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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8 18 2020 Human Rights Commission August 18, 2020 Electronic Formal Meeting- 5:30 PM Zoom Meeting Platform Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting is being held because a meeting in person is impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of Commission members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. You can participate in the meeting and can comment on an agenda item by going to https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMudOqurD8vHddSeNWzvyv6-FowwF8lyue1 via the internet to visit the Zoom meeting’s registration page and submit the required information. Once approved, you will receive an email message with a link to join the meeting. If you are asked for a meeting ID or webinar ID, enter the ID number found in the email. A meeting password may also be included in the email. Enter the password when prompted. If you have no computer or smartphone, or a computer without a microphone, you may call in by telephone by dialing (312) 626-6799. When prompted, enter the meeting ID or webinar ID. The ID number for this meeting is: 973 3362 4573. Once connected, you may dial *9 to “raise your hand,” letting the meeting host know you would like to speak. Providing comments in person is not an option. Agenda: 1. Call Meeting to Order and Roll Call. 2. Approval of the July 21, 2020 and July 28, 2020 meeting minutes. 3. Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda. (Commentators shall address the Commission for no more than 5 minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items). 4. Items to be discussed: a. Correspondence; b. Moving Commission Meeting Date to 4th Tuesday of each Month (Temporarily); c. Commission Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter; d. 30th ADA Virtual Celebration (October 3, 2-4PM); e. Fair Trade Town Proclamation (August 18); f. United Nations Convention Rights of the Child PhotoVoice; g. Subcommittees: Housing, Anti-Racism, Health Equity; h. Screening of White Privilege or Cracking the Code; i. Awards Breakfast (October 21, 2020). 5. Staff/Commission Announcements. (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said announcements). 6. Adjournment. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this meeting please contact the Equity Director, Stefanie Bowers, at 319-356-5022 or at stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. ANTI-OPPRESSIVE FACILITATION MAKING MEETINGS AWESOME FOR EVERYONE Inefficient and ineffective meetings can leave people feeling drained, exhausted or discouraged, rather than inspired and energized. Good meetings help build strong, effective organizations and successful projects. Even organizations with great meeting process inadvertently perpetuate barriers to full member participation and access to democratic process. This happens through group dynamics of power, privilege and oppression that often marginalize women, people of color, queer, trans and gender non-conforming folks, people with disabilities and those with limited access to the cultural cues and financial resources that come with class privilege. Whether or not you tend to act as facilitator at meetings you attend, building your facilitation skills will help you make your meetings better, more inclusive, and more fully democratic! Here are some foundational tips and suggestions that can have big impacts on your meetings! WHAT IS FACILITATION, ANYWAY? Facilitation ensures that the group is empowered as a whole. •Be sure that everyone gets to participate and share ideas in a meeting, not just those who feel most comfortable speaking up and making cases for their ideas or proposals. •Work to prevent or interrupt any (conscious or unconscious) attempts by individuals or groups to overpower the group as a whole. •Keep an eye out for social power dynamics and work to interrupt these. Point out an address discrepancies in who is talking, whose voices are being heard. •Help the group come to the decisions that are best for the organization/whole group. Help people keep an eye on what’s best for the group, rather than their personal preference. •Ensure the group follows its own agreed upon process and meeting agreements. Facilitation keeps an eye on time, and juggles it with the (ever present) need for more time. •Offer periodic time check-ins. •Help keep the group conversation on topic and relevant. Prevent ramblings and tangents. •Make process suggestions to help the group along. •Summarize discussion and note key areas of agreement, to help move the group forward. CONTAINERS FOR YOUR MEETINGS Things like community agreements, an agenda, an available chart of your group’s decision making process, a place to store important topics for future conversations, next steps, etc are important foundations for a meeting-- we call them “containers.” They act as visual tools that participants and facilitators can come back to throughout the meeting to help keep the group focused, on track, on the same page. They also offer direction for moments when things get sticky or tense. Community Agreements Community agreements help define your role as facilitator and clarify the group’s expectations of you. One of your big responsibilities to the group is to make sure these agreements are upheld. This isn’t about creating rules-- it’s about creating and clarifying agreements and expectations that allow everyone in the group to participate. In order for these to be meaningful, they need to come from the group itself. Once a group creates its ANTI-OPPRESSION RESOURCE AND TRAINING ALLIANCE www.aortacollective.org agreements, they can be used over and over. As a facilitator, you get to contribute to this list, too. Here’s some