you

46:05 ↗ have retention data of how many people

46:07 ↗ stay on the board um at all? We don't

46:10 ↗ have that right now. Okay. Yeah. Short

46:13 ↗ answer.

46:14 ↗ I have a question. As our board started,

46:17 ↗ we were online and we stayed optional.

46:19 ↗ And one of the conversations we had

46:21 ↗ early on in our move is the importance

46:23 ↗ to op offer online opportunities because

46:27 ↗ we've had members who might not be able

46:30 ↗ to access cars, transportation, child

46:33 ↗ care because all of those are limiting

46:35 ↗ factors for people to be able to

46:36 ↗ participate in community events and you

46:40 ↗ know service like this. Yeah. So I have

46:43 ↗ no clue. But do the

46:45 ↗ commissioners have on like optional

46:47 ↗ online meetings or do they have uh is it

46:51 ↗ required? Yeah. And we'll get talk a

46:54 ↗ little bit more more about this in our

46:56 ↗ second half. But the short answer is

46:57 ↗ yes. Almost everyone else that we talk

46:59 ↗ to tries to provide um online or zoom

47:03 ↗ options uh except for maybe some

47:05 ↗ specific meetings throughout the year.

47:08 ↗ And the other thing I was going to say

47:09 ↗ was while putting flyers and mailing

47:12 ↗ them is great, I think tapping into

47:14 ↗ social media is better because if you're

47:17 ↗ looking at communities that don't speak

47:20 ↗ the language, receiving a random flyer

47:22 ↗ saying, "Come join is meaningless. I'm

47:25 ↗ going to throw it out." But if it is

47:27 ↗ through a social network and a

47:29 ↗ conversation where people are like,

47:31 ↗ "Wait, what what is this and why are you

47:33 ↗ sharing this resource?" I think that is

47:35 ↗ better sharing

47:37 ↗ such opportunities to a more social

47:41 ↗ network rather than

47:49 ↗ Yeah, please. I was going to ask when

47:51 ↗ when you were all doing the assessment

47:54 ↗ or like gathering information about the

47:56 ↗ incentives, were people um suggesting

48:01 ↗ what incentives they would like for

48:03 ↗ joining a board? like was it you know

48:07 ↗ maybe flexibility of you know the

48:10 ↗ schedule or was it like um some kind of

48:13 ↗ pay or stipend or what you know what

48:16 ↗ whatever those reasons might be did that

48:18 ↗ come up at all came up a little bit. So

48:21 ↗ the my short answer is in in Isiqua

48:24 ↗ specifically we when we asked folks you

48:26 ↗ know were there barriers to applying

48:29 ↗ most folks said personally like we

48:31 ↗ didn't find any barriers. So to me a

48:32 ↗ barrier could be something like a stipen

48:34 ↗ or you know some sort of compensation or

48:37 ↗ other ways of thinking about

48:38 ↗ participation right uh there was a kind

48:40 ↗ of perceived barriers for others though

48:43 ↗ piece that came up a lot so in other

48:47 ↗ cities you know everyone has things

48:50 ↗ similar to Isqua has stipens uh folks

48:53 ↗ sometime again we're going to talk a

48:54 ↗ little bit more about this but folks

48:56 ↗ have things like child care like meals

48:58 ↗ like online options so there are a

49:01 ↗ variety of things, but we didn't have

49:02 ↗ anyone specifically and Jordan and

49:05 ↗ Maria, please tell me if you feel

49:06 ↗ differently, I don't believe we had

49:08 ↗ anyone specifically say like this is

49:10 ↗ something that I would look for.

49:14 ↗ So, just to kind of follow up on that,

49:16 ↗ so I know and Laura just kind of rattled

49:18 ↗ off a whole list of other possible

49:20 ↗ barriers and so um I don't it might be

49:24 ↗ like a gap in terms of the methodology

49:26 ↗ but um you know you asked these

49:29 ↗ questions of current board members and

49:32 ↗ so there's all the folks who decided not

49:34 ↗ to apply for barriers, right? And so I

49:38 ↗ think for us to fully understand that,

49:40 ↗ right, it's like are the perceived

49:42 ↗ barriers again. So that that's a little

49:45 ↗ bit of a gap in terms of what we know.

49:48 ↗ Just wanted to kind of note that. Yeah,

49:51 ↗ absolutely. We can't know what we can't

49:52 ↗ know because we don't have access to

49:54 ↗ those folks. So I think there's

49:55 ↗ certainly something to be said for, you

49:57 ↗ know, they may have faced this barrier

49:59 ↗ and we have no idea, right? Because

50:00 ↗ they're not here.

50:02 ↗ That's I had a quick question. So I know

50:05 ↗ you touched briefly on like training.

50:07 ↗ Um, so I believe new board members and

50:10 ↗ board and commission members go through

50:12 ↗ some kind of training as soon as they

50:13 ↗ join. Um, but did you get any take any

50:15 ↗ take from that?

50:17 ↗ Yeah, certainly. And yeah, again, we'll

50:20 ↗ be talking about a little bit more. So,

50:21 ↗ I love that you guys are bringing up

50:22 ↗ things that we're going to keep talking

50:24 ↗ about. It means we're on the right page,

50:25 ↗ I think. Um the yes board members

50:30 ↗ there's in isiqua there's a little bit

50:32 ↗ inconsistency around trainings that are

50:35 ↗ done on every board but folks do receive

50:37 ↗ some sort of at least like onboarding in

50:40 ↗ some sense but we'll talk a little bit

50:42 ↗ more about that and I hopefully I'll

50:44 ↗ hold on to that question if we don't

50:45 ↗ answer it I'll come back to it okay

50:48 ↗ do you have a percentage of how many

50:50 ↗ people will intentional search versus

50:52 ↗ existing cont connections I'm not sure

50:55 ↗ Jordan do you know that off the top of

50:56 ↗ your head. I'm just wondering because

50:58 ↗ you have so many coming from older squab

51:00 ↗ where it's a very tight-knit community

51:02 ↗ through word of mouth. It's really going

51:04 ↗ out and there are some people even in

51:06 ↗ our board who came out from intentional

51:09 ↗ searches. So besides that too, I'm

51:11 ↗ wondering how else do people find out

51:13 ↗ about absolutely physical proximity to

51:16 ↗ city hall. Like even just thinking about

51:19 ↗ like if you live close to city hall, you

51:21 ↗ probably think about the the activity of

51:23 ↗ the city more than if you live far from

51:24 ↗ city hall. potentially. Do you also have

51:27 ↗ age? I don't believe we have age data.

51:30 ↗ Is that correct, Jordan?

