Equity Board · Wednesday, July 2, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of June 4, 2025 meeting

packet pp.3–5

▶ Watch from 3:08 Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 06-04-25 Equity Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Equity Board 6:00 PM Steelhead Room, 235 1st Ave. June 4, 2025 MINUTES SE, Issaquah

4. CHAIR REPORT

Opening Question

10 min · Lesley Millender-Irwin, Equity Board Chair

5. STAFF REPORT

Updates Since June 4, 2025 Meeting

5 min · Gillian Straub, Management Analyst

6. AGENDA ITEMS

Equity and Inclusion Glossary Implementation (I)

5 min · Gillian Straub, Management Analyst · packet pp.7–25

Topics: Equity

Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

Office of Sustainability 130 E Sunset Way | P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 issaquahwa.gov

Welcoming Week Plan

Discussion · 20 min · Lesley Millender-Irwin, Equity Board Chair September 5, 2025: 5:30 - 7:30 PM

1385 segments .txt ↗

0:02 ↗ Evening everyone. I'd like to call to

0:04 ↗ order this evening's meeting of the

0:06 ↗ equity board on uh July 2nd, 2025 at and

0:11 ↗ our time is

0:13 ↗ 6:01 p.m.

0:17 ↗ And I'd like to ask anyone that may have

0:20 ↗ a public comment. Oh, you're going to do

0:22 ↗ roll. Thank you. That's okay.

0:25 ↗ Um, so I'll just read everyone's names

0:27 ↗ and note who's in the room or online and

0:30 ↗ know who has uh who's absent today. Uh,

0:33 ↗ so we have Leslie in the room, Caric

0:36 ↗ online

0:38 ↗ uh isn't here. She has an excused

0:40 ↗ absence as does Prey. Veronica is in the

0:43 ↗ room. Lorna's in the room. Chris and

0:46 ↗ Quan are in the room. And then Misha is

0:48 ↗ also online. Um, and then we have

0:51 ↗ absences from Kelly, Canel, and Oscar.

0:54 ↗ So,

0:56 ↗ thank you. Um, I'd like to ask for

0:59 ↗ public comment for anyone that may be

1:01 ↗ present in the room or uh via Zoom. So,

1:06 ↗ good evening.

1:07 ↗ I'm Christina and I volunteer with the

1:10 ↗ Downtown Histo

1:13 ↗ gas station. And I just wanted to say

1:16 ↗ thank you for everyone for your service

1:18 ↗ um to our community. It's been fabulous

1:20 ↗ to have this commission formed and have

1:23 ↗ you guys kind of engaged in what's going

1:24 ↗ on in the community. So I wanted to

1:26 ↗ share with you guys um an upcoming next

1:28 ↗ couple of months of types of programs

1:30 ↗ that we offer complimentary to folks in

1:32 ↗ the community. There is only one that we

1:34 ↗ cannot do free which is the wine walk.

1:37 ↗ They can come for the art and the music

1:38 ↗ free but we cannot give out alcohol

1:40 ↗ free. So I just brought these in for you

1:42 ↗ guys to kind of have one of those. And

1:44 ↗ then we also serve um as part of the

1:46 ↗ planning team for the culture fest event

1:48 ↗ that happens in the fall as well. So

1:51 ↗ again, I just want to say thank you so

1:53 ↗ much and I'm happy to answer questions

1:54 ↗ if you have any.

1:56 ↗ Perfect. Thank you very much.

2:04 ↗ Okay. And do we have any comments from

2:06 ↗ anyone on Zoom?

2:12 ↗ No comments.

2:15 ↗ Okay, Christina, actually I do have a

2:17 ↗ question.

2:19 ↗ Sure.

2:19 ↗ Can you tell me a little bit more about

2:21 ↗ Culture Fest? I somehow can't remember

2:23 ↗ backwards.

2:25 ↗ Um, it originally started a number of

2:27 ↗ years ago. The library started it and it

2:30 ↗ was called welcoming week

2:32 ↗ and then um I think we shifted the name.

2:34 ↗ I see it on our agenda. So that's where

2:38 ↗ I was confused. I was like I know what

2:40 ↗ welcoming week was. I was okay. just to

2:42 ↗ rebrand.

2:43 ↗ Thank you.

2:44 ↗ We rebranded to help kind of get the

2:46 ↗ perspective of what the event is so that

2:49 ↗ people saw that it wasn't us just saying

2:51 ↗ welcome to Squa but come down and enjoy

2:54 ↗ this beautiful.

2:56 ↗ Thank

2:58 ↗ wonderful.

3:00 ↗ No, thank you for sharing this

3:01 ↗ information. This is amazing.

3:06 ↗ Okay, our next item of business is the

3:08 ↗ approval of minutes. So, we have the

3:11 ↗ minutes from the June 4th, 2025 equity

3:14 ↗ board meeting. If everyone wants to take

3:16 ↗ a moment to review the minutes in your

3:18 ↗ pocket and if you have any questions or

3:21 ↗ corrections, please let us know.

3:27 ↗ Or there is

3:32 ↗ no. Yeah.

3:56 ↗ Okay. Does anyone have any comments or

3:59 ↗ corrections to the June 4th minutes?

4:02 ↗ Okay. Then who would like to make a

4:04 ↗ motion to approve the minutes of June

4:06 ↗ 4th?

4:07 ↗ I motion to approve.

4:08 ↗ We have a first.

4:11 ↗ Second.

4:13 ↗ Thank you.

4:14 ↗ And do we have any discussion?

4:18 ↗ Okay, looks like the minutes are

4:20 ↗ approved for the June 4th meeting.

4:24 ↗ Okay, so I'd like to give a a brief uh

4:26 ↗ chair report. So um gosh, I had two

4:30 ↗ opening questions and they were both

4:32 ↗ amazing. So um the pressure is on, so

4:34 ↗ I'm going to pick the one that I think

4:36 ↗ is the best. So um if you could

4:38 ↗ instantly travel anywhere in the world,

4:41 ↗ where would you go?

4:43 ↗ So, who would like to start? If you

4:46 ↗ could travel instantly anywhere in the

4:49 ↗ world, where would you go?

4:54 ↗ Quan, how about you?

4:56 ↗ Um, I want to say Ireland because I was

4:59 ↗ recently looking at the trips to go

5:01 ↗ there for uh September and they seem

5:04 ↗ pretty affordable. So, if I could

5:06 ↗ instantly go, it's probably somewhere in

5:08 ↗ Europe. So, Ireland or Italy, somewhere

5:10 ↗ like that is where I would go.

5:11 ↗ Fantastic.

5:13 ↗ Sounds fun.

5:17 ↗ I don't know. Um, probably Argentina

5:21 ↗ always sounds cool and interesting and

5:23 ↗ it's pretty far away. So, I'm like,

5:26 ↗ why not? Good food and the culture seems

5:29 ↗ really fun and amazing and it'd be

5:31 ↗ awesome to explore.

5:33 ↗ Yeah,

5:33 ↗ sounds like it.

5:35 ↗ I guess for me it's Singapore cuz that's

5:38 ↗ where I'm from and like I just never get

5:39 ↗ bored of the place. So, I'd always be

5:42 ↗ able to go there if I couldn't, but

5:46 ↗ All right,

5:47 ↗ Florida.

5:48 ↗ It would be somewhere in East or

5:52 ↗ depending on I can't decide. It's I I

5:55 ↗ want to say Africa, but that's way too

5:57 ↗ big. So maybe the Kenya Nairobi area and

6:00 ↗ do couple safaris, but I can decide if I

6:03 ↗ want to go like and to see some

6:07 ↗ chimpanzees or just go and look at the

6:09 ↗ elephants. I just want to do everything

6:11 ↗ in Africa. It's hard to get there and

6:14 ↗ expensive to travel to. So I would also

6:17 ↗ need unlimited funds. Absolutely. That's

6:20 ↗ a must.

6:22 ↗ Absolutely.

6:23 ↗ And what about anyone on our Zoom? If

6:27 ↗ there was a place that you could

6:29 ↗ instantly travel anywhere in the world,

6:31 ↗ where would you go?

6:36 ↗ I can go next. Um, can you hear me?

6:38 ↗ Okay.

6:39 ↗ Yes.

6:40 ↗ Okay, great. Thanks. Uh, probably um the

6:44 ↗ glaciers in the Himalayas.