community agreements that can be helpful in meetings, to get you thinking: ONE DIVA, ONE MIC Please, one person speak at a time. (It can also be useful to ask people to leave space in between speakers, for those who need more time to process words, or are less comfortable fighting for airtime in a conversation.) NO ONE KNOWS EVERYTHING; TOGETHER WE KNOW A LOT This means we all get to practice being humble, because we have something to learn from everyone in the room. It also means we all have a responsibility to share what we know, as well as our question, so that others may learn from us. MOVE UP, MOVE UP If you’re someone who tends to not speak a lot, please move up into a role of speaking more. If you tend to speak a lot, please move up into a role of listening more. This is a twist on the on the more commonly heard “step up, step back.” The “up/up” confirms that in both experiences, growth is happening. (You don’t go “back” by learning to be a better listener.) Saying “move” instead of “step” recognizes that not everyone can step. WE CAN’T BE ARTICULATE ALL THE TIME As much as we’d like, we just can’t. Often people feel hesitant to participate in a workshop or meeting for fear of “messing up” or stumbling over their words. We want everyone to feel comfortable participating, even if you can’t be as articulate as you’d like. BE AWARE OF TIME This is helpful for your facilitator, and helps to respect everyone’s time and commitment. Please come back on time from breaks, and refrain from speaking in long monologues... BE CURIOUS We make better decisions when we approach our problems and challenges with questions (“What if we…?”) and curiosity. Allow space for play, curiosity, and creative thinking. NOTE: There’s a few community agreements that participants often bring up that we don’t tend to use or bring with us. Two of the most common ones are “assume best intentions” and “default to trust.” The reason we don’t use these is because when someone is unable to do this (say they’re feeling untrusting of someone, or unsafe), having a community agreement telling to do so isn’t going to change anything. Put short, these agreements aren’t always possible, especially when we take into consideration that when people have been harmed by sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, they/we build up necessary tools to take care of and protect themselves/ourselves. Agreements we offer instead that capture the spirit of these are “we can’t be articulate all the time,” “be generous with each other,” or “this is a space for learning.” The Magic of an Agenda There are many different ways to build an agenda to match the style, culture, and needs of each group or meeting. However you do it, a clear and well-constructed agenda that all participants can agree to, is a crucial step for an efficient, inclusive, and awesome meeting. The facilitator’s job (generally) is to both keep the participants on track to both following the agenda as well as to pay attention to when the agenda isn’t working ANTI-OPPRESSION RESOURCE AND TRAINING ALLIANCE www.aortacollective.org and changes need to happen. Here are some best practices regarding agendas: •Set the agenda before the meeting starts. Building it over email, through a list that is kept in an office, or at the end of the previous meeting. This helps everyone come well researched and mentally and emotionally prepared. •Some groups like a more emergent and organic style for building an agenda. If this is your group, participants can spend the beginning of a meeting writing each agenda item they’d like to discuss on an index card, and then the group can use different visual tools to select the card(s) people are most moved to talk about. The down side: you don’t know what you’re talking about in advance, so can’t prepare, or share your thoughts in advance, if you’re not able to attend. •Review the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Share your reasoning before asking for amendments or changes. It is important that the whole group. •Announcements and report back at beginning can save a lot of time. •Give it variety: mix up the length and type of agenda items. •Put agenda items that will be east successes early in the meeting. This sets a positive tone and builds momentum! •Follow with the “big stuff.” •Break after big discussions. •Schedule breaks for any meeting more than 90 minutes. After this length of time, groups fall into the trap of “decision fatigue,” making big decisions rashly or getting stuck talking in circles on smaller decisions. •Finish on something short and easy-- end with a good tone. •Have the agenda on paper, so that all can see it (either on flipchart, blackboard, printed out). •Label items with their expected actions: decision, discussion, play, evaluate, brainstorm, review, update, silence, feedback, appreciations and concerns. Garden/ Bike Rack/ Topics for Future Meetings Whatever your group chooses to call it, have a sheet or on-going list to write down ideas, questions, and topics for future meetings that come up. Often in the course of talking about one topic, really important things surface that need to be addressed, but are not on the current meeting’s agenda. Unless they are urgent/time sensitive, it can really help keep the group on topic to have a space to note them so that they can be incorporated into future meetings (and not forgotten about!). Next Steps/ Who, What, When, Priority It can be very helpful to keep a sheet where you’re taking running notes on any next steps or tasks that are coming out of the meeting. We sometimes do this in three (or four) columns: one for who is doing the next step or task (this could be an individual or a group), what it is they’re going to do, by when they will have done it, and what