51:32 ↗ That is

51:34 ↗ correct. No,

51:36 ↗ because I once remember looking at the

51:38 ↗ data for Isiqua and we have a lot of um

51:41 ↗ older population and my question is how

51:45 ↗ much of the people how many of the

51:46 ↗ people who are participating are at a

51:49 ↗ certain age bracket and so are we

51:52 ↗ missing I mean we have our youth voices

51:54 ↗ but do we have that 20some year old age

51:58 ↗ range or are most boards primarily

52:00 ↗ though? Yeah, and I think part of the

52:03 ↗ discussion that we will want to have

52:05 ↗ with you and leave to you all is

52:07 ↗ thinking about, you know, within the

52:09 ↗ application process, folks are asked to

52:10 ↗ answer a series of demographic questions

52:12 ↗ like is there anything else that we want

52:14 ↗ to find out like age that we feel is

52:17 ↗ really important. So that's a good

52:19 ↗ question. Just to add to that, we did

52:22 ↗ have age come up quite frequently during

52:24 ↗ interviews as a place where maybe there

52:26 ↗ wasn't great representation on boards

52:28 ↗ and specifically that those younger

52:30 ↗ voices might be missing. Yeah. So,

52:33 ↗ there's a sense of it. We just don't

52:34 ↗ have the numbers. Yeah. I'm wondering if

52:37 ↗ we could take a pause to see if Heather

52:39 ↗ or Nisha on um on the team's meeting

52:43 ↗ have any, you know, questions or

52:44 ↗ comments. And definitely invite you to

52:46 ↗ raise your hand, use the raise hand

52:48 ↗ feature so we can make sure

52:51 ↗ I I don't really have a question, just a

52:53 ↗ comment. I think this is fascinating

52:56 ↗ data that's been acquired. Is this

52:58 ↗ something that

52:59 ↗ um is is shared with the community?

53:05 ↗ Yeah. So, I think I can maybe take that

53:07 ↗ one. So, this is the first of two

53:09 ↗ meetings that we're coming to with

53:10 ↗ Equity Board. We'll be back for your

53:12 ↗ June meeting um and again present this

53:15 ↗ data in a public meeting. Um so, it'll

53:17 ↗ be part of the public record. Um we also

53:20 ↗ as part of our contracting with the

53:21 ↗ Evans school get a final report out on a

53:24 ↗ lot of this um a nice glossy kind of

53:27 ↗ kind of item. Um that'll be shared with

53:29 ↗ other boards and commissions and I think

53:31 ↗ that's part of this next question of how

53:33 ↗ do we share how do we implement so um

53:36 ↗ it's available to the public but you

53:38 ↗ wouldn't but I obviously acknowledge

53:40 ↗ that you wouldn't know to look for it

53:41 ↗ unless you in this room. So,

53:47 ↗ and so just one one other question or I

53:50 ↗ thought I had related to the

53:52 ↗ recommendations and there was one around

53:53 ↗ kind

53:55 ↗ of it's not the word you all use but

53:57 ↗ like a targeted recruitment strategy

53:59 ↗ like so for me how I'm hearing that is

54:02 ↗ like if we if we know who our current

54:04 ↗ membership is and we know there's gaps

54:06 ↗ in rep representation

54:09 ↗ um is part of the next step to explore

54:12 ↗ the legality of like doing more targeted

54:15 ↗ recruitment to be able to intentionally

54:17 ↗ close those gaps or yeah I think it

54:20 ↗ probably goes hand inhand with this

54:21 ↗ question of what other data do we need

54:23 ↗ to know to know who we need to reach out

54:25 ↗ to I think those two have a sequencing

54:27 ↗ to them but there is a question of that

54:29 ↗ and that's something that we've been

54:30 ↗ talking about with our city clerks who

54:31 ↗ run a lot of that process so yeah and

54:35 ↗ and essentially it it comes out when

54:38 ↗ I've talked to other folks other cities

54:40 ↗ that comes out more in you know what

54:42 ↗ kind

54:42 ↗ what like larger communities do we

54:44 ↗ really want to advertise this to? Who do

54:46 ↗ we really want to start building bridges

54:48 ↗ with? So, it's it becomes more of kind

54:50 ↗ of a larger push to involve that

54:52 ↗ community rather than more like specific

54:55 ↗ targeting is how I might think about

54:57 ↗ addressing that. Yeah.

55:00 ↗ All right. Any other questions or

55:01 ↗ comments on this category? So, I'm not

55:04 ↗ sure who is saying yet about um age.

55:08 ↗ Just maybe it's not it's not my

55:09 ↗ question. Just something to keep in

55:10 ↗ mind.

55:11 ↗ Um, is there a way to like kind of

55:14 ↗ create a comparison I guess of the

55:16 ↗ boards or individuals who are on boards

55:18 ↗ who are saying there's um not enough

55:21 ↗ youth

55:22 ↗ representation comparing that to the

55:25 ↗ boards that offer uh youth

55:27 ↗ representative positions because I'm not

55:29 ↗ sure not all boards offer youth

55:32 ↗ representatives. Is that is that right?

55:34 ↗ That's correct. That is correct. Yeah.

55:35 ↗ This board, the environmental board,

55:38 ↗ transportation and I want to say

55:39 ↗ transportation advisory board. Yeah. So

55:41 ↗ maybe making a comparison on that way.

55:43 ↗ Maybe get more change um getting more

55:46 ↗ youth representative positions. Yeah.

55:51 ↗ Okay. I'm going to keep moving. All

55:54 ↗ right. Then I'm going to pass it over to

55:57 ↗ Maria. Take us into our next section.

56:00 ↗ Yeah. Great discussion and really

56:03 ↗ exciting to hear a lot of themes that

56:05 ↗ have been coming up um throughout also

56:08 ↗ this section of the presentation. And so

56:09 ↗ I think it'll be interesting to continue

56:12 ↗ and u hear um a little bit more about

56:14 ↗ the experiences and inclusion practices

56:17 ↗ that came up um from our findings as you

56:21 ↗ know as we interviewed the city of

56:22 ↗ Isiqua board and commission members. So

56:25 ↗ that's really the focus of this second

56:27 ↗ portion of the presentation is more when

56:30 ↗ somebody's on a board what is that

56:32 ↗ experience and how do they perceive

56:34 ↗ inclusion um throughout that process as

56:37 ↗ well. So we'll start by grounding

56:39 ↗ ourselves um a little bit in some of the

56:42 ↗ lit review. Uh so our lit review um

56:46 ↗ helped us identify really some of the

56:49 ↗ connections between inclusion and

56:51 ↗ experience on equity. Um so one of the

56:54 ↗ things of course is ensuring everyone

56:56 ↗ feels welcome, feels accepted and

56:58 ↗ valued. Um is kind of that bottom line

57:02 ↗ of building an inclusive and equitable

57:04 ↗ environment. So, there are a few

57:06 ↗ different ways that this can happen and

57:08 ↗ I'll say um that many of these things I

57:10 ↗ think are um practices that are already

57:13 ↗ in place to a certain degree within the

57:15 ↗ city of Isiqua's board and commissions.

