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

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (10)

Christopher Ziade

Heather Youngs

Oscar Montano

Varnika Dokka

Quan Palmer

Priti Mody-Pan

Karthik Kashinath

Lorna Gilmour

Nisha Nair – Alternate

Kunal Srivastava* - Alternate

Staff (2)

Dale Markey-Crimp, Assistant to the City Administrator

Gillian Straub, Management Analyst

Excused

Lesley Millender-Irwin

Kelly Munn – Alternate

Recommendations & actions (1)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

a) Minutes of March 5, 2025 Meeting and April 2, 2025 Meeting The minutes of both the March 5, 2025 meeting and the April 2, 2025 meeting were both unanimously approved without revisions.