priority level the task is (1-3, 1-5). You can end the meeting by reviewing this sheet and filling in missing details. You can also start your meetings by checking in with the sheet from the previous meeting. TIPS, TOOLS, TECHNIQUES ANTI-OPPRESSION RESOURCE AND TRAINING ALLIANCE www.aortacollective.org Tools You Can Use Some simple tools that can drastically shift the energy of a meeting, might help you hear new voices, and invite the perspectives of quiet, introverted, or more silenced participants: •Start the meeting off with quick check-ins (even something as simple as “three adjectives to describe how you’re feeling,” or “one thing that went well and one challenge from the week”) on how folks are doing, so you know where folks are at when they walk in the room. •Build in a couple minutes for quiet journaling/thinking before launching into group discussion. •Start an item off with conversations in pairs or small groups before coming back to the whole group. Often you’ll get deeper this want and end up with better, more creative ideas. •Do a round robin/go-around to hear from everyone. (People can always pass if they’d like). •Hosting part of a meeting with everyone standing in a circle (if they’re able) can help wake people up, decrease tensions, and support more concise statements. •Asking participants to switch seats after a break or agenda item also helps to energize and mix things up. This can be really helpful when they group is feeling stuck. •Taking a straw poll can help you get a quick read of how close the group is to a decision, whether or not there is unity, and which topics are key to focus discussion on. You can check in with folks whose opinions diverge most from the majority to see what’s going on for them. Straw polls can look a lot of ways: ◦Vote yes/no/maybe ◦Vote for your one favorite of multiple options ◦Vote for all the options you support (more than one is ok) ◦Rate how you feel about the proposal/idea on a “fist of five,” one finger meaning “I really do not support this,” five fingers meaning “I love this.” •Incorporate ways of gauging people’s opinions that involve their bodies, such as asking folks to walk to one side of the room if they are for the proposal, the other side if they’re against it, and to stand in the middle if they’re unsure. Then, hear from a few people from each position. Let folks move as their opinions change. Common Mistakes (will happen. Keep an eye out!) •Not having a co-facilitator when you need one. •Rushing the group. (Sometimes going slower takes less time in the long run). •Not setting clear boundaries for yourself in your role as facilitator, getting pushed around by the group. •Not taking a break when YOU need one. (When the facilitator needs a break, it’s to everyone’s advantage to have a break!) •Spiraling down into group process about group process. (You know, when you spend 10 minutes deciding as a group by consensus whether you want to allot 10 more minutes of discussion to an item). •Not leaving time and space for people’s feelings. •Becoming inflexible or unwilling to adapt the agenda/plan to meet the group’s evolving needs. •Forgetting to get additional support-- a notetaker, logistics coordinator, someone to set up the meeting space, etc. •Meeting for too long a time period without food, water, and/or breaks. Red Flags and Dynamics to Watch Out For •Unhealthy, unchallenged, or unnamed power dynamics. ANTI-OPPRESSION RESOURCE AND TRAINING ALLIANCE www.aortacollective.org •People interrupting each other or the facilitator. •People repeating or re-stating what others have said. •Tone and body language: Do people look upset? Checked out? Bored? Angry? If you see this, check in with the group as a whole, or quietly with individuals. •Individuals monopolizing conversation. •Individuals or small groups bringing a fully-formed idea to the meeting, without any group conversation, brainstorming, or feedback, and wanting it passed that very day. •Back-and-forths between individuals. What to Do When You Get Stuck •Use the agenda and expected actions. Have you switched into “decide” mode when the desired action was “feedback?” •Take a break: Have small groups work out a proposal based on what they've heard about the needs of the group. (What's needed for a decision?) •Ask questions to initiate discussion, as opposed to jumping directly into concerns. Questions assume the proposal writer(s) thought about the concern, and allow them to respond with their reasoning. •When people are voicing concerns, ask them what can be done to meet their concern. •Do people need a refresher of the decision making process your group uses? •Listen for agreement and note it, no matter how small. This both builds moral and helps clarify where the group is at. •Reflect back what you're hearing. Practice synthesizing and summarizing. •Break big decisions into smaller pieces. •Don't allow back and forths between two participants to dominate a discussion or agenda item: ask for input from others. RESOURCES •Collective Visioning by Linda Stout •Facilitators Guide to Participatory Decision Making by Sam Kaner •Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray •Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities by Adam Kahane and Peter M. Senge •Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes & Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity by David Sibbet ANTI-OPPRESSION RESOURCE AND TRAINING ALLIANCE www.aortacollective.org Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 06/22/2020 Contact: Stefanie Bowers, Equity Director Phone: 319-356-5022 City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission issues statement in support of Black Lives Matter Like so many across the nation, we were outraged by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. We