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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDEI Comm. 08/20/2024Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Meeting Minutes August 20, 2024 Present: Teresa Murphy, Brendan Roche (arrived at 6:18 pm), Kevin Dumas, Peter Lally, Joe Kaplan, Taylor Palinski, lames Owens, Rishi Pendyala, Beth Collins, Jenifer Sellon, and Kate delima, were present in meeting room 2 A/B at Town Hall Not Present: Sally Fehervari, Nicole Burch, Michael McCreless, Dhruv Jain, Deputy Chief Frank Archer, and Greg Penesis Also Present: Jocelyn LeMaire, Director of Human Resources 1. Call Meeting to Order Mr. Kevin Dumas called the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee meeting to order at 6:05 PM. 2. Discussion and Consideration to Approve the Meeting Minutes of February 22, 2024 Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of February 22, 2024. (Lally/Murphy) Passes 10:0 3. Committee Member Introductions Mr. Dumas asked for each member present to introduce themselves. All members gave a quick i 9roduction. 4. Discussion of the Audit Process as it Relates to Mansfield's Communication Practices "r Mr. Dumas began with an overview of the charge of the DEI committee. He then gave insight - ir what a Community Equity Audit looks like, and he discussed the "lens" that the group would want tobok through. He shared that it involves Identifying disparities and inequities in town communication, understanding stakeholder experiences, and ensuring that the Town's communications practices comply with anti -discrimination laws. Mr. Dumas also gave an overview of what the process would involve, and defined what underrepresented, underserved, and marginalized means. Reflecting on Mr. Dumas' statements, Ms. Sellon commented that neurodivergent people do not considered themselves as disabled. She felt it was important to state that they should not be grouped in that way. Ms. LeMaire stated that it will be important to discuss and understand terms that should be used, and those that should be avoided, and she added that some terms that have been commonly used in the past will need to be replaced to ensure inclusivity in meetings and other communications. The group discussed some alternative options to some identifiers. Mr. Caplan stated that using "that person" is not something that would feel good. He suggested "that individual" or "they" might be better. Mr. Dumas stated that people are trying to be respectful but might not always know the right terminology to use. This is why he wanted to discuss this and to offer examples of options to consider for alterative language. 6:18 PM Brendan Roche arrived. Ms. delima suggested that sis gender individual or person might be better than man/woman. Mr. Owens is concerned with the generalized of "you people" and offered that that categorizes a group in a negative way, which was a good transition to the next topic. Mr. Kaplan asked about using gay/lesbian instead of LGBTQ+. It was agreed upon that LGBTQ+ would replace the use of the words gay/lesbian. Mr. Dumas gave context to how the usage of the language would fit into the goals of the Committee. He said that the list, once complete, would be used in Town communications in a variety of ways. Mr. Kaplan was asked if he had a suggestion other than "you people." He stated that the context of the group would be appropriate, such as "people of the xyz community." Mr. Dumas stated that we want to be sensitive to all people. Ms. Collins said that autistic people don't like "people first language." Mr. Dumas asked if people who don't like "people first language" should have their own category. He followed by asking "how that could be captured." Ms. deLima suggested taking out people first language. Ms. LeMaire asked if "preferred" would be better. Ms. Collins recommended, that instead of saying "student with autism," communications should say "autistic student." Ms. deLima asked about adding neuro divergent on the list. Mr. Dumas asked for recommendations. Ms. Collins, Ms. Sellon, and Ms. deLima agreed that neurodivergent can be a large collective community. Mr. Lally suggested that this would include, but not limited to, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, autism (ADS), anxiety, learning disabilities, depression, eating disorders, and other disorders. Mr. Dumas discussed Town communications and how some of the Town departments handle community relations. He offered several examples of media that the departments use to communicate with the public. Ms. LeMaire commented on different ways Town departments use communications methods. For example, Human Resources uses email and social media. The group shared other ways the Town communicates in order to be mindful of ways that communication methods will need to be considered under this project. , Ms. Murphy informed that Mass Insight did a strategic plan and equity audit for the School Department. They are in year two of accomplishing the goals of the plan. She advised that a subcommittee reviews the schools' policies. One takeaway Ms. Murphy had from working on this with the School Department is that this Committee should be mindful that new policies must be gender neutral. They have the support of samples and templates from the Mass Association of School Committees. The School Department is doing this process concurrently while the Town's DEI committee is going through the same process. Ms. Murphy wanted the group to be aware that the schools are not being ignored in this DEI process. She made this Committee aware that the School Department has already been through their own audit with the Mass Insight team. She informed that she had asked Mass Insight about resources for the Town, but they said that there are a lot more resources in the school "domain" versus the municipal side, which affirmed what we learned over the last year of this process. She also noted that the costs to conduct such an audit have increased expediential since the School Department paid $100,000 two years ago when they got in on the ground floor. Most school districts are looking at over $150,000 to do it today. Mr. Dumas shared some other equity areas that need to be discussed in the future. Ms. Murphy stated that there might be concern for families who may need social -economic support in areas such as Parks & Recreation, as she is aware of this from working in the School Department. Mr. Dumas mentioned that some of the Council on Aging and Library visitors could fall into this category too. Mr. Dumas summarized that the next area of focus for this Committee will be Language and Tone. The Committee will need to examine Language and Tone to be sure they are representative of all demographic groups. Making sure images and graphics are not offensive and that they accurately reflect the group of focus. Our work must accomplish equitable outreach, said Mr. Dumas. Ms. LeMaire noted that as a Committee we will also need to look at crisis communication. She said it would be helpful to look back at past communication in order to look forward and ensure that all future emergency public statements align with DEI goals, Jocelyn reviewed several examples of how some of the departments communicate with the public in general. Mr. Dumas noted that thinking about these examples will help Jocelyn's t outline her outreach to departments via memo. Jocelyn's memo will explain the nature of the DEI committee's goals and how this will be an open process in cooperation with all of the departments. There will be a proposed end date of September 30, 2024 to the departments to return their examples. The next meeting will take place after that information is returned to Jocelyn and we have assembled binders of the materials returned from the departments. Seeing these examples should help the Committee members to organize their thoughts and help to prepare for the items they may want to audit. This will eventually lead to a report to Select Board and the Community. Which may then lead to new ideas for additional means of communication. 5. Establish Next Meeting Date Tuesday, October 1ST at 6:00 pm. 6. Any Items Not Known within 48 Hours There were no items. 7. Adjourn Motion: To adjourn the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee meeting of August 20, 2024 at 7:2013M. (Kaplan/Owens) Passes Signature Minutes prepared by Nancy Grim Date