HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/20/2024 Item 7a, Velasco
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To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Support for SLO City Strategic DEI Plans
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Dear SLO City Council Members
I am writing to you in support of SLO City’s DEI Strategic Planning to continue advancing the efforts of
diversity, equity, and inclusion for our city planning and growth. As one of the former task members of SLO’s
DEI original task force, I urge the Council to continue to initiate the continued efforts of keeping DEI as a City
goal for the next two fiscal years.
Since I was part of the original task, I have seen the fruit of SLO DEI’s labor across the city. As a steering
committee member with the Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success, we have benefited
from the SLO City’s DEI grant two years in a row. We have hosted two Undocu summits in partnership with Cal
Poly and Cuesta college to help teachers, educators and community members learn about our undocumented
community in the city of SLO and have invited non-profits and organizations to serve with us and offer their
services in both English and Spanish. The grant has also allowed us to initiate case studies about community
members' lived experiences here in SLO and the participants range from being political asylum seekers,
migrant farmworkers, undocumented and DACA students and first generation students. From learning from our
participants, we have identified areas of improvement on how the city can be vibrant and be more welcoming
to those who live on the margins.
The investment to award this grants to local non profit who are doing the work of diversity, equity and inclusion
is helping the city foster a more equitable and inclusive environment for all residents and I urge the council to
continue the City’s DEI approach to move further and forward toward this work.
By providing financial support to non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and
inclusion, the city council is playing a vital role in empowering grassroots efforts to address systemic barriers
and promote social justice. I urge the city council to take bold and proactive steps toward integrating diversity,
equity, and inclusion in SLO city planning efforts.
Sincerely
Oscar Velasco
Steering Committee Member of Central Coast Coalition of Undocumented Student Success
velascoo164@gmail.com
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