57:17 ↗ So, some of these might be just

57:18 ↗ refreshers um but also just helpful to

57:21 ↗ kind of help ground ourselves as we go

57:23 ↗ through the findings and then the

57:25 ↗ recommendations kind of following that

57:26 ↗ same format as the the earlier section.

57:29 ↗ Um so I won't go in detail on each of

57:31 ↗ these um findings but the first one

57:35 ↗ focuses in on cocreation. So we already

57:38 ↗ heard the value of co-creation when it

57:41 ↗ came to recruitment. Very similarly

57:43 ↗ co-creation really creates that buyin

57:46 ↗ from everybody and allows for a dialogue

57:49 ↗ and helps to uncover any disparities or

57:52 ↗ gaps that might exist um across the

57:56 ↗ board. So really an opportunity for that

57:58 ↗ co-ownership and building of community

58:01 ↗ together. Something I think came up um

58:03 ↗ quite a bit was around equity training.

58:06 ↗ Um and this came up both in the context

58:08 ↗ of course of the interviews and I know

58:10 ↗ in just this discussion just prior. Um

58:13 ↗ so supporting ongoing equity trainings

58:16 ↗ for all board members is really um a

58:18 ↗ recommendation that came out in the in

58:20 ↗ the findings from the lit review. Um,

58:22 ↗ this can help align board members

58:25 ↗ understanding and commitment to equity

58:28 ↗ and I think really establishes a

58:30 ↗ starting point for everybody um to come

58:32 ↗ together to have shared definitions to

58:34 ↗ have the same sort of context to be able

58:37 ↗ to work um off of and then by repeating

58:40 ↗ and coming back to the material there's

58:42 ↗ opportunities to call in findings in

58:44 ↗ different times and places throughout

58:46 ↗ the

58:47 ↗ process. Next up we have shared

58:49 ↗ governance uh practices. So, a little

58:52 ↗ bit more of that like co-design,

58:54 ↗ co-development um here. Um so, really

58:57 ↗ just trying to capture the interests of

58:59 ↗ as many participants as possible. Um I

59:02 ↗ think we heard a little bit in the um in

59:05 ↗ the icebreaker the importance of lived

59:07 ↗ experience um and representation. So,

59:10 ↗ those sort of factors also come in to

59:12 ↗ influencing how how boards can operate.

59:16 ↗ Uh next we have uh leading to board

59:20 ↗ member retention. So a feeling of

59:22 ↗ inclusion, a feeling of belonging uh

59:24 ↗ leads to that longevity of so many board

59:27 ↗ members. Um and the great experiences

59:29 ↗ that were shared as part of the

59:31 ↗ interviews or many great experiences

59:32 ↗ that were shared as part of the

59:33 ↗ interviews. Um, and this is really

59:36 ↗ about, you know, feeling empowered to

59:38 ↗ step in, feeling a sense of ownership

59:40 ↗ and an engagement throughout this whole

59:41 ↗ process of being a board or commission

59:44 ↗ member. And then lastly, um,

59:46 ↗ establishing clear board member roles

59:48 ↗ and responsibilities um, can also just

59:52 ↗ create more clarity and helping

59:54 ↗ everybody understand, you know, how how

59:56 ↗ to best contribute uh, to the broader

59:58 ↗ kind of collective um, uh, environment

1:00:01 ↗ that we're building here.

1:00:04 ↗ So moving forward into the uh interview

1:00:08 ↗ findings, um we found that board members

1:00:11 ↗ perceptions of inclusion really aligned

1:00:13 ↗ with a lot of those findings. Um so um

1:00:17 ↗ one thing was this feeling of being

1:00:20 ↗ supported. So a feeling of inclusion

1:00:21 ↗ that is started by the staff liaison. Um

1:00:24 ↗ that yields or translates into greater

1:00:27 ↗ comfort speaking up in meetings. You

1:00:29 ↗ know those ice breakers. I think having

1:00:31 ↗ that that place to really start that

1:00:33 ↗ dialogue and ensure that everybody's

1:00:35 ↗ voice is brought in is also something

1:00:37 ↗ that was brought up as a finding um or

1:00:40 ↗ brought up in a lot of the interviews.

1:00:42 ↗ So a finding as well um we also heard

1:00:46 ↗ though on the other end so for newer

1:00:49 ↗ members and it's great to hear so many

1:00:50 ↗ of the new members already sharing in

1:00:52 ↗ this meeting alone. Um but for newer

1:00:55 ↗ members um there is a little bit of a

1:00:57 ↗ kind of transition to feel more

1:01:00 ↗ comfortable right there's not only maybe

1:01:02 ↗ the technical uh learning curve of the

1:01:05 ↗ the content that's at hand but there's

1:01:07 ↗ also uh kind of that dual nature of

1:01:10 ↗ trying to understand what it means to

1:01:12 ↗ actually be a board and commission

1:01:13 ↗ member. Um, fortunately over time, uh,

1:01:17 ↗ new members had a tendency to feel a lot

1:01:20 ↗ more comfortable and things like

1:01:22 ↗ mentoring, uh, the one-on- ones that

1:01:24 ↗ some of the chairs were offering were

1:01:26 ↗ ways that newer, uh, interviewees had

1:01:29 ↗ shared help support them in that process

1:01:31 ↗ as well. Um, and then lastly, we have on

1:01:35 ↗ this slide, um, the overarching desire

1:01:37 ↗ to see increased overall communication.

1:01:40 ↗ Um, so I know there's so much

1:01:42 ↗ information that you all cover in these

1:01:44 ↗ uh board meetings. Um, but uh just kind

1:01:47 ↗ of that refresher around, you know, how

1:01:49 ↗ the information is being relayed and

1:01:51 ↗ kind of the feedback loops um between

1:01:54 ↗ particularly the recommendations that

1:01:56 ↗ the boards are u making um and then the

1:01:59 ↗ information that might land in the hands

1:02:01 ↗ of the council. So that was a particular

1:02:04 ↗ kind of feedback loop that was called

1:02:06 ↗ out um as perhaps an opportunity to

1:02:09 ↗ continue to enhance um kind of the

1:02:12 ↗ findings of what the takeaways were.