felt it was time to make an unprecedented statement addressing this human rights violation. The killing of George Floyd resonates within our community, illuminating the failure to address underlying economic and social forces perpetuating systemic racism throughout our nation. Because of these failures, many names have become headlines: Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, among so many other BIPOC. Living While Black should not be a death sentence. Systemic racism and centuries of oppression of people of color, especially of African Americans, represent ongoing human rights crises. This is embedded into many areas of our community, including but not limited to law enforcement, criminal justice, housing, employment, education, healthcare and childcare. We recognize that these interrelated factors make solutions complex. Though the issues are systemic, solutions must be specific, focused on individual and policy-level changes, involving broad participation to be successful. As a commission, we pledge the following commitments to you: • We state unequivocally Black Lives Matter. • We will increase our efforts to highlight the work being done by the City of Iowa City Office of Equity and Human Rights to educate and engage the community on human rights issues. • We will spread awareness of resources and activities in the community through the Social Justice and Racial Equity Quarterly Report found here. • We will continue to be active representatives of this community and in working with the Iowa City City Council, further dialogue and advocate for action for human rights issues, including addressing the Iowa City Freedom Riders’ demands. • We will listen to and help amplify community voices on matters of human rights. Community residents are always encouraged to contact a member of the Human Rights Commission or City staff if they have questions or concerns. • We will engage in active dialogues with local officials and City staff members, including law enforcement, that allow them to make informed decisions regarding equitable and just policies and practices upholding human rights and holding human rights violators accountable. • We further offer our assistance in bridging the gap and fostering an open dialogue between law enforcement and those participating in non-violent protests. We want to aid in promoting trust between these groups to assure safety for all and protection of the Constitutional Rights of free speech and freedom of assembly. • We commit to building a more robust Human Rights Commission Strategic Plan starting in July to assure that our priorities align with the goals above and in light of the heightened awareness in our community to issues of race within systems and policies. The goal of these commitments is to help us stay true to our duties and to more actively spur us to be a part of the solution in dismantling systems of oppression by starting with small acts of our own today. This commission looks forward to building on our strengths and addressing critical areas that must be improved in our community. We hope that the passion of the last few weeks is indicative of the will to truly find solutions to these issues, which will undoubtedly take a sustained, long-term effort involving all community members. We must assure that this is not a fleeting moment, but a pivotal one that leads to lasting change. To learn more about the City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission visit this link. In solidarity, City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission Questions? Contact Us STAY CONNECTED: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Preferences | Unsubscribe | Help Correspondence Budgeted Actual Revenue Fees $700.00 $700.00 Grants $15,200.00 $15,200.00 Other revenue Total Revenue $15,900.00 $15,900.00 Expenses Professional Services Interpreters and translators $2,400.00 $6,400.00 Travel/honorarium-regional speakers $1,500.00 $1,900.00 Workshop instruction $2,450.00 $3,500.00 Educational Materials Marketing/Advertising $300.00 $50.00 Equipment/Hardware Rentals Supplies Outside Printing $500.00 $1,090.00 Miscellaneous Supplies Scholarships $5,000.00 $2,800.00 Lost wage stipends $2,400.00 $0.00 Evening/weekend shuttle $750.00 $160.00 Child care $600.00 $0.00 Total Expenses $15,900.00 $15,900.00 Status of Complaints August 11, 2020 Employment Complainant alleges they were terminated due to sexual orientation and sex discrimination. They further allege unlawful retaliation. Probable cause determination on retaliation claim. Administrative closure on sexual orientation and sex discrimination claims. Complainant alleges they were paid less than their counterparts for the same work duties and was retaliated against when they reported it. Successful mediation. Complainant alleges they were not given further work hours after they reported what they believed to be religious discrimination. Complaint transferred due to conflict of interest. Complainant alleges they were terminated due to religious discrimination. Under investigation. Complainant alleges they were treated adversely at new employee orientation and as a result they were unfairly terminated. Successful mediation. Complainant reports they were terminated from a job they held for many years due to unlawful retaliation. Complaint closed as complainant accepted a settlement with prior employer. Complainant alleges they were treated adversely due to age, color, race, creed, religion, marital status, sex, unlawful retaliation by current employer. Administrative closure. Complainant alleges they were treated adversely due to age, color, race, creed, religion, marital status, sex, unlawful retaliation by current employer. Investigation completed and is under review.