6:47 ↗ Um, I love mountains and mountaineering.

6:50 ↗ I'm also a climate scientist and the

6:53 ↗ glaciers are changing fast. So, I'd love

6:55 ↗ to be able to see them up close before

6:58 ↗ they're gone.

7:00 ↗ Absolutely. What a unique trip. It would

7:02 ↗ be cool.

7:05 ↗ Anyone else on Zoom?

7:10 ↗ This is Nisha. I um would like to go see

7:13 ↗ Japan where my daughters and I are doing

7:15 ↗ kind of a deep dive into Japanese

7:16 ↗ history right now and so I'd like to

7:19 ↗ take them there.

7:21 ↗ Amazing. Very cool.

7:24 ↗ Do we cover everyone on Zoom that would

7:27 ↗ like to share with us place that you

7:29 ↗ could instantly travel anywhere in the

7:31 ↗ world?

7:33 ↗ Right. So, Julian,

7:35 ↗ yeah, I'd like to go to Guyana. That's

7:37 ↗ where my mom is from and she hasn't been

7:39 ↗ back since she was a little kid and

7:41 ↗ left. Um, and it's a little bit tricky

7:44 ↗ to get to and to travel around like in

7:47 ↗ the country. So, I'll go there

7:49 ↗ instantly.

7:50 ↗ Very neat. Absolutely. Um, what about

7:54 ↗ you? Where would you like to go

7:55 ↗ instantly? Anywhere in the world that

7:57 ↗ you can go instantly?

8:01 ↗ Uh, actually Singapore.

8:04 ↗ I don't have a plan. So

8:08 ↗ by way of South Korea and Doha.

8:12 ↗ Wow.

8:13 ↗ Yes.

8:14 ↗ Very neat. Well, I think I'm the last

8:17 ↗ person to answer uh this question I

8:19 ↗ struggle with. So, I have always wanted

8:21 ↗ to go to Thailand. I've always wanted to

8:23 ↗ go and basically uh take as many cooking

8:27 ↗ classes as I could and really just learn

8:29 ↗ how to cook real authentic street food.

8:32 ↗ Um some of the best food in the world.

8:35 ↗ And I did a g genealogy some years ago.

8:38 ↗ And I am 2% Thai. So, uh the the food of

8:44 ↗ my people. I would love to go and uh

8:46 ↗ learn how to uh cook Thai food,

8:49 ↗ authentic Thai food. So

8:52 ↗ wonderful. Thank you all for sharing. Uh

8:54 ↗ it's a good way to learn about more of

8:57 ↗ uh where we like to go and who we are.

8:59 ↗ So uh my last update is um I had the

9:02 ↗ pleasure on June 9th of accepting the uh

9:05 ↗ Junth proclamation on the behalf of the

9:08 ↗ equity board. So it was a great

9:10 ↗ opportunity to speak uh briefly with um

9:12 ↗ the community that was present and also

9:15 ↗ um uh city council to uh speak about

9:18 ↗ what the equity board does and the

9:20 ↗ importance of Junth in this community.

9:22 ↗ So it was a great experience.

9:27 ↗ Um, I think my last item is um on July

9:31 ↗ 15th uh from 5 until 6 5:30 until 6:30

9:35 ↗ p.m. um on teams I'll be uh taking a uh

9:39 ↗ a new chair role uh training to uh learn

9:42 ↗ how to be a more effective facilitator

9:44 ↗ and learn some great best practices as a

9:47 ↗ a chair. And um I'm honored to serve in

9:49 ↗ this role. I hope I won't let you down

9:51 ↗ and uh I hope to get better every single

9:53 ↗ meeting. So, um, those are by chair

9:57 ↗ reports.

10:01 ↗ All right, I can dive into my my staff

10:03 ↗ reports. Awesome. Okay, so um, since we

10:07 ↗ last met in June, the internal equity

10:09 ↗ team has continued working on that RFP

10:11 ↗ for the broader equity assessment. We

10:14 ↗ had proposed one version of the RFP. We

10:16 ↗ have around $50,000 which is not a ton

10:18 ↗ of money to do um visioning and goal

10:21 ↗ setting assessment um and planning which

10:23 ↗ is the full scope of this project. We'd

10:25 ↗ like to at least get to the first two

10:27 ↗ with these funds. So now we're reworking

10:29 ↗ it to be more of a phased approach. So

10:31 ↗ we're going to try that approach out

10:33 ↗ with the equity team and then hopefully

10:34 ↗ bring that to you all um in September.

10:38 ↗ Um, and then, uh, we're working to

10:41 ↗ prioritize those Evans School student

10:43 ↗ consulting group recommendations, um, to

10:45 ↗ see which ones we should take on in the

10:47 ↗ next year, um, particularly though

10:49 ↗ thinking through those ones that apply

10:50 ↗ to kind of our onboarding and

10:51 ↗ recruitment processes before we begin

10:53 ↗ that again uh, next spring. So, we're

10:56 ↗ looking at that. And then I'll also just

10:58 ↗ note this is not really an update since

11:00 ↗ the June 4th meeting of that

11:02 ↗ historically the equity board has not

11:04 ↗ met in August. So, we don't have an

11:06 ↗ August meeting scheduled. If you all

11:08 ↗ feel like through through our

11:09 ↗ discussions probably of welcoming week

11:11 ↗ that you all need the August meeting,

11:12 ↗ that's an option. But I just want to let

11:14 ↗ you know that the next time you'll

11:15 ↗ probably see each other is September

11:16 ↗ 3rd.

11:18 ↗ So, and that's similar to to city

11:21 ↗ council. Most most boards and

11:22 ↗ commissions and city council take a

11:23 ↗ recess in August. So,

11:27 ↗ that's all of that.

11:28 ↗ Okay. Fantastic. Thank you, Jillian. So,

11:31 ↗ um, the next item on our agenda is, uh,

11:34 ↗ the discussion of the welcoming week

11:36 ↗ plan or our cultural fest. So, we do

11:39 ↗ have the equity inclusion glossery.

11:41 ↗ Oh, we do. Thank you. I skipped right

11:43 ↗ over that. Thank you for redirecting me.

11:47 ↗ Okay. So, um,

11:51 ↗ for for new members, the internal equity

11:53 ↗ team created an equity glossery

11:55 ↗ throughout 2024. It came to this board

11:59 ↗ um at the end of 2024 for review and

12:01 ↗ feedback and then was implemented

12:03 ↗ internally in 2025. The purpose of the

12:06 ↗ the glossery um is to provide

12:09 ↗ definitions and historical and context

12:11 ↗ for um terms that relate to equity and

12:14 ↗ inclusion, but also some terms to avoid

12:17 ↗ and uh terms to use in place of those

12:19 ↗ words. So, it's kind of a mix um and and

12:22 ↗ a broad glossery. Uh but that was

12:24 ↗ adopted in 2025.

12:27 ↗ Um, and the purpose is really for

12:31 ↗ internal communications and

12:32 ↗ communications that city staff do to not

12:35 ↗ use harmful language and to be cognizant

12:37 ↗ of language we're using. So, I think a

12:39 ↗ really good example of this is

12:40 ↗ stakeholders is a word that shows up in

12:42 ↗ a ton of city like RFPs and planning

12:45 ↗ documents and things like that. Um, so

12:48 ↗ having a better city culture around

12:49 ↗ understanding why that word is harmful

12:51 ↗ and what to use in its place, not just a

12:53 ↗ like slap on the wrist, that's bad, but

12:55 ↗ like a here's why we don't use that word

12:57 ↗ anymore and here's what we can use

12:59 ↗ instead. Um, as a good example of what

13:01 ↗ this glossery is for. So it was

13:03 ↗ implemented this year. Um, it was rolled

13:05 ↗ out and is available to all staff to

13:07 ↗ use. There was also a training in May. I

13:09 ↗ went to the training. It was super

13:11 ↗ helpful. We had a ton of project

13:12 ↗ managers, folks who issue a lot of those

13:14 ↗ RFPs and things like that on the call.

13:16 ↗ So, I think there's um a really good

13:18 ↗ likelihood that this is being taken up.