1:02:15 ↗ Moving to the next slide. Um just a few

1:02:18 ↗ additional findings that our interviews

1:02:20 ↗ revealed. Um so equity discussions um

1:02:25 ↗ that were happening in boards were often

1:02:27 ↗ driven by um individuals. So individual

1:02:30 ↗ board members um and sometimes the

1:02:32 ↗ chairs or the staff liaison kind of

1:02:35 ↗ taking more of those core roles. Um so

1:02:39 ↗ that that was one thing that we saw. Uh

1:02:42 ↗ another one was that equity trainings

1:02:44 ↗ are not always consistent um in terms of

1:02:47 ↗ the content, the cadence, the quality,

1:02:50 ↗ the applicability to policy areas. Um,

1:02:54 ↗ and then not everybody um recalled um

1:02:58 ↗ having an equity training um but uh for

1:03:02 ↗ those that did um they they they uh

1:03:06 ↗ spoke highly of it as well. And then

1:03:09 ↗ moving forward we had sense of

1:03:12 ↗ community. Um so I think this is kind of

1:03:14 ↗ that reoccurring sense of inclusion, a

1:03:16 ↗ sense of belonging um that helps support

1:03:18 ↗ this ongoing engagement. Um, so things

1:03:22 ↗ like uh engaging outside in more social

1:03:25 ↗ uh spaces like going out to eat, which I

1:03:27 ↗ believe you all are doing after this

1:03:29 ↗ meeting. Um, events at like the

1:03:31 ↗ Pickering Barn, just places for more

1:03:33 ↗ casual conversation were things that

1:03:36 ↗ help support um, board members feeling

1:03:38 ↗ of inclusion and belonging. And then

1:03:41 ↗ lastly, um, accommodations. I think this

1:03:44 ↗ also came up earlier in one of the

1:03:46 ↗ questions or comments. Um so

1:03:48 ↗ opportunities to continue to remind

1:03:50 ↗ folks around things like the stipen that

1:03:53 ↗ it exists, how to access it. Um the

1:03:55 ↗ opportunities for potentially um

1:03:57 ↗ translating materials or knowing when

1:04:00 ↗ things could or could not be translated

1:04:03 ↗ or what the process was to even bring

1:04:05 ↗ that up. So just getting a little bit

1:04:07 ↗ greater clarity around some of those um

1:04:10 ↗ accommodations would also be

1:04:12 ↗ appreciated. Um so those were just some

1:04:15 ↗ highlights. There are plenty of other

1:04:17 ↗ recommendations um or findings I mean

1:04:19 ↗ that will uh overview in the report but

1:04:22 ↗ with that I want to hand it over to

1:04:24 ↗ Carter who can then review some of the

1:04:26 ↗ recommendations that we have for this

1:04:28 ↗ section.

1:04:30 ↗ Thank you Maria. Hello again. Uh due to

1:04:33 ↗ the gap we found uh about communication

1:04:36 ↗ transparency between the city and the

1:04:39 ↗ boards and commissions uh we wanted to

1:04:42 ↗ reduce this gap. So we recommend

1:04:43 ↗ creating mechanisms to report back. It

1:04:46 ↗ can look like starting each meeting with

1:04:47 ↗ a segment of reporting feedback from the

1:04:50 ↗ city. This loop will help increase

1:04:52 ↗ communications transparency

1:04:53 ↗ accountability, and engagement as

1:04:55 ↗ members will be more aware of how their

1:04:56 ↗ contributions are being used by the

1:04:59 ↗ city. We also found that the current

1:05:01 ↗ training practices on the boards and

1:05:03 ↗ commissions could greatly benefit uh

1:05:04 ↗ from improvement. We recommend

1:05:06 ↗ establishing a standardized equity

1:05:08 ↗ training process as part of the

1:05:09 ↗ onboarding for equity members and all

1:05:12 ↗ members. Uh that includes the following

1:05:14 ↗ and established uh establishing a shared

1:05:16 ↗ language by defining key equity related

1:05:19 ↗ terms. Aligning and introducing shared

1:05:22 ↗ equity values for the board to hold. Uh

1:05:25 ↗ providing uh an understanding of local

1:05:27 ↗ disparities. Ensuring clarity on roles

1:05:29 ↗ and responsibilities. uh using case

1:05:31 ↗ studies relevant to the board's scope

1:05:33 ↗ and explaining potential biases.

1:05:36 ↗ Uh and then additionally offering

1:05:39 ↗ additional resources for continued

1:05:40 ↗ growth. Uh additionally, we uh recommend

1:05:43 ↗ taking this training a bit further by

1:05:45 ↗ establishing equity trainings for

1:05:47 ↗ specific policy areas. This would give

1:05:49 ↗ tools uh this would give uh members the

1:05:51 ↗ tools needed to uh be more effective and

1:05:54 ↗ sensitive to equity concerns within the

1:05:56 ↗ community. uh to continue. We found that

1:05:59 ↗ there's also challenges uh in

1:06:01 ↗ collaboration across the boards. And to

1:06:03 ↗ help bridge these gaps, we recommend

1:06:04 ↗ creating more spaces for collaboration.

1:06:07 ↗ These opportunities would be for all

1:06:09 ↗ board uh all boards to come together,

1:06:11 ↗ building a deeper repertoire between

1:06:13 ↗ them. Some potential community events

1:06:14 ↗ can include potlugs, outdoor movie,

1:06:17 ↗ outdoor movie screenings, and retreats.

1:06:19 ↗ The purpose is to bring uh different

1:06:21 ↗ boards together to build a stronger

1:06:23 ↗ community. Lastly, we uh see that

1:06:26 ↗ there's inconsistencies across the

1:06:28 ↗ current onboarding practices. We found

1:06:30 ↗ that newer members are uh less likely to

1:06:32 ↗ speak up. To find solutions for these

1:06:35 ↗ two things, we recommended we recommend

1:06:37 ↗ standardizing the current onboarding

1:06:38 ↗ process and adding additional onboarding

1:06:40 ↗ options. These options can look like uh

1:06:42 ↗ one-on-one board onboarding with staff

1:06:45 ↗ uh board buddies or any other program to

1:06:47 ↗ really improve the onboarding process.

1:06:49 ↗ We believe uh this will help build

1:06:50 ↗ relationships and uh create a more

1:06:53 ↗ inclusive environment. And with all that

1:06:56 ↗ said,

1:06:57 ↗ uh now that we discussed inclusion and

1:06:59 ↗ equity findings and our current

1:07:01 ↗ recommendations on those, we would love

1:07:02 ↗ to hear your feedback about them.

1:07:07 ↗ Yeah. So again, any thoughts, comments,

1:07:10 ↗ questions?

1:07:12 ↗ I don't know if we got to your point

1:07:13 ↗ about trainings that you were thinking

1:07:15 ↗ about equity training. Okay. Okay.

1:07:19 ↗ Were there any um thoughts about the

1:07:22 ↗ city website

1:07:25 ↗ like accessibility, ease of use, um etc.

1:07:29 ↗ Yes, we talked about that a bit and I

1:07:32 ↗ was actually uh we're considering some

1:07:34 ↗ additional recommendation options that

1:07:36 ↗ do include uh making the website more

1:07:39 ↗ accessible for uh all members of the

1:07:41 ↗ community.

1:07:43 ↗ Is that something that um in terms of

1:07:46 ↗ accessibility, are you thinking about

1:07:47 ↗ usability, language, like what comes to

1:07:49 ↗ mind for you?

