DEIJB committee to host series of public listening sessions
Published: 05-01-2023 5:49 PM |
A city-appointed diversity and inclusion committee will host listening sessions for community members starting next week to gather feedback and insight to make Concord more equitable for all residents.
The first cluster of listening sessions will take place over the course of one week ahead of the monthly City Council meeting on May 8. The first session will be held on Tuesday, May 2, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the City Council Chambers followed by a second session on Thursday, May 4, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Merrimack Valley High School Auditorium and a third session on Saturday, May 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Harriet Dame Auditorium of the Citywide Community Center.
Through the sessions, the committee, which includes Councilor Byron Champlin, Mayor Jim Bouley and Councilor Zandra Rice Hawkins, aims to create and sustain an inclusive process for public engagement for all residents to feel a sense of belonging and to authentically participate in the decision-making processes that impact their lives.
Long term goals of the committee include identifying characteristics that would make Concord a more welcoming, inclusive, just, and equitable place where all residents feel empowered. This involves developing approaches and initiatives that will assure the protection and promotion of those characteristics and establishing a protocol for community conversations that will engage all residents of the city.
The committee was first presented to the public by Mayor Bouley during the March City Council meeting where he announced committee plans to make Concord a more welcoming and equitable city. The announcement followed requests from New American and refugee populations asking for more people of color on city boards and committees to help guide projects and offer recommendations on important citywide decisions that will impact their respective communities.