13:20 ↗ Um and we can provide another update on

13:24 ↗ a review of the glossery, thinking about

13:27 ↗ after it's been active for about a year,

13:29 ↗ what's working well, what's not. Um what

13:32 ↗ terms do we need to consider adding and

13:34 ↗ some more of that review process later

13:35 ↗ in the year, we can bring that to the

13:37 ↗ equity board. So, that's what we're

13:39 ↗ thinking. Um the the glossery itself is

13:42 ↗ attached. Um, and I also have a copy in

13:44 ↗ the room if anyone's kind of curious and

13:46 ↗ wants to flip through it. I'm just going

13:48 ↗ to pass it around. Um,

13:51 ↗ but that's really all I have. It's a

13:52 ↗ really brief update and I promise to to

13:54 ↗ bring this back um once we have a little

13:56 ↗ bit more information about how folks are

13:58 ↗ using it. I have a quick question off

14:00 ↗ the memo because um we talked about the

14:03 ↗ the training was available to staff and

14:06 ↗ like everybody

14:08 ↗ um but on number two for record training

14:11 ↗ it says that the training has been

14:12 ↗ assigned as required training for

14:14 ↗ supervisors. I'm wondering if is it

14:18 ↗ required only for supervisors or is was

14:20 ↗ it mandatory for supervisors and um you

14:22 ↗ know frontline employees? Yeah, the the

14:24 ↗ training itself, the first one that was

14:26 ↗ offered um was optional, right? Um and

14:29 ↗ then we've only assigned it to

14:31 ↗ supervisors because then when we think

14:32 ↗ about kind of the breath of staff who

14:34 ↗ might it might be assigned to if it

14:35 ↗ wasn't just supervisors, it's pretty

14:37 ↗ broad.

14:38 ↗ Um so that could include folks who this

14:41 ↗ might not just be the most critical

14:42 ↗ piece of equity training they could

14:44 ↗ receive. Is there like a

14:47 ↗ Oh, just from my perspective, I would

14:50 ↗ say that it would be important to have a

14:52 ↗ required training for both supervisors

14:55 ↗ and employees throughout because a lot

14:57 ↗ of issues in organizations is that

15:00 ↗ things don't get cascaded down. And so

15:02 ↗ if the supervisor takes the training and

15:04 ↗ yes, they have awareness and

15:06 ↗ understanding that these are harmful

15:07 ↗ languages, but they're not communicating

15:09 ↗ it out

15:10 ↗ all the way from staff down

15:12 ↗ or, you know, to be able to follow up.

15:15 ↗ Um, I think that that can cause a little

15:17 ↗ bit of misalignment with the

15:18 ↗ communications.

15:20 ↗ Yeah.

15:20 ↗ And you know, maybe potentially a lot of

15:22 ↗ the reasons why there's still the term

15:24 ↗ stakeholder being used left and right is

15:26 ↗ because of not enough educational

15:27 ↗ awareness as to why. I think I looked at

15:30 ↗ the glossery. I think it's amazing like

15:32 ↗ it's like so good and I love the context

15:34 ↗ of it but um it is important and I think

15:38 ↗ they're all level staff not just for

15:39 ↗ supervisors. So that's kind of where um

15:42 ↗ from my perspective about it being

15:44 ↗ mandatory.

15:45 ↗ Yeah, I'll um just briefly respond to

15:48 ↗ that if that's okay.

15:49 ↗ Okay. Um I agree that we need to cascade

15:53 ↗ it down. I think we're going to want to

15:54 ↗ be city staff is probably going to want

15:56 ↗ to be conscious of what we're asking all

15:57 ↗ staff to do training wise. We have a lot

15:59 ↗ of divisions that do a ton of training

16:01 ↗ that pulls them out of the field and

16:03 ↗ pulls them away from their from their

16:05 ↗ jobs. So, I think there are probably

16:06 ↗ ways to consider

16:09 ↗ is it supervisors plus another group of

16:11 ↗ employees? Is there something in the

16:13 ↗ supervisor training or an add-on to the

16:14 ↗ training that says how like how you

16:16 ↗ should like tools for how to cover this

16:18 ↗ with your staff, right? Um something

16:20 ↗ like that. So, I think there are

16:22 ↗ probably some options there. Um but I'll

16:25 ↗ definitely take that down as feedback

16:26 ↗ for the team that's working on this.

16:28 ↗ Yeah, that's great.

16:30 ↗ And I think the last time the glossery

16:32 ↗ was brought to us, one of the things we

16:35 ↗ said is it should also be shared with

16:37 ↗ boards

16:38 ↗ because one of the big places that we

16:42 ↗ as an equity board ran into

16:45 ↗ miscommunication with was with when we

16:47 ↗ were talking to another board where the

16:49 ↗ other board didn't understand what the

16:51 ↗ word equity was and they kept on

16:54 ↗ confusing equality with equity. And so

16:57 ↗ us trying to work in alignment was

17:01 ↗ not really working because when we said

17:04 ↗ equity they thought quality and then

17:08 ↗ there were it felt like conflict in

17:11 ↗ conversation and so when we talked to

17:15 ↗ people the people we talked to I don't

17:18 ↗ know if they're all supervisors but it

17:21 ↗ would be nice for even when people come

17:23 ↗ to us that they have gone through and

17:26 ↗ seen in that document. Oh,

17:28 ↗ I I completely understand what Quan is

17:32 ↗ saying because I 100% agree with her as

17:34 ↗ someone

17:35 ↗ I think PE if the supervisor is using

17:38 ↗ certain terms if the people they're

17:40 ↗ working with doesn't understand that

17:42 ↗ then that's a conflict of conflict right

17:44 ↗ there right same way when we were

17:46 ↗ meeting with another board we had that

17:49 ↗ we in our work and the reason we're here

17:52 ↗ is because we're familiar with those

17:54 ↗ terms but the other board wasn't and

17:56 ↗ then we ended up having

17:58 ↗ miscommunication. So this communication

18:01 ↗ piece is critical to ensure that groups

18:04 ↗ talking to each other where the

18:05 ↗ supervisor and reports whether board

18:08 ↗ groups versus other board and committees

18:11 ↗ are all familiar with the language being

18:13 ↗ used.

18:14 ↗ Okay. So I'm hearing that this needs to

18:16 ↗ go to a couple of other folks. So it

18:18 ↗ needs to make its way down to

18:19 ↗ non-supervisory staff. need to make sure

18:22 ↗ that the the folks who come to equity

18:24 ↗ board to present on items are aware of

18:26 ↗ the glossery and do some kind of vetting

18:29 ↗ of their materials and to share with

18:32 ↗ other boards to make sure there's a

18:33 ↗ common language. Do you have any

18:36 ↗ suggestions on how to do that third

18:37 ↗ piece?

18:39 ↗ So when I first got into this role

18:42 ↗ within the first year we had training

18:45 ↗ as board members and it was kind of

18:47 ↗ optional training but if other boards

18:50 ↗ and committees if that is a

18:54 ↗ priority the the city is going to have

18:57 ↗ to determine if it is a priority and

18:59 ↗ then do

19:01 ↗ actual training or actual conversation

19:04 ↗ around those terms and why. Right? So

19:08 ↗ even just showing the document sometimes

19:11 ↗ doesn't work because when we looked at

19:13 ↗ it there was a lot of discussion

19:15 ↗ and debriefing. I don't know what your

19:17 ↗ training looked like, but at one of I

19:21 ↗ think in the next year it would be

19:23 ↗ wonderful if every single board and

19:26 ↗ committee, they're not called

19:27 ↗ committees, what are they called?

19:29 ↗ submissions. That's what

19:31 ↗ uh at some point spend at least half an

19:34 ↗ hour reviewing the terms because it

19:37 ↗ would be nice if the city was saying

19:40 ↗ that they are working and equity was in

19:43 ↗ the forefront and the commissions knew

19:47 ↗ what equity meant. M

19:50 ↗ and then as new members are being on

19:52 ↗ boarded they can make sure that that is

19:55 ↗ part of their conversation or training

19:58 ↗ because I think that was one of the

20:00 ↗ things we talked about

20:02 ↗ potential training for new members

20:05 ↗ uh to include that

20:06 ↗ as a mini

20:08 ↗ presentation

20:10 ↗ with their if they get like an

20:11 ↗ onboarding docket packet thing and then

20:13 ↗ just that materials as well.

20:15 ↗ Okay.

20:16 ↗ because they represent the city and so

20:18 ↗ if that's the city's priority it needs

20:21 ↗ to be reiterated and reinforced repeated

20:25 ↗ like everyone should know about it.