1:07:52 ↗ Uh like easier way to get to places on

1:07:55 ↗ the site. Um I tried to get a few places

1:07:58 ↗ and it was a little bit of a runaround

1:08:00 ↗ and I couldn't always find what I was

1:08:02 ↗ looking for. Yes. So I still have

1:08:04 ↗ questions I probably ask you about, but

1:08:06 ↗ bring them my way. Certainly. Yes. I

1:08:09 ↗ mean, government websites are known for

1:08:11 ↗ their usability. I believe

1:08:14 ↗ I'm thinking like it could lead to

1:08:15 ↗ frustrations and stuff and like

1:08:19 ↗ absolutely I mean more than more than

1:08:21 ↗ one of you struggled to submit your

1:08:23 ↗ application

1:08:25 ↗ um and had to submit a a separate

1:08:28 ↗ document. So, you know, there there's

1:08:30 ↗ both the bigger accessibility issues and

1:08:32 ↗ then there's like the can you submit

1:08:34 ↗ your application for a board position

1:08:36 ↗ without getting an error screen. Um that

1:08:39 ↗ yeah that's a thing too that came off

1:08:41 ↗ this round. Totally. And again you know

1:08:42 ↗ to the question of we don't know what we

1:08:44 ↗ don't know of folks who couldn't access

1:08:46 ↗ who couldn't get there right who

1:08:47 ↗ couldn't submit their applications. But

1:08:50 ↗ I I think that yeah it's absolutely a

1:08:52 ↗ point to consider. Yeah. In talking to

1:08:55 ↗ any of the board and commission members

1:08:56 ↗ did you talk to anyone who left within a

1:08:59 ↗ year? I think we only spoke to current

1:09:02 ↗ board members. So, no is the short

1:09:05 ↗ answer because I think one of the

1:09:07 ↗ questions I'm wondering is why people

1:09:09 ↗ leave and doing exit surveys because I

1:09:12 ↗ love all of the work you've done and

1:09:15 ↗ information you've gotten but I'm also

1:09:17 ↗ wondering why some people leave.

1:09:19 ↗ Absolutely. What were barriers?

1:09:22 ↗ I see. I know when you were doing the

1:09:25 ↗ recruitment I was asking a lot about

1:09:26 ↗ inclusion. Now I feel like you've done

1:09:28 ↗ the inclusion and I'm looking at No,

1:09:30 ↗ it's all linked. So appreciate because I

1:09:33 ↗ think my question is as people are

1:09:35 ↗ coming in, what are some what are some

1:09:38 ↗ strategies and some things in place like

1:09:41 ↗ what are we thinking to put in place to

1:09:43 ↗ make sure they feel welcome to even step

1:09:45 ↗ into the running, right? Because

1:09:49 ↗ you just said we don't know and all of

1:09:51 ↗ this is like what to do once they're in

1:09:53 ↗ the door, but how do we get them even in

1:09:55 ↗ the parking lot? Yeah. And so we can do

1:09:58 ↗ chats with them at that point. to meet

1:10:01 ↗ with them. So, yeah, I think you did

1:10:03 ↗ have doing community engagement, you got

1:10:06 ↗ to share that. Um because a one-on-one

1:10:09 ↗ and heavy recruiting or be available I

1:10:13 ↗ think is really important because you

1:10:14 ↗ don't know what you don't know.

1:10:16 ↗ Absolutely. And I I think you know yeah

1:10:18 ↗ there's this kind of spectrum of

1:10:19 ↗ entrance like where we where can we

1:10:21 ↗ reach out to people and so we focus on

1:10:24 ↗ this area where we don't have

1:10:25 ↗ information but again as you said

1:10:27 ↗ there's all these other factors as well.

1:10:29 ↗ So thinking about where can you grow

1:10:30 ↗ longer relationships with communities

1:10:33 ↗ and it kind of gets at that broader

1:10:35 ↗ bridge building. And that's why I was

1:10:37 ↗ kind of looking at the retention data

1:10:38 ↗ because I'm like how long does someone

1:10:40 ↗ stay on and if you have every year

1:10:42 ↗ you're refreshing your list and everyone

1:10:44 ↗ who knew then yeah what is the look back

1:10:48 ↗ of the reasoning right absolutely um I

1:10:51 ↗ would also recommend maybe like instead

1:10:52 ↗ of so there's like exit surveys are

1:10:55 ↗ great also state interviews as people

1:10:57 ↗ are already on the board continuously

1:10:59 ↗ check in with their onboarding buddies

1:11:01 ↗ and be like what inspires you what's

1:11:03 ↗ keeping you going on here what could be

1:11:06 ↗ better um to kind of be a little bit

1:11:07 ↗ more proactive. Yeah. About that. I

1:11:10 ↗ think adding on to both their points um

1:11:12 ↗ the newest board drummers like us like

1:11:15 ↗ what we went through to kind of apply

1:11:17 ↗ and get through it. Like I mean I can

1:11:19 ↗ tell you the struggles I had to do it.

1:11:22 ↗ So I mean that's like information that

1:11:25 ↗ of the people who are here who are like

1:11:27 ↗ almost done here, right? Yeah. Yeah.

1:11:29 ↗ Absolutely. Yeah. And I think just uh

1:11:32 ↗ one more piece is oh some of the the

1:11:34 ↗ things that we're bringing in are of um

1:11:37 ↗ we the inclusion pieces what we heard

1:11:40 ↗ anecdotally from other cities and

1:11:42 ↗ leaison of why wasn't necessarily

1:11:45 ↗ specific reasons but why they thought

1:11:47 ↗ folks might be leaving and a lot of it

1:11:49 ↗ came down to some of the structure

1:11:50 ↗ pieces we talked about. So what is

1:11:52 ↗ someone's expectation of being on the

1:11:54 ↗ board? What what do they believe can and

1:11:56 ↗ can't get done and do those things match

1:11:59 ↗ to what the city is looking for? Right.

1:12:01 ↗ Um the other piece of it is around some

1:12:03 ↗ of what we already talked about around

1:12:05 ↗ the barriers of it's just too much of a

1:12:07 ↗ time commitment and it's I you know but

1:12:10 ↗ it's really often a combination. It's a

1:12:12 ↗ time commitment and I don't feel like I

1:12:13 ↗ know what I'm doing. It's usually it's

1:12:15 ↗ less one or the other. It's not just oh

1:12:16 ↗ it's too much time. It's I also like

1:12:18 ↗ don't feel quite right or I don't feel

1:12:20 ↗ like quite like I know what I'm doing.

