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Home My WebLink About07-17-2020 Lee-DE&I ApplicationDiversity, Equity, & Inclusion Task Force Application for Membership Thank you for your interest in serving on the City of San Luis Obispo's DE&I Task Force. Please review the following information and complete the included questions. Please contact 805-781-7100 or DEI@SLOCity.org for further information. The City of San Luis Obispo is seeking County residents to serve on its newly-created Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. The task force will be comprised of 9-13 members with diverse representation and varied perspectives. Any SLO County re side nt ov e r 18 ye ars old with a strong conne ction to the City of San Luis Obispo, and with formal or informal e xpe rie nce - liv e d, pe rsonal, e ducational, community, v olunte e r and/or profe ssional - is e ncourage d to apply. The Task Force is charged with improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), belonging, and racial justice in San Luis Obispo. It will work with City Leadership to: 1. Collect information and insight about what marginalized racial, ethnic, and cultural groups are experiencing in San Luis Obispo, and how to best advance DE&I. 2. Participate in a grant-making process to distribute up to $120,000 in City funding for local DE&I activities, projects, or programs. 3. Provide recommendations to strengthen the City’s Human Relations Commission and for creating a potential DE&I Major City Goal. The Task Force se rv ice te rm is Se pte mbe r 2020 through January 2021. It is expected that the Task Force will meet on Thursdays for 2 hours. Meetings will be weekly from September 3 through November 5, 2020, then every other week from December 3, 2020 – January 7, 2021. For detailed information and timeline, please review the following prior to applying: Overview: https://www.slocity.org/home/showdocument?id=27065 Resolution: https://www.slocity.org/home/showdocument?id=27061 Applications are due to the City by 5pm on M onday August 3, 2020. Please complete the following. Use the "submit" button at the end, or email to: DEI@SLOCity.org If a paper version is needed, please contact: 805-781-7100 or DEI@SLOCity.org 1. Name :* 2. Addre ss * 3. Phone Numbe r 4. Email * Nissa (Eunice) Lee City San Luis Obispo State / Province / Region CALIFORNIA Postal / Zip Code 93401 Country USA Street Address Address Line 2 5. Are you a re side nt of San Luis Obispo County and hav e a strong conne ction to the City of San Luis Obispo (such as a re side nt, work in the City, a stude nt, e tc.)?* If Ye s, what is your conne ction to the City of SLO? 6. It is anticipate d that the DE&I Task Force will me e t we e kly for two hours from Se pte mbe r 3 through Nov e mbe r 5, 2020. Are you able to commit to this sche dule , and comple te any assignme nts be twe e n me e tings?* Comme nts 7. What time (s) are you av ailable on Thursdays (ple ase se le ct all that apply):* Comme nts 8. Are you curre ntly or hav e you pre v iously se rv e d on a board, commission, committe e , or othe r public body? Which one , and whe n? What contributions did you make ?* 9. Why do you want to be on this task force ? What inte re st, e xpe rie nce , e ducation, training, or skills do you bring? Ple ase conside r any liv e d, pe rsonal, profe ssional, or v olunte e r e xpe rie nce and activ itie s.* Yes No I have resided here for 4 years and run a business in SLO. Yes No Morning Afternoon Evening I have and currently run a community project (The Wellness Community Project) and hold monthly meetings and organize collaborative events. The collaborative events have been on pause due to COVID, but I continue to keep the project going by finding volunteers to help others in safe ways using social distancing. I also run and organize the Central Coast Corgis. Funny to include, but it does involve a lot of organization. We have put on events and fundraisers raising money for Woods Humane Society and R.A.C.E. Matters and used to meet monthly. No formal board experience. No formal board experience. 10. Giv e n the purpose of this task force - prov ide re comme ndations for which community DE&I proje cts or programs to fund and for ways to improv e DE&I in the City - what outcome s do you hope for, and how would you achie v e the m?* 11. Do you hav e any sugge stions for this task force or the City's DE&I e fforts? Comme nts 12. Be side s your inte re st in be ing on the DE&I task force , would you be inte re ste d in supporting the City's DE&I work in othe r ways, such as se rv ing on a sub-committe e or prov ide aware ne ss and e ducation to the Task Force ?* There are many reasons why I would like to be on this task force. Most importantly, I believe my heart is in the right place. I am deeply passionate about race matters and have been for over two decades. This is something I have been pursuing for many years. Personally, I am doing a lot of research on systemic racism and concepts such as "white fragility" so I can have educated conversations and contribute to real positive change. Before the current awakening surrounding BLM, I have been working on children's books as a hobby that highlight different elements of race such as feeling welcome and being different that I wanted to take into schools. I believe that there needs to be more representation of people of color starting at a young age. On a personal level, I have also experienced racism firsthand on many counts and believe that it has given me incredible insight into this and a fire to use my voice to help others who feel helpless and exhausted due to current inequalities. Professionally, I have held meetings with my employees about our stance as a company in support of BLM and invited open dialogue to discuss uncomfortable topics. As a company, we are in the process of creating art to share with the community to encourage conversations about race. I am also hosting a conversation series with various individuals from the community to highlight different voices and keep the conversation going. This is something I am committed to for the long haul, not just for a month or two. I am the founder and organizer of The Wellness Community Project, which is a free and donation based project that is a collaborative effort with local individuals in the healing and creative arts to serve the community in ways that are needed. We have worked with populations from women's shelters to hospice and everyday people who just need self care and can't afford it. Most recently, we hosted an event to help alleviate exhaustion felt by POC as they have been busy holding rallies, being bombarded by media/disturbing news, and reliving painful experiences of trauma from the past and present. I would like to see more projects funded that reach the inner core of people more than a passing story that tugs on your heart strings for one day or one month. This means creating regular and ongoing opportunities for people to continue meaningful conversations by discussing books, viewing art, watching documentaries, etc. The outcomes I would hope to achieve are to make REAL and LASTING changes of people's minds and hearts. I don't believe this is done simply by changing a system without changing those things as well. I believe there are many people awakened and seeking knowledge through their own research, conversations, and actions, and this is a fertile time to partake in tasks that directly serve that purpose of changing minds and hearts. In addition to this, I would like to see specific tasks targeting changing the system itself, which is broken. I would love to see the arts being used more as an agent for change to open minds. I think the arts are one of the most powerful change agents and they are underutilized. I believe creating more events like this would also strengthen community and bring more people together. One particular idea I would love to see is organizing community members to reach the very young through sharing talks about race using children's books. This may have to be done virtually right now or could be done publicly somewhere where families are invited to go to a place in the public arena to have their own conversations if groups are not allowed at this time. I would also like to help run a music performance group where a group of people collaboratively put on a musical they create together to tell stories and express things that need to be said using the arts. I have a masters in music from Northwestern University and a music therapy degree focusing on trauma. I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time and would welcome the opportunity. 13. Anything e lse to share about your inte re st in se rv ing on this task force ? 14. Whe re did you find out about this Task Force ope ning?* Yes No Perhaps I'm ALL in! Would be honored to be a part of this. City Website City Social Media New Times The Tribune Online Search Friend/Family Member Other