20:27 ↗ Okay.

20:28 ↗ Should not be a secret.

20:30 ↗ Okay.

20:30 ↗ Perhaps there's an opportunity during

20:33 ↗ the um the the training that u we

20:35 ↗ receive as either um board members or

20:39 ↗ commission members that um the um the

20:42 ↗ mayor typically will um host. and um we

20:45 ↗ have a couple of uh city level uh

20:47 ↗ staffers that are there that um maybe

20:50 ↗ there's uh an opportunity to do a brief

20:53 ↗ overview of the uh equity glossery. So,

20:57 ↗ um I don't know what are your thoughts

21:00 ↗ on that everyone at the trade. Has

21:03 ↗ anyone in this room done the training at

21:06 ↗ our pickering barn where you go in and

21:08 ↗ so what would be your thoughts as far as

21:10 ↗ having that as a possible um training at

21:14 ↗ that meeting?

21:16 ↗ Because it was fairly quick when we were

21:18 ↗ there. So honestly adding in another

21:21 ↗ slide or just going over that for 10

21:23 ↗ minutes I feel like wouldn't be

21:25 ↗ um much impact.

21:28 ↗ I just learned two new words that we use

21:30 ↗ all the time at work that I was like oh

21:32 ↗ these are things we should avoid. they

21:34 ↗ were like stakeholders and you know

21:38 ↗ absolutely I had the same experience uh

21:40 ↗ I I work in the residential world in uh

21:43 ↗ master

21:44 ↗ um a bedroom that's something that uh in

21:47 ↗ a meeting I changed that to principal um

21:51 ↗ um bedroom

21:54 ↗ sometimes yeah yeah primary principal

21:57 ↗ but I struggled not to use the other

21:59 ↗ term

21:59 ↗ yeah in the corporate world like

22:01 ↗ stakeholder analysis there is

22:04 ↗ grandfathered and all of those terms and

22:07 ↗ that makes a lot of sense.

22:09 ↗ Yeah, I like the idea of the current too

22:12 ↗ cuz um I think the meeting ended and

22:15 ↗ everyone was like well okay cool.

22:18 ↗ I didn't attend the training but I think

22:20 ↗ like putting it in welcome packets and

22:22 ↗ that and just like as many resources

22:24 ↗ that are available to members and like

22:26 ↗ um upper level people would be good.

22:29 ↗ Great. All right. So I'm having a lot of

22:31 ↗ options to kind of make sure that it it

22:33 ↗ hits people at multiple different ways,

22:35 ↗ right? So people

22:41 ↗ um I'll pass that feedback. So I guess

22:44 ↗ I'll make sure and have anything that

22:46 ↗ they want to share on that. Um or if the

22:50 ↗ discussion in the room kind of capture

22:51 ↗ your thoughts.

22:54 ↗ Uh

22:55 ↗ nothing else from my end. Thank you.

23:01 ↗ Okay, then I'll share that with the the

23:02 ↗ members of the equity team who um who

23:05 ↗ are leading this. Um and so thank you.

23:08 ↗ Thank you for your feedback.

23:27 ↗ Excuse me.

23:31 ↗ Okay, it looks like our next item for

23:34 ↗ discussion is uh welcoming week or uh

23:38 ↗ cultural fest. So um I did a bit of

23:40 ↗ research and um the um cultural fest or

23:44 ↗ formerly um the welcome uh welcoming

23:47 ↗ week is a city sponsored free

23:49 ↗ family-friendly event to celebrate the

23:51 ↗ cultural diversity of our community in

23:53 ↗ Isiqua. So, uh, festivities include

23:56 ↗ music, world dances, interactive art,

23:59 ↗ henna art, um, resource booths, food

24:02 ↗ trucks, and more. So, this year the

24:04 ↗ event will be at the Isqua Community

24:06 ↗ Center on the outside lawn. So, we'll

24:08 ↗ have live performances on stage by local

24:11 ↗ intelligent artists, food for purchase

24:13 ↗ from um, area food trucks, and more. So,

24:17 ↗ um, the reason why we have this on the

24:18 ↗ agenda today is that there's an

24:20 ↗ opportunity for the equity board to, um,

24:23 ↗ support this event by our presence

24:26 ↗ there. And so, um, I wanted to open up a

24:30 ↗ discussion for, um, what does our

24:33 ↗ presence as an equity board look like at

24:35 ↗ cultural, um, fest? So, what do you all

24:38 ↗ think it looks like? Is that a event

24:40 ↗ table? Um, and then also some other

24:43 ↗ considerations. what would our goals be

24:45 ↗ as an equity board for this event? Um,

24:48 ↗ and then also I guess we can chat about

24:50 ↗ um volunteers. So, I guess the the first

24:54 ↗ question is what do you all think the um

24:56 ↗ our president's presence at cultural

24:59 ↗ fest looks like as an equity board?

25:02 ↗ I think I would imagine it as like a

25:04 ↗ table or like a small booth. um just

25:07 ↗ kind of letting people know about like

25:08 ↗ what the equity board does and like who

25:10 ↗ we are and um like initiatives that

25:12 ↗ we've helped towards in ISUA cuz I know

25:15 ↗ definitely a lot of people a lot of my

25:16 ↗ friends in ISQA know about the boards

25:18 ↗ but they don't know like specifically

25:19 ↗ there's equity and like a transportation

25:21 ↗ board that they can like join and even

25:23 ↗ volunteer with. So I think it'd be

25:26 ↗ really cool to just have a booth to let

25:27 ↗ people know who we are.

25:30 ↗ Okay. Excellent.

25:34 ↗ Yeah, we could probably highlight

25:36 ↗ that couple highlight like the calendar

25:40 ↗ events and stuff like that so that it's

25:42 ↗ also resource and then I know at the

25:45 ↗ first meeting here we talked about

25:46 ↗ different ways to communicate out um not

25:49 ↗ everyone has a phone, not everybody has

25:51 ↗ um the ability to potentially I don't

25:54 ↗ know have access to certain things. So

25:56 ↗ we can also print and then like have a

25:58 ↗ QR code or something both different ways

26:00 ↗ that's accessible for people. Um, we

26:03 ↗ could also have a suggestion box for

26:06 ↗ them to be like, "What would you like to

26:07 ↗ see? What do you feel like it's not

26:09 ↗ represented?" Key questions that can,

26:12 ↗ um, address, I don't know, things people

26:14 ↗ would like to see in the community. Um,

26:17 ↗ so those are things that, um, but I

26:19 ↗ would agree with having a standalone

26:21 ↗ booth and then to be able to push off of

26:23 ↗ that.

26:25 ↗ Fantastic.

26:27 ↗ So, go ahead. Go ahead, Chris. that the

26:29 ↗ same as the summer celebration that's on

26:32 ↗ September

26:33 ↗ but on on the things

26:39 ↗ I guess that's where I got a little

26:40 ↗ confused.

26:41 ↗ No, I don't think so. Yeah.

26:43 ↗ Okay.

26:45 ↗ Cuz the dates are the same. That's why

26:48 ↗ this is a Friday. So the two September

26:50 ↗ events I'm seeing are Saturday. I think

26:53 ↗ it's Friday. September 4th is

26:56 ↗ is it the

26:58 ↗ Is that true? When is

27:00 ↗ it's actually is the same day as the

27:02 ↗ wine.

27:03 ↗ Gotcha. Okay.

27:06 ↗ It's on a Saturday this time.

27:07 ↗ No, it's a Friday.

27:09 ↗ But the wine Saturday

27:12 ↗ on the flyer it says Saturday, September

27:14 ↗ 5th.

27:15 ↗ Let me look it up really quick.

27:17 ↗ Yeah.

27:18 ↗ This historically culture fest welcoming

27:21 ↗ weekends on a Friday night.

27:24 ↗ Yeah. Yeah, they're both the same.

27:26 ↗ Okay. So, Culture Fest is

27:28 ↗ is it Friday, September 5th?

27:30 ↗ Okay.

27:31 ↗ From 5:30 to 7.

27:33 ↗ All right. So, that's correct.

27:34 ↗ Okay.

27:34 ↗ Yeah.

27:41 ↗ Saturday. Are we done? I don't know.

27:44 ↗ Just because this one says Saturday, but

27:48 ↗ it should say Friday.