1:12:22 ↗ So that's all anecdotal but a little bit

1:12:24 ↗ of information. Yeah. Yeah. And in terms

1:12:27 ↗ of the on boarding training, I know the

1:12:29 ↗ equity board has board buddies and when

1:12:31 ↗ I first joined that was really helpful

1:12:32 ↗ because I got to know like more I got to

1:12:34 ↗ speak to someone on the board who told

1:12:36 ↗ me more more about the equity board than

1:12:37 ↗ just like the little description on the

1:12:39 ↗ city website which was really helpful.

1:12:41 ↗ Um and also kind of going back I know we

1:12:43 ↗ talked about like how trying to get like

1:12:45 ↗ more members that aren't just like

1:12:46 ↗ recommended for the board. like during

1:12:48 ↗ interviews, did you get like any

1:12:49 ↗ feedback from current members like on

1:12:51 ↗ how to reach out to people who aren't

1:12:53 ↗ necessarily like um like in any is the

1:12:56 ↗ Quest City boards yet or aren't are like

1:12:58 ↗ new to the community? I was wondering

1:13:00 ↗ like any different like other than

1:13:01 ↗ flyers and like social media. But yeah,

1:13:03 ↗ and I'll I'll let Marie or Jordan jump

1:13:04 ↗ in, but I think the big piece was really

1:13:06 ↗ uh kind of what we already talked about

1:13:08 ↗ of like building bridges with various

1:13:09 ↗ like nonprofit organizations and other

1:13:12 ↗ folks that uh can help kind of broaden

1:13:14 ↗ that funnel for recruitment. Jordan

1:13:16 ↗ Maria, anything you'd add there of of

1:13:18 ↗ things you heard?

1:13:21 ↗ I think one other thing was just the

1:13:22 ↗ general awareness of boards and

1:13:24 ↗ commissions. Um, and interestingly, the

1:13:27 ↗ youth board is one that is out in the

1:13:29 ↗ community a lot and doing a lot and so

1:13:32 ↗ many people and you too youth advisory

1:13:34 ↗ members can speak to this better than I

1:13:36 ↗ can. um but has that is getting involved

1:13:41 ↗ with youth but it seemed like when we

1:13:43 ↗ were talking to youth members they're

1:13:44 ↗ like we did the triathlon and had no

1:13:46 ↗ idea it was connected to the boards and

1:13:48 ↗ commissions. So just capitalizing on

1:13:51 ↗ things that are already happening and

1:13:53 ↗ saying like this is part of this larger

1:13:55 ↗ thing and here's how you could get more

1:13:57 ↗ involved in it and thinking about other

1:13:59 ↗ events that boards and commissions are

1:14:01 ↗ already at and have a presence at to

1:14:04 ↗ help build that community awareness

1:14:07 ↗ was another thing that came up.

1:14:11 ↗ Thanks. One one thing I'm thinking about

1:14:14 ↗ in terms of like tactically implementing

1:14:16 ↗ the recommendations that are laid out.

1:14:19 ↗ Um so the way the the findings and

1:14:22 ↗ recommendations are presented, it's kind

1:14:24 ↗ of treating all of the boards and

1:14:26 ↗ commissions as a single unit when we all

1:14:29 ↗ have very different practices

1:14:32 ↗ um and bylaws and ground rules. And so

1:14:36 ↗ like you know when I saw some of the

1:14:38 ↗ recommended actions you know I I feel

1:14:40 ↗ like the equity board is doing a number

1:14:42 ↗ of them. And so for part of me and I

1:14:44 ↗ think in turn in terms of turning

1:14:46 ↗ recommendations to actions, it might be

1:14:48 ↗ helpful to think about whether you can

1:14:51 ↗ um maybe show what those gaps are by the

1:14:55 ↗ specific boards and commissions because

1:14:58 ↗ otherwise you know I think you'll have

1:14:59 ↗ board members, staff liaison trying to

1:15:02 ↗ piece it apart and figure out okay what

1:15:04 ↗ is more actionable for our board or

1:15:06 ↗ commission. Um, and then I'm also

1:15:08 ↗ thinking about a next step is, you know,

1:15:10 ↗ with I know Tisha's kind of involved at

1:15:13 ↗ kind of the overarching layer. It might

1:15:17 ↗ be thinking about what is standard

1:15:19 ↗ governance. So I know you you all talked

1:15:22 ↗ about like standardizing certain

1:15:23 ↗ elements, but like you know across the

1:15:26 ↗ board, what are some standard practices,

1:15:28 ↗ you know, for all boards and commissions

1:15:31 ↗ and where should that variation be

1:15:34 ↗ allowed to happen to like bubble up, you

1:15:37 ↗ know, innovative ideas, better ideas,

1:15:40 ↗ but um I think it would save a lot of

1:15:42 ↗ time and energy if if the known best

1:15:45 ↗ practices are just standard across

1:15:48 ↗ boards and commissions. that might be

1:15:49 ↗ helpful in terms of moving forward like

1:15:52 ↗ what what is something that all boards

1:15:53 ↗ and commissions need to do? Uh what is

1:15:56 ↗ the gap for specific boards and

1:15:58 ↗ commissions and then you know then I

1:16:00 ↗ think with like the boards and the staff

1:16:02 ↗ leaison there could be some specific

1:16:04 ↗ action plans for each one about which

1:16:07 ↗ ones to move forward with because like I

1:16:09 ↗ think you know the highest priority for

1:16:10 ↗ the city it kind of depends on which

1:16:12 ↗ board or commissioner. So I think

1:16:15 ↗ building on and the second question I

1:16:18 ↗ know you guys were talking about how

1:16:21 ↗ there's different equity trainings for

1:16:23 ↗ different boards. I would say at least

1:16:25 ↗ for me that stood out to me the most. If

1:16:27 ↗ you have inconsistencies in what

1:16:28 ↗ people's understanding of equity is uh

1:16:31 ↗ what they think they should do that's

1:16:33 ↗ going to have an impact on their

1:16:34 ↗ policies, how they interact with other

1:16:37 ↗ boards and hence have an impact on the

1:16:40 ↗ community in some way either positive or

1:16:41 ↗ negative. And I think that's something

1:16:43 ↗ that we should address.

