HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-2016.10.24 Diverisity Inclusion and Access intial invitation 12 24 2016
October 24, 2016
Dear Community Leader,
Thank you for your interest in participating in an on-going dialogue about diversity, inclusion, and access to resources. On Monday, November 7th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. we will
host an initial session. The meeting will be hosted at the Tilden Community Center. This session will feature Ms. Jane Vanderpoel from Dakota County. She has a presentation that illustrates
accurate data about the state, Dakota County, ISD 200 and the City of Hastings. The presentation will be hosted at the Tilden Community Center.
If there are others in your organization that you believe may be interested in this information, we encourage you to invite them to join you. We intend that this initiative will become
an important inter-agency/government collaboration. We are interested in identifying people early on in the process to meet several times per year, for an on-going basis.
The broad goals of this initiative are:
to increase awareness and provide accurate information between and among the agencies and governments in Hastings and the surrounding area.
to improve our capacity to understand and serve all of the members of the community in a manner that in inclusive, respectful, and responsive.
We thank you in advance for your time and your interest in this initiative. We will be asking two open questions and gather feedback. As you prepare for the meeting, we invite you to
consider the following:
What do you know about diversity, inclusion, and access that others would benefit from knowing?
What are the most common, or most detrimental inaccurate assumptions?
What are the most burdensome barriers to access to the members of our community?
Diversity can be identified based ethnic, racial, sexual, religious, language competence, socio-economic, mental health, racial, and gender identification status. All of these may limit
inclusion or access for disaffected persons. What is the present capacity to understand and serve persons of diverse status?
Thank you. Should you have any questions, or if you are unable to attend this first meeting, but you want to continue to be included in the on-going dialogue please contact us at 651-480-7066
or mzuzek@hastings.k12.mn.us.
Thank you,
Mark A. Zuzek Mary O’Brien,
Principal, Hastings Public Schools Director of Community Education