27:50 ↗ I think I think that's a little

27:52 ↗ separate, right? Like that's what

27:55 ↗ they're two different

27:58 ↗ culture fest in the day and

28:02 ↗ then there's another white and art fork

28:04 ↗ on Saturday the two days.

28:06 ↗ No.

28:11 ↗ Gotcha.

28:11 ↗ Yeah. Okay.

28:13 ↗ It is on September 5th.

28:14 ↗ Yes.

28:16 ↗ Okay. So it's Saturday is the time.

28:18 ↗ The same day. Yeah. September 5th.

28:19 ↗ Okay.

28:21 ↗ Yeah. Culture Fest 5:30 to 7:30 wine 6

28:24 ↗ to9.

28:27 ↗ So it sounds like from what we've we've

28:30 ↗ heard and I want to make sure we go

28:31 ↗ around the room and then also

28:32 ↗ acknowledge everyone on uh Zoom as far

28:36 ↗ as what our presence would look like um

28:39 ↗ at um uh cultural fest. It sounds like

28:42 ↗ we definitely want to do a table and uh

28:45 ↗ it could be uh anformational table and

28:48 ↗ um involve uh distribution of a cultural

28:51 ↗ calendar with uh links on it to where uh

28:54 ↗ people can either um go online and get

28:56 ↗ additional information or use a QR to

29:00 ↗ access that information. So um I think

29:02 ↗ those are great suggestions. Anyone else

29:05 ↗ have any ideas as to what our presence

29:08 ↗ would look like as an equity board at

29:10 ↗ Cultural Fest?

29:13 ↗ So last year uh both Priy and Ry

29:15 ↗ attended. So I think this will be our

29:17 ↗ third year as a board attending the

29:20 ↗ event

29:21 ↗ and they try to make it interactive and

29:24 ↗ so they had some questions and such

29:26 ↗ but in my opinion um it was very hard to

29:30 ↗ get people to come because uh a lot of

29:33 ↗ the different booths had you know little

29:35 ↗ toys for kids and interactive games and

29:38 ↗ so forth. So, if possible,

29:42 ↗ playing some kind of game and asking

29:44 ↗ people to answer a question just as a

29:47 ↗ hook to pull them in would be great

29:50 ↗ because if you don't have that hook,

29:51 ↗ they're not coming to you. And so, you

29:54 ↗ know, uh even like a sticker or

29:57 ↗ something for

30:00 ↗ equity, but for sure sharing

30:02 ↗ information, sharing even like the

30:05 ↗ equity um glossery and and words because

30:10 ↗ um when people see the word equity, they

30:12 ↗ have no idea what it means. to help them

30:14 ↗ understand that our work really is about

30:17 ↗ inclusion and inclusion of voices that

30:20 ↗ may not be heard because a lot of people

30:24 ↗ see equity as a bad word about giving

30:27 ↗ resources to mainly black and brown

30:30 ↗ people and to help them realize that

30:33 ↗ there is an emphasis on that and how are

30:37 ↗ we helping all community members

30:39 ↗ including themselves. Um, and so I think

30:44 ↗ defining what equity is, if there's some

30:47 ↗ kind of a game that can try to introduce

30:50 ↗ as true and false, is this equity or is

30:54 ↗ this equality? Is this equity or is this

30:55 ↗ equality might be something fun? um or

30:59 ↗ any kind of game to get them to think

31:03 ↗ without

31:05 ↗ scaring people because to some people

31:07 ↗ they're going to see this and they're

31:09 ↗ going to be scared. To some people

31:12 ↗ they're going to be seeing the word

31:14 ↗ equity and coming a little bit more um

31:18 ↗ anger and annoyance and um push back at

31:24 ↗ this topic. And then some will be

31:26 ↗ allies. And so people will have to help,

31:30 ↗ you know, how do we make it approachable

31:32 ↗ and an educational thing without

31:36 ↗ either alienating some people and just

31:38 ↗ trying to have them avoid our booth by

31:40 ↗ making the whitest art possible like

31:43 ↗ they have been sometimes

31:45 ↗ um and

31:47 ↗ educating them if that is a goal because

31:50 ↗ from what I'm hearing it sounds like

31:51 ↗ educating them as to the work of what we

31:54 ↗ do would be the key And so how do we do

31:57 ↗ that? Uh and make it fun because people

32:01 ↗ it was definitely Ry was very good about

32:04 ↗ trying to get people to come to us but

32:06 ↗ many people were just kind of

32:09 ↗ out and about. Also depending on where

32:11 ↗ we are. Last time we were right by the

32:13 ↗ speaker and it was amazingly difficult

32:16 ↗ to hear and have any kind of

32:18 ↗ conversation. Okay. So we also have to

32:20 ↗ consider that real conversations may not

32:23 ↗ be had because um it's just sometimes

32:26 ↗ really hard and some some depending on

32:29 ↗ where they are uh no one came and

32:31 ↗ visited them. So like the booths further

32:33 ↗ down here were well visited because of

32:35 ↗ all the car the food trucks on the side

32:38 ↗ but some of the other ones cuz the

32:40 ↗ people next to them were not you know as

32:42 ↗ showy didn't have as many people coming.

32:44 ↗ So location, location for everything

32:46 ↗ would be key. And if people come, even

32:49 ↗ if you can't talk to them as much,

32:51 ↗ something quick for them to see and

32:53 ↗ visually be able to get without having

32:55 ↗ that conversation. And if conversation

32:58 ↗ is possible, what are those

33:00 ↗ conversations going to look like?

33:03 ↗ That's excellent feedback.

33:06 ↗ That and like we could do like a spin

33:07 ↗ the wheel with like questions about

33:09 ↗ equity with prizes.

33:10 ↗ I was thinking the the same thing. I

33:12 ↗ think whatever it is, it has to be light

33:14 ↗ and fun because of all the reasons that

33:16 ↗ you mentioned, Lorna. I think that um

33:20 ↗ two things that I have found in in uh my

33:23 ↗ uh background working with senior adults

33:25 ↗ and just kind of engaging people on

33:27 ↗ difficult topics is that you have to

33:29 ↗ figure out a way to make it light and

33:30 ↗ fun even if it's heavy. And so um I was

33:34 ↗ uh toying with the idea of creating a

33:36 ↗ photo opportunity. People like to take

33:39 ↗ pictures. So creating a photo

33:40 ↗ opportunity. So people have, you know,

33:42 ↗ an opportunity to, you know, take great

33:44 ↗ pictures. Um, I think a little giveaway

33:47 ↗ and that could be either like a like a

33:49 ↗ small cultural uh chky, maybe cultural

33:52 ↗ candies, things of that ilk. But it

33:55 ↗ seems it it seems kind of like cheesy,

33:57 ↗ but people enjoy those things. It's just

33:59 ↗ it lightens the I think the atmosphere

34:02 ↗ makes it fun. And while you're kind of

34:04 ↗ doing those things, you're providing

34:06 ↗ that cultural calendar, you're

34:08 ↗ educating, you're engaging people. So,

34:12 ↗ I like the cultural candy idea.

34:14 ↗ Yeah,

34:15 ↗ because everyone just gives you like a

34:16 ↗ Costco bags of small chocolate.

34:20 ↗ I know, right? Cuz I see it all the

34:21 ↗ time. Like, we have cultural candy.

34:24 ↗ We don't

34:26 ↗ Yeah,

34:26 ↗ it's a good um incentive because then

34:29 ↗ people are like, "Oh, that's different

34:31 ↗ candy." You know, small things and then

34:33 ↗ they'll come over and then you like do

34:35 ↗ the wheel and then ask them questions,

34:37 ↗ have a light conversation. I think

34:38 ↗ that'll be good. I love the idea of the

34:41 ↗ will and and even kind of uh blending

34:44 ↗ that in terms of is this equity, is it

34:47 ↗ not? Or kind of making a a game in terms

34:50 ↗ of doing that and then offering a great

34:52 ↗ photo opportunity and you know some

34:54 ↗ really cool cultural candy.

34:56 ↗ Yeah.

34:56 ↗ So yeah, I think that's engaging in on a

34:59 ↗ heavy topic that is not really heavy

35:02 ↗ because you know we all want to have you

35:04 ↗ know equity in our life

35:06 ↗ and really explain to people what that

35:07 ↗ is. have them ask questions too.

35:10 ↗ Absolutely. Yeah.

35:14 ↗ We have Caric online. He's got his hand

35:15 ↗ up.