1:16:45 ↗ The one thing I also want to say is in

1:16:48 ↗ creating a board and being very mindful

1:16:51 ↗ who's already on the board and whose

1:16:53 ↗ voice is being heard and whose voice is

1:16:56 ↗ missing because I know that sometimes

1:16:59 ↗ even in equity boards like ours that can

1:17:02 ↗ become an issue. So constantly being

1:17:05 ↗ mindful and what is in writing as you

1:17:08 ↗ were saying you know you we need to be

1:17:10 ↗ more mindful and things need to be

1:17:11 ↗ written. So I don't think even we have

1:17:13 ↗ it in right now we are looking for

1:17:15 ↗ representation to represent our

1:17:18 ↗ community and so what does that you

1:17:20 ↗ showed us that was one of the first data

1:17:21 ↗ slides you said you showing you know

1:17:23 ↗ Hispanic black and all of that but how

1:17:26 ↗ how do we ensure that there's good

1:17:29 ↗ representation and so people are

1:17:33 ↗ applying what is their role so for

1:17:36 ↗ example in like government you have

1:17:38 ↗ congress people have to be from certain

1:17:41 ↗ number from each state. So in coming

1:17:43 ↗ into a board, do you have some kind of

1:17:46 ↗ a representation location or some kind

1:17:50 ↗ of identity that someone needs to have

1:17:53 ↗ to be part of that board so that you can

1:17:56 ↗ ensure voice and representation? Yeah,

1:17:59 ↗ it's great. It's a great question and

1:18:00 ↗ it's one I I'll tell you every board

1:18:02 ↗ struggles with and every city struggles

1:18:04 ↗ with and so you've really hit upon

1:18:06 ↗ something that it's like a gnarly thing

1:18:07 ↗ to to work out. Yeah.

1:18:12 ↗ Well, I'm curious um in hearing from you

1:18:15 ↗ all. I know you interviewed folks in

1:18:17 ↗ other

1:18:18 ↗ jurisdictions and

1:18:21 ↗ um overall how did how did we compare to

1:18:25 ↗ what you learned across Yeah. Yeah. And

1:18:28 ↗ I think we we try to highlight some of

1:18:30 ↗ it throughout this, but to kind of

1:18:31 ↗ summarize it in full, um I would say

1:18:36 ↗ that overall Isqua is doing like a

1:18:40 ↗ pretty good job break in comparison.

1:18:42 ↗ Again, most of our data is anecdotal,

1:18:44 ↗ but overall pretty good. I think what

1:18:46 ↗ we've seen is, you know, Isqua has a

1:18:49 ↗ growth mindset. Um and other cities are

1:18:52 ↗ working on similar things. Obviously

1:18:55 ↗ there's always room to grow but kind of

1:18:57 ↗ a similar boat. Uh we've seen less

1:19:00 ↗ consistency across boards to the point

1:19:02 ↗ you were talking about around uh

1:19:05 ↗ operations. So trainings you know

1:19:08 ↗ guidance leaison recruitment other

1:19:10 ↗ boards try have worked a little bit more

1:19:12 ↗ in terms of their clarity and

1:19:14 ↗ consistency in those areas. Um similarly

1:19:18 ↗ staff I think I mentioned this already

1:19:19 ↗ but staff on other boards mentioned

1:19:21 ↗ clear policy and procedure is a big part

1:19:24 ↗ of retention and so getting some of

1:19:27 ↗ those stricter and more standardized

1:19:30 ↗ governance practices in place could be

1:19:32 ↗ really helpful um centralized place for

1:19:35 ↗ trainings and resources um and

1:19:38 ↗ opportunities for overlap. So those are

1:19:40 ↗ kind of our big takeaways in comparison.

1:19:42 ↗ And then a lot of the different actions

1:19:44 ↗ and recommendations we brought in are

1:19:46 ↗ all things we got from speaking with

1:19:49 ↗ other cities. Those things other folks

1:19:51 ↗ are actively trying to uh use in to

1:19:55 ↗ combat some of those gaps. So we'll have

1:19:57 ↗ a lot more on that in our specific paper

1:20:00 ↗ once we've done more.

1:20:06 ↗ I had one question running short on

1:20:09 ↗ time, but just I wanted to revisit the

1:20:12 ↗ representation chart that you had. Yeah,

1:20:14 ↗ absolutely. And um I've been talking

1:20:17 ↗ about this for like the last 30 minutes,

1:20:19 ↗ so I don't really have You want the geog

1:20:21 ↗ geography or the demograph? Yes. So I'm

1:20:24 ↗ curious if we were to apply an equity

1:20:27 ↗ lens on this.

1:20:30 ↗ I I'm wondering if trying to have

1:20:33 ↗ representation at par with the

1:20:35 ↗ population is one way to look at it, but

1:20:39 ↗ really having representation that tries

1:20:42 ↗ to battle the inequities that exist. In

1:20:45 ↗ other words, like having greater

1:20:48 ↗ representation for communities that are

1:20:50 ↗ facing larger inequities would seem

1:20:53 ↗ appropriate. So, for example, let's just

1:20:56 ↗ say 60% white. Maybe they're only

1:21:00 ↗ suffering from 30% of the inequities

1:21:02 ↗ that we see in our community. Maybe we

1:21:04 ↗ need 30% representation there, but

1:21:07 ↗ perhaps, you know, 20% from blacks even

1:21:11 ↗ though they're only 4% of the community.

1:21:14 ↗ So, I'm just wondering like how would we

1:21:16 ↗ apply the equity lens on this? What have

1:21:19 ↗ you found in your research? And what do

1:21:20 ↗ we think as as a board on Do these bars

1:21:24 ↗ need to match up or actually they need

1:21:26 ↗ to be biased towards the inequities that

1:21:29 ↗ exist? They're over representing big

1:21:32 ↗ groups that are furthest from

1:21:34 ↗ opportunity. Yeah,

1:21:36 ↗ great point. Yeah, it's a great point. I

1:21:39 ↗ don't I don't know that we have any

1:21:40 ↗ specific there's no specific research on

1:21:43 ↗ exact makeups. I think it's what we've

1:21:45 ↗ probably seen is you need a a

1:21:47 ↗ combination of different people and you

1:21:49 ↗ need practices that back up that

1:21:51 ↗ representation. I don't necessarily have

1:21:53 ↗ specific numbers for you, but I think

1:21:55 ↗ there is something to be said for

1:21:57 ↗ bringing in that idea of, you know, um

1:22:00 ↗ or is it do you want Yeah. do you want

1:22:02 ↗ parody or do you need to think about

1:22:04 ↗ whose voices have traditionally not been

1:22:06 ↗ heard?

1:22:08 ↗ Yeah, I would love everyone's ideas. Is

1:22:10 ↗ it possible to do your demographic

1:22:12 ↗ representation based on board members

1:22:14 ↗ and commissions as well?

1:22:16 ↗ I think I think we can also have clarity

1:22:20 ↗ on city city population, right? Yes.

1:22:22 ↗ Okay. I think there's a chart in the

1:22:25 ↗ back that breaks this down. Um boarding

1:22:27 ↗ commission like you can see the arts

1:22:29 ↗ commission, the equity boards different

1:22:31 ↗ characteristics. I think I messed that.

1:22:33 ↗ Sorry. No, no, no. You're good. It was I

1:22:36 ↗ have it by year. I don't have it by

1:22:38 ↗ specific. Oh, okay. It's floated around.

1:22:41 ↗ So we'll add it in the next cuz I don't

1:22:43 ↗ I was looking for data like for the

1:22:45 ↗ economic committee what was the

1:22:47 ↗ representation because I know this

1:22:48 ↗ committee is very diverse but I wondered

1:22:50 ↗ about some of the other committees and

1:22:52 ↗ in that work when they're doing that

1:22:54 ↗ work what is the intention and who are

1:22:57 ↗ they trying to make sure their voices in

1:22:59 ↗ the community that they're serving and

1:23:02 ↗ so how we and yeah we think we have to

1:23:06 ↗ be done is is unknown like other or is

1:23:09 ↗ it like they didn't Sir, the the latter.

1:23:12 ↗ Okay. Would it also be possible to add

1:23:15 ↗ the years? So, the people who are on the

1:23:17 ↗ board, the years that they lived in is

1:23:19 ↗ because I know that was a question on

1:23:21 ↗ the application of how many years did

1:23:23 ↗ you live here? Yeah, that's fascinating.

1:23:25 ↗ I don't know that we have that data for

1:23:26 ↗ all of them at the moment. Jordan, I

1:23:29 ↗ might be wrong, but I don't think we

1:23:31 ↗ have data for everyone on years lived in

1:23:33 ↗ Isiqua. I have not seen that data. Um,

1:23:37 ↗ but Jillian or Andrea, let us know if

1:23:39 ↗ you have it and I'd be happy to play

1:23:41 ↗ around with it. Exists.

1:23:45 ↗ Sorry, can I follow up? Um, so since

1:23:47 ↗ this since unknown is people who didn't

1:23:49 ↗ answer um is there an other?

1:23:54 ↗ So all the I don't believe so. All the

1:23:56 ↗ demographic data is optional. Got for

1:23:59 ↗ the most part. So um I don't know. I

1:24:02 ↗ don't Jordan again this Jordan did all

1:24:04 ↗ of our analysis. I don't believe other

1:24:05 ↗ was an option. I just know personal

1:24:07 ↗ experience they told Middle Eastern

1:24:09 ↗ people to put white which is why

1:24:11 ↗ sometimes it's like a little bit like

1:24:13 ↗ but it's not. So, you know, it's kind of

1:24:15 ↗ like Absolutely. This is this is all

1:24:17 ↗ mapped to what's on census data, right?

1:24:20 ↗ Which is the census does that. Okay. So,

1:24:22 ↗ that's that's why these are specific

1:24:24 ↗ categories because we're trying to it

1:24:26 ↗ because unfortunately to collect data

1:24:28 ↗ and compare it, we have to relate it to

1:24:30 ↗ what's there. No, no. I think I think

1:24:33 ↗ it's a great point though like it it is

1:24:35 ↗ not necessarily capturing everything

1:24:37 ↗ because we're trying to map it to this

1:24:39 ↗ existing data set. Yeah. And your data

1:24:41 ↗ source is the application form that

1:24:44 ↗ board members use in their application.

1:24:46 ↗ Yeah. Okay. So, I know we're wrapping

1:24:49 ↗ down winding down time. Dale, don't give

1:24:52 ↗ me the Ray Ray already came over here to

1:24:54 ↗ ask where all of you were. So, that's

1:24:56 ↗ why I just stepped out. So, I think

1:24:59 ↗ Laura has one more question. I also want

1:25:01 ↗ to check really quickly to see if

1:25:02 ↗ Heather had a question on the team. No.

1:25:05 ↗ Okay, that's cool. So, Laura, I just

1:25:08 ↗ want to wonder, do you have

1:25:10 ↗ socioeconomic data and LGBTQ data as

1:25:14 ↗ part of this? Because I'm wondering

1:25:15 ↗ again some commissions we might want to

1:25:18 ↗ make sure some of the what is diversity

1:25:21 ↗ and what who's being represented and so

1:25:24 ↗ I'm wondering about that for somebody.

1:25:26 ↗ Yeah. Again, not currently, but again,

1:25:28 ↗ part of this I think the next step for

1:25:30 ↗ the city will be like what kinds of

1:25:32 ↗ things we want to think about now

1:25:34 ↗ including if if that if those things are

1:25:36 ↗ are what we want to capture. Okay. On

1:25:38 ↗ the application form, other demographic

1:25:40 ↗ questions.

1:25:42 ↗ Okay. Well, and then do you want to

1:25:45 ↗ stand with the Yeah, absolutely. So,

1:25:47 ↗ we're here today to get your feedback.

1:25:49 ↗ Um, we're also getting feedback from the

1:25:50 ↗ internal equity team, which is a group

1:25:52 ↗ of staff members who are engaged in this

1:25:54 ↗ work as well and the city clerks and

1:25:56 ↗ communications who also touch a lot of

1:25:58 ↗ this recruitment um, and governance

1:26:00 ↗ pieces of it. So, we'll get their

1:26:01 ↗ recommendations incorporated into the

1:26:03 ↗ final report. Come back to you in June

1:26:06 ↗ with any changes. Um, and I know we

1:26:08 ↗ started to touch on the the highest

1:26:10 ↗ priority um, for these recommendations,

1:26:13 ↗ but I think we can maybe dig into that

1:26:14 ↗ question a little bit further at that

1:26:16 ↗ June meeting. um and identify some of

1:26:19 ↗ those gaps. Um we've already noted a lot

1:26:21 ↗ of the data gaps, making sure there

1:26:22 ↗ aren't any like recommendation gaps that

1:26:24 ↗ are missing as well. So uh that's uh

1:26:27 ↗ that's our plan and we'll talk more

1:26:29 ↗ about implementation in June as well.

1:26:32 ↗ So thank you really quick to everyone

1:26:34 ↗ for your being here, for your questions,

1:26:36 ↗ for listening to our very long

1:26:37 ↗ presentation. It really helps us and get

1:26:40 ↗ some perspective and come up with some

1:26:41 ↗ next step. So I really appreciate your

1:26:43 ↗ time. Yeah, it's a great report and I

1:26:45 ↗ think the energy in the room speaks to

1:26:46 ↗ like folks are thinking about like how

1:26:49 ↗ to put this stuff into practice. So,

1:26:51 ↗ it's been great work. And then Jillian,

1:26:53 ↗ you'll be uh filling in for Dale at the

1:26:56 ↗ next meeting as well. Yeah. So, I'll be

1:26:58 ↗ with you guys through the summer, which

1:26:59 ↗ I'm really excited about. Um, and I know

1:27:02 ↗ I'm between you all and some social

1:27:04 ↗ time. So, let's chat uh over at if

1:27:07 ↗ you're curious about me or want to see a

1:27:09 ↗ picture of

1:27:12 ↗ Okay. So that is our the other business

1:27:16 ↗ and okay so then I think with that we

1:27:19 ↗ are adjourning um so it's 7:34 and the

1:27:23 ↗ May meeting of the equity board is now

1:27:26 ↗ adjourned and um we'll see all of you

1:27:29 ↗ who are have time and

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