35:17 ↗ Caric.

35:18 ↗ Yeah. Yeah. Just a couple more thoughts

35:20 ↗ along those lines. Um I was wondering if

35:23 ↗ maybe having a little game that has uh

35:26 ↗ has people match dates with festivals

35:30 ↗ that are sort of around the summer fall

35:32 ↗ time frame. Um could be, you know,

35:35 ↗ different festivals from different

35:36 ↗ cultures. uh that that are already part

35:39 ↗ of our equity calendar that we have

35:41 ↗ people kind of match the right festival

35:44 ↗ with the right dates or the right

35:46 ↗ season, whatever it is. That could be

35:48 ↗ another um and another way to possibly

35:52 ↗ engage people in a sort of chaotic loud

35:55 ↗ um setting is have videos of uh again

35:59 ↗ festivals or cultural celebrations and

36:02 ↗ have people maybe identify like where in

36:04 ↗ the world does this happen or which

36:07 ↗ culture does this sort of thing. Um same

36:11 ↗ with music. um maybe an audio piece and

36:14 ↗ having people identify it um just as a

36:17 ↗ way to get people thinking about things

36:19 ↗ that are not typical or traditional uh

36:22 ↗ for say the western US.

36:24 ↗ Yeah.

36:27 ↗ Kind of going off of this idea too, we

36:30 ↗ could have something like we're all from

36:32 ↗ different countries and areas and

36:35 ↗ everywhere right?

36:36 ↗ have like, "Oh, guess the flag." And

36:38 ↗ then give them like a light fun fact

36:40 ↗ about the country, you know, like they

36:42 ↗ could have like, "Guess the flag." And

36:44 ↗ someone's like, "Oh, that's Lebanon."

36:45 ↗ And I'll be like, "Oh, did you know

36:47 ↗ that,

36:49 ↗ you know, the English language was used

36:51 ↗ there before here?" Or something like

36:52 ↗ that, right? like um the letters.

36:55 ↗ I'm going to

36:58 ↗ say maybe for that idea just because I

37:02 ↗ think we're deviating away from the

37:04 ↗ equity board kind of

37:06 ↗ role

37:08 ↗ and so yes and going more into culture

37:10 ↗ because the event itself is very much

37:13 ↗ full of cultural celebrations. There are

37:16 ↗ going to be people singing, there's

37:18 ↗ going to be a lot of dance. There's

37:19 ↗ going to be a lot of sound. It was very

37:21 ↗ much sound overload and for me I'm not

37:25 ↗ and lots of performances and so I think

37:28 ↗ the culture piece and the music caric I

37:31 ↗ don't remember if I ran into you at the

37:32 ↗ culture fest two years ago or last year

37:34 ↗ but if it's anything like last year it

37:37 ↗ was a lot of performances I think it was

37:39 ↗ two years ago right how old is Jacob two

37:41 ↗ threes years

37:42 ↗ yeah so I think when we saw each other

37:45 ↗ at the culture fest it wasn't as loud

37:47 ↗ but last year it was much louder they

37:49 ↗ had a lot more performances and so I

37:52 ↗ don't know if we can compete with having

37:54 ↗ music at our booth while there's also

37:56 ↗ music performances

37:58 ↗ being done on the stage.

38:01 ↗ Yeah.

38:01 ↗ And so I think our booth should be

38:04 ↗ mainly focused on what is the equity

38:07 ↗ board, what does the equity board do,

38:09 ↗ what really keeping it light and fun in

38:12 ↗ the sense of is this equity or is this

38:14 ↗ not? Is this something that we would

38:17 ↗ look at? you know like looking at our

38:19 ↗ stores and when we talk to the different

38:22 ↗ um departments in Isiqua what are we

38:26 ↗ looking at and the the perspective that

38:28 ↗ we're bringing in is that something that

38:30 ↗ equity would look at or not you know uh

38:33 ↗ just making it simple

38:36 ↗ and so that's why I think keeping it to

38:38 ↗ our work because we're going to have the

38:40 ↗ library we're going to have like

38:42 ↗ cultural bridges here we're going to

38:44 ↗ have a school foundation we're going to

38:46 ↗ have all of these different

38:47 ↗ organizations

38:49 ↗ and so we've got to keep it I think to

38:51 ↗ our about who we are.

38:54 ↗ I also asked for feedback from Priy and

38:57 ↗ Kelly because I knew they weren't going

38:58 ↗ to to be here. Is it okay if I share

39:00 ↗ what they

39:00 ↗ Absolutely.

39:01 ↗ Okay.

39:03 ↗ Um so Kelly had suggested that it's

39:05 ↗ helpful to have someone who's been on

39:06 ↗ the board and done the event to do it

39:09 ↗ with a couple of folks who are new to

39:10 ↗ kind of share that knowledge and build

39:12 ↗ the capacity of the board.

39:14 ↗ Um, as a lot of you have noted, you need

39:17 ↗ to have some way to invite people to the

39:20 ↗ table, something that is welcoming, that

39:21 ↗ kind of draws them in. Signs, handouts,

39:24 ↗ could use the equity framework. Candy

39:26 ↗ always helps. Um, and then have three

39:29 ↗ key messages about about the board. Um,

39:32 ↗ and what we do. And then let's see. um

39:38 ↗ prey emphasized the need for something

39:40 ↗ interactive because most folks aren't

39:42 ↗ comfortable just having a random

39:44 ↗ conversation.

39:46 ↗ Um last year they did a prompt or an

39:48 ↗ easel an easel with the prompt what do

39:51 ↗ you think equity is and then we asked f

39:54 ↗ folks to post it their responses. Um and

39:57 ↗ it sounds like that went reasonably

39:58 ↗ well. And then

40:00 ↗ if they do a table, it might be nice to

40:02 ↗ have the group brainstorm. Um, a good

40:04 ↗ question to prompt uh engagement. One

40:08 ↗ that comes to mind is what ideas or

40:09 ↗ activities

40:11 ↗ um

40:13 ↗ what are ideas or activities to ensure

40:15 ↗ that isqua is a welcoming place for

40:17 ↗ everyone or all groups to feel like they

40:19 ↗ belong.

40:22 ↗ Okay,

40:23 ↗ that's pretty.

40:25 ↗ Do does someone have all the responses?

40:28 ↗ because we could put those responses in

40:30 ↗ the game.

40:31 ↗ Oh, that's a good question. I don't

40:33 ↗ know. Um, I'll follow up with her and

40:35 ↗ see if someone has like a photo of the

40:37 ↗ the posted

40:38 ↗ because I'm curious to know what people

40:40 ↗ said because in all honesty, I don't

40:43 ↗ know if I know if I remember what people

40:45 ↗ I was um at Pride over the weekend and

40:47 ↗ there was

40:49 ↗ um this booth that drew everybody there

40:52 ↗ and it's because they had a wall of

40:55 ↗ trivia and you can spin the blocks and I

40:58 ↗ did not pay attention. I didn't realize

40:59 ↗ the hint was in the picture of like

41:01 ↗ behind the question and it was like what

41:04 ↗ I don't know where did pride first start

41:07 ↗ in um in the US or something like that

41:09 ↗ and like what year and then you would

41:11 ↗ just flip it and it give you the

41:13 ↗ answers. something really similar to the

41:14 ↗ spindle, the wheelboard or whatever, but

41:16 ↗ like that draws you in to like so you

41:19 ↗ could have the questions with maybe some

41:22 ↗ uh tying to the equity board of like

41:24 ↗ demographics, you know, like how many um

41:27 ↗ people or what does

41:29 ↗ to be there doesn't have to be the

41:31 ↗ equity board demographics, you know?

41:33 ↗ Yeah. But just like so that it's like

41:35 ↗ how do I as a person who lives here, how

41:38 ↗ do I connect with what the work that

41:40 ↗ you're doing, right? and it's like it's

41:42 ↗ a part of me somehow. So, um I was just

41:45 ↗ thinking about how to trivia is always

41:48 ↗ nice and light and fun, but like just

41:50 ↗ ways to kind of get out whether or not

41:52 ↗ we're putting up photos or um the work

41:54 ↗ we do or our definition of equity or the

41:56 ↗ glossery, you know, that would be cool,

41:58 ↗ too. But yeah, also if we can get the

42:01 ↗ information from last year that they

42:02 ↗ kind of would be really good.

42:05 ↗ That would be helpful source information

42:06 ↗ to see what really worked and you know,

42:08 ↗ what was challenging.

42:11 ↗ So,

42:11 ↗ I don't know if I'm remembering this

42:12 ↗ wrong, but there is there like a limit

42:14 ↗ to like the number of equity board

42:15 ↗ members that could like be at the boot

42:17 ↗ or at the event?

42:18 ↗ Um,

42:20 ↗ like if if more than quorum wanted to be

42:24 ↗ at the event, we could notice it as a

42:26 ↗ public meeting. It's not a big deal. The

42:28 ↗ bigger thing is is that once you go into

42:30 ↗ planning because it'll require some kind

42:32 ↗ of out of meeting planning, that group

42:34 ↗ can't be bigger than can't be quorum.

42:37 ↗ So, it has to be four or under.

42:40 ↗ So,

42:42 ↗ Just a disclaimer, I'm going to be there

42:44 ↗ already representing the school

42:46 ↗ district. So, I will not last year I

42:49 ↗ just closed.

42:51 ↗ Okay.

42:53 ↗ Were there any other comments on Zoom

42:56 ↗ that we can capture as far as some great

42:58 ↗ ideas for the equity board table for uh

43:02 ↗ culture best?

43:08 ↗ Okay. Well, it sounds like we have a lot

43:10 ↗ of great discussion, great ideas that um

43:13 ↗ I think the next step would be for us to

43:15 ↗ as Jolian mentioned um form a

43:18 ↗ subcommittee of um the equity board uh

43:22 ↗ less than the quorum of the board so we

43:24 ↗ could meet hopefully sometime in um

43:27 ↗ August for um event planning to take

43:30 ↗ these ideas and to flush them out and to

43:33 ↗ be able to bring those back to the uh

43:35 ↗ the full equity board at our September

43:37 ↗ meeting so we can lay these out, make

43:39 ↗ sure that everyone is um loving the

43:42 ↗ great ideas and then um get those

43:44 ↗ formed. So, we have a great action plan

43:46 ↗ to have a fantastic table at the uh

43:50 ↗ culture fest event. So, I guess the next

43:52 ↗ question is um who would love to

43:54 ↗ volunteer

43:56 ↗ to um take part in this um subcommittee

44:00 ↗ of uh equity board members?

44:03 ↗ I'd like to volunteer.

44:05 ↗ Okay.

44:07 ↗ I can't. Sorry, I was going to say I can

44:09 ↗ help on the event, but I am out of the

44:11 ↗ country most of August.

44:13 ↗ Yeah,

44:14 ↗ I'd love to, but I'd be out of town.

44:15 ↗ So, I can help like on the event day if

44:18 ↗ if y'all need help setting up, whatever.

44:21 ↗ Um that I am gone from August 1 till

44:23 ↗ August 25.

44:25 ↗ Um so, it's kind of hard for me to

44:28 ↗ So, you're available for the September

44:30 ↗ event.

44:30 ↗ Yes, but not the pre-planning,

44:32 ↗ unfortunately.

44:34 ↗ Fantastic. Okay.

44:35 ↗ I can do the opposite of that. Okay.

44:38 ↗ Right. Fernica.

44:41 ↗ Okay. I would love to volunteer. I've

44:43 ↗ never been to Culture Fest. I want to be

44:45 ↗ able to uh um help plan and also

44:49 ↗ participate. So, I will volunteer

44:51 ↗ myself.

44:52 ↗ If Priy and Kelly want to be part of

44:55 ↗ this team, both of them, Priy especially

44:58 ↗ was on it there yesterday. And if she

45:01 ↗ can't, I will because I do think you

45:03 ↗ need to have someone who's been there

45:05 ↗ just get feedback even if they cannot

45:08 ↗ be.

45:11 ↗ Yeah.

45:13 ↗ Let's see.

45:17 ↗ Yeah, I'd also like to participate. Um I

45:20 ↗ have a bit of travel in August, too, but

45:22 ↗ I should be available um depending on

45:25 ↗ when we're organizing things.

45:30 ↗ That was Cararthik, correct?

45:32 ↗ Yes, Caric. Yeah,

45:34 ↗ perfect.

45:34 ↗ What tools and like resources do we have

45:38 ↗ from the city port this event? Do we

45:40 ↗ have It's my first time so I don't know

45:43 ↗ what we have available.

45:44 ↗ Um, so we'll provide basically the the

45:47 ↗ table. Um, I'm so sorry that is I know

45:50 ↗ disappointing. Um,

45:52 ↗ so we'll provide the table. I can see if

45:54 ↗ there's like a little sheet to cover it.

45:57 ↗ Um, and then if you do some printing

46:00 ↗ that's like standard size that goes into

46:02 ↗ kind of like if you wanted to print off

46:04 ↗ like the the calendar or something, I

46:07 ↗ could do that printing for you. Any like

46:08 ↗ specialty printing I couldn't do? Um,

46:11 ↗ yeah.

46:12 ↗ Does the equity team have any sort of

46:14 ↗ like branding tools, external tools?

46:17 ↗ No. Okay, that's okay. I just want to

46:18 ↗ know what like our parameters what we're

46:20 ↗ working with. That's helpful.

46:24 ↗ So a

46:26 ↗ limited to nominal budget is what I'm

46:30 ↗ hearing.

46:31 ↗ Yes.

46:31 ↗ Okay.

46:33 ↗ Yeah.

46:35 ↗ Okay. Make it work.

46:43 ↗ Okay. So, I I think what I'll do is I'll

46:45 ↗ I'll work with um Jillian as far as um I

46:48 ↗ guess scheduling some time for the

46:51 ↗ subcommittee to meet reach out to um

46:53 ↗ everyone that's volunteering to do the

46:56 ↗ uh subcommittee work. Thank you very

46:58 ↗ much for doing that. So, we'll reach out

47:00 ↗ and figure out a uh mutually um

47:03 ↗ available date for all of us in August

47:04 ↗ to get together and do some planning.

47:06 ↗ And how many meetings would you say we

47:08 ↗ would need? One or two?

47:11 ↗ Um two might be good. One kind of like

47:14 ↗ planning here's what we want to do a

47:16 ↗ check-in like is did this turn out to be

47:19 ↗ possible or not kind of thing.

47:20 ↗ Okay.

47:22 ↗ And then I will just say if Quan,

47:25 ↗ Barnica, Caric, Leslie, and are all on

47:29 ↗ the subcommittee that is five. So you're

47:31 ↗ going to have to maybe think a little

47:32 ↗ bit about um

47:35 ↗ about numbers there.

47:36 ↗ Okay.

47:37 ↗ So I might not have the time. So

47:39 ↗ I don't want to discourage anyone. This

47:41 ↗ is one of those tricky things like

47:43 ↗ meetings and everything.

47:44 ↗ Most likely I don't know if I'll be able

47:46 ↗ to help the planning, but if I do.

47:48 ↗ Okay.

47:49 ↗ Okay. and I can always step away if it's

47:52 ↗ one meeting that we can maybe share

47:54 ↗ where you come to one meeting, I come to

47:56 ↗ the other one to where

47:57 ↗ so the the issue is not like how many

47:59 ↗ people are necessarily in the room like

48:01 ↗ that's a problem. It's kind of the same

48:02 ↗ as thinking about like a chain email. If

48:05 ↗ I send an email to you and then you

48:06 ↗ forward it

48:08 ↗ like

48:09 ↗ too many people have all discussed

48:11 ↗ committee or board business that's kind

48:14 ↗ of the the issue understood. Okay.

48:16 ↗ Yes. So, another option is if you wanted

48:19 ↗ to keep your August meeting, because it

48:22 ↗ sounds like there are a lot of folks who

48:23 ↗ are interested, you could do that and do

48:25 ↗ planning at the beginning of August. Um,

48:28 ↗ but that would mean you could not take

48:30 ↗ July to plan and you couldn't have

48:33 ↗ really a ton of planning happen between

48:35 ↗ August and September because then it's

48:37 ↗ done by the whole board.

48:41 ↗ Not ideal options,

48:42 ↗ but would everyone have to attend in

48:44 ↗ August?

48:46 ↗ If you if we decide to have a meeting

48:48 ↗ and you don't attend, then it counts

48:49 ↗ against your attendance, unfortunately.

48:53 ↗ Then I'm willing to in order to to

48:55 ↗ maintain proper quorum, I'll go ahead

48:57 ↗ and absence myself out of the group.

49:00 ↗ How about I reach out to Py, see if

49:01 ↗ she's available. And it sounds like

49:03 ↗ there are a few folks with a little bit

49:04 ↗ of travel and maybe it's just whoever is

49:07 ↗ available on the proposed dates kind of

49:09 ↗ thing.

49:11 ↗ Okay.

49:11 ↗ Um to really make it like kind of

49:13 ↗ focused on doing the work. Does that

49:15 ↗ sound fair to everyone?

49:17 ↗ Yeah.

49:18 ↗ I think it'd also be helpful to have the

49:20 ↗ people who are planning on volunteering

49:21 ↗ on the event

49:23 ↗ be there. Not all everyone just because

49:26 ↗ if you're planning on behalf of someone

49:28 ↗ else and say this person should talk and

49:30 ↗ say this and do this. It's really hard

49:32 ↗ because

49:35 ↗ you're basically creating work for

49:36 ↗ somebody else to do. They might not be

49:38 ↗ comfortable. So okay

49:39 ↗ I think it would be helpful to have the

49:40 ↗ people who are planning on

49:43 ↗ being presenters

49:44 ↗ people talking be part of like what can

49:47 ↗ I give and what is my comfort rate in

49:50 ↗ having these discussions

49:52 ↗ and then if that's what they want we can

49:54 ↗ have a couple other people and like you

49:56 ↗ can put out an email saying would

49:58 ↗ someone make questions would someone

50:00 ↗ like maybe divide the work like that I

50:03 ↗ don't know if that's possible

50:04 ↗ yeah I think that could be possible I

50:06 ↗ think maybe of the folks who who have

50:09 ↗ volunteered to be on the subcommittee.

50:10 ↗ Is everyone available and want to be

50:12 ↗ there on that date? I think. Did you say

50:14 ↗ no?

50:15 ↗ Yeah.

50:15 ↗ Okay. You're not available. Okay. So,

50:18 ↗ then it's just kind of like you two

50:19 ↗ flipping a little bit.

50:20 ↗ And I can just attend as a non-helper if

50:24 ↗ that's easier. It's up to you all. But I

50:26 ↗ can also tell you what I am comfortable

50:28 ↗ with now and then you can like decide

50:30 ↗ call me later and tell me in September

50:32 ↗ if that helps. I don't know. Can't do

50:35 ↗ that.

50:37 ↗ Yeah. I think the the um the the data

50:40 ↗ the information from uh last year's

50:43 ↗ cultural fest it would be very um um

50:45 ↗ good to have in that we'll absolutely

50:47 ↗ know what worked what resonated with

50:49 ↗ people and what was either kind of a a

50:53 ↗ challenge point or something that you

50:55 ↗ know we can take another look at and say

50:57 ↗ you know what this could have worked

50:59 ↗ better or differently if we would have

51:01 ↗ done X. So yeah I think that that data

51:04 ↗ is going to be hugely uh important. And

51:06 ↗ I agree with Lorna that um having

51:08 ↗ involvement for someone that um um is on

51:10 ↗ the board that has um participated in

51:13 ↗ cultural fest is going to be tremendous.

51:15 ↗ That learning cannot be replicated. So

51:18 ↗ okay, I'll reach out to Priy. She said

51:20 ↗ that she

51:25 ↗ I think Kelly was the one who I'll reach

51:27 ↗ out to Priy and see if she's available

51:29 ↗ for it

51:32 ↗ because she's the one who's going to

51:33 ↗ kind of hold that that information

51:35 ↗ and maybe Priy can even meet with Quan

51:38 ↗ and Lesie and just give them their

51:40 ↗ feedback as they then take it to the

51:42 ↗ next step with other people to do the

51:44 ↗ planning.

51:44 ↗ Okay.

51:54 ↗ Then you all will have your September

51:56 ↗ meeting before Culture Fest. It's just 3

51:58 ↗ days before, so it's not like a ton of

52:00 ↗ time, but it is like a good time to then

52:03 ↗ check in and tell the the whole board,

52:06 ↗ here's what we're planning, here's why,

52:10 ↗ here's what we can commit to like report

52:12 ↗ back on that kind of a thing.

52:15 ↗ So the subcom committee has to be four

52:18 ↗ less than five for in order to have one

52:20 ↗ and then for the day of the event that's

52:23 ↗ fine for

52:24 ↗ yeah if if you guys end up having more

52:26 ↗ people I will work that out with the

52:27 ↗ city clerks it's just inevitable being a

52:30 ↗ community event that a lot of folks who

52:31 ↗ are on our boards and commissions are

52:33 ↗ going to be there so that's not a

52:34 ↗ problem

52:35 ↗ that's workable for even there that's

52:38 ↗ still

52:38 ↗ yeah and I'm walking around and I come

52:40 ↗ to think then it'll be a court so just

52:43 ↗ secrets.

52:44 ↗ Uh the new orientation, someone did

52:47 ↗ bring up a question like salmon days and

52:49 ↗ it's like it's inevitable that people

52:51 ↗ should just be at the event and maybe

52:52 ↗ you'll see board members, you know, but

52:54 ↗ yeah, as long as you're not talking

52:55 ↗ about the actual

52:57 ↗ right stuff. Okay. Yeah, that sounds

53:00 ↗ good. Just like city clips.

53:02 ↗ Yeah. And that's planning on going this

53:04 ↗ year. I've never been.

53:06 ↗ But with this one there will be

53:07 ↗ intentionality that we will all be

53:10 ↗ visiting with the intention like seven

53:12 ↗ days that is very much a chance thing.

53:15 ↗ But this one if I come I'll be coming

53:17 ↗ and how does it go and if I talk to

53:19 ↗ someone you know

53:20 ↗ you're talking about boards.

53:23 ↗ Yeah.

53:35 ↗ Okay. So then for the subcommittee you

53:37 ↗ all can meet like meet offline however

53:40 ↗ that works right. You all can email each

53:42 ↗ other, set up times to meet, um, plug me

53:46 ↗ in as you need me, um, or as you have

53:49 ↗ questions basically.

53:52 ↗ Okay.

53:53 ↗ Maybe include quite in the the show

53:56 ↗ chat.

53:57 ↗ Yeah.

54:00 ↗ So, I'll reach out to you, Julian, just

54:02 ↗ to get kind of drill down on more

54:05 ↗ details as far as our subcommittee

54:07 ↗ meeting.

54:08 ↗ Okay.

54:36 ↗ I'll get the agenda pulled back up.

54:45 ↗ All you.

54:46 ↗ Okay. Oh, is that is that me? Thank you

54:48 ↗ very much.

54:49 ↗ So, um, other business announcements.

54:52 ↗ So, um, I don't have any this evening.

54:56 ↗ So, Jillian, do you have anything that

54:57 ↗ you want to add?

54:58 ↗ Nope. It sounds like we are set to not

55:00 ↗ have Sorry, I said no and then

55:02 ↗ continued. Um, sounds like we're set to

55:04 ↗ not have an August meeting. So, the next

55:06 ↗ meeting will be Wednesday, September

55:08 ↗ 3rd, um, after the Labor Day holiday.

55:12 ↗ Okay,

55:15 ↗ perfect.

55:16 ↗ Well, if there are no other um, business

55:19 ↗ items to be reviewed this evening, um, I

55:22 ↗ would like to thank everyone for

55:24 ↗ attending the meeting um, either on Zoom

55:26 ↗ um, or in person. And um I'd like to

55:29 ↗ adjourn this evening's meeting at

55:33 ↗ 6:57 p.m.

55:36 ↗ Record time.

55:37 ↗ Night everybody.

55:40 ↗ Good night.

55:44 ↗ Thank you.

55:46 ↗ Thank you.

55:47 ↗ Good night.

Approved minutes

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

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Attendance

Council / Members (9)

Lesley Millender-Irwin

Karthik Kashinath, Vice-Chair (virtual attendee)

Varnika Dokka

Lorna Gilmour

Chris Ziade

Oscar Montano

Quan Palmer

Nisha Nair – Alternate

Kunal Srivastava* - Alternate

Staff (1)

Gillian Straub, Management Analyst

Excused

Heather Youngs

Priti Mody-Pan

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.

The minutes of the June 4, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously without revision.