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2020-07 - Employee Town Hall Outline SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 Town Hall Session Purpose: The City of Golden Valley wishes to hold a Town Hall to create a space in response to and understand the state of emotions employees are holding in relation to the death of George Floyd, and the two public health issues; racism and COVID-19. Pertaining to these topics, the City of Golden Valley wishes to understanding employees’ perspective to know what the City of Golden Valley is doing well and what’s not going so well. The City of Golden Valley p lans to use this information to further their commitment to diversity, inclusion and address health and safety measures in response to COVID-19. The Town Hall will likely uncover how employees are dealing with the impacts of community events, and social justice impacts, police brutality, systemic racism and the civil unrest and uprising around the world. This Town Hall will be a space where employees should feel comfortable sharing their reflections, discuss and be vulnerable with one another. Materials: Non applicable Platform: Web-Ex Roles: Facilitator (Tonya) and Golden Valley manage technology Flow: In partnership with the City of Golden the facilitator will lead a 90-minute Town Hall session. The anticipated attending employee population is 50, 140 employees will be invited. Town Halls Outline: 1. TBD/Kirsten: Welcomes Town Hall participants (5 mins) a. Say: Thank you for being here, joining us, trusting this space and welcoming the opportunity to be honest and vulnerable together. b. Say: Any other opening remarks deemed necessary c. Introduction of facilitator – See Bio from proposal 2. Tonya: Sets the stage (25 mins) a. moment of silence at end of this segment is 2 mins) b. Share the purpose of the discussion, reinforcing the desire to hear employees voice and their concerns, extend care (express empathy) and learn how their perspective can be one of the ways to think about how to shape City of Golden Valley’s future diversity and inclusion focus. c. Moment of silence/mindfulness 3. Tonya: Open Discussion Rounds, Values, and Ground Rules a. Share: City of Golden Valley’s values – Communication, Community, Inclusion, Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Courage and Accountability SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 b. Ask: The group if there are other values that are important to express how you will treat others or how they should treat you? c. Optional: After sharing values via chat or audio, add to whiteboard for visual. d. Share: Discussion Ground Rules i. Be open and honest to your comfort level. You should expect to get out of this experience what you put in. Your courage and contributions matter. ii. Listen to understand, not listen to respond. iii. Be respectful of each person’s experience. iv. It is okay to pass when it’s your turn to speak. v. Be mindful of the space and time each person occupies- allow colleagues the chance to share their thoughts. vi. Keep things high-level and not disclose names of people, use I statements vii. Let’s keep contributions confidential. After this conversation, we ask that you do not share out who said what. e. Share: messaging on Power of Racial Identity and White Privilege and Power (Perhaps this can be a handout) f. Share: Quote of Client’s Choice – examples: • We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never loose infinite hope. ~Martin Luther King • “The best way to get rid of the pain is to feel the pain. And when you feel the pain and go beyond it, you’ll see there’s a very intense love that is wanting to awaken itself.” ~Deepak Chopra g. Say: The purpose of this next session of the Town Hall is to raise our awareness, so we can choose to take actions that support social equality and good health. 4. Tonya: Chat/Poling Questions and Discussion (40 mins) a. Ask: questions and solicit responses via chat or polling following each question i. How are you doing or feeling today physically, mentally and emotionally? ii. With regards to the public health issues (COVID, George Floyd, social unrest pertaining to systemic racism, police brutality, community violence, etc.), what feelings arose for you? iii. How does your racial identify journey influence you review of the recent and current racial and cultural trauma that has affected us? iv. How does your privilege and power influence you review of the recent and current racial and cultural trauma that has affected us? v. How do you think we’re responding to these issues ? - What is going well? - What should we do more of to address these issues or enhance or work environment? vi. Are there things you’re personally doing to address equality in the workplace or not? vii. What are you doing to heal yourself? viii. What is needed to support and promote healing? 5. Tonya: CLOSING (15 mins) SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 a. Say: Thank you participating in the discussion. We recognize everyone is on a different journey and may not be able to take the same steps. With that said, we do want to hear how this session was for you – was it difficult, inspiring, action generating. So, we have some specific closing questions: i. What have you gleaned from this exercise today? ii. What are you grateful for, what inspires you or what will you do next? b. Say: Thank all for joining us. Share Quote: Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” ~Michael Jordan Planned Logistics July 22, 2020 2:00-3:30pm Follow up Survey Questions 1. Did you feel listened to in this session? 2. Would you participate in future circle sessions on other difficult topics? 3. Would you like to host a circle within your department? 4. What actions should follow these circle sessions? SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 Possible Handout These are only samples and if used it recommended that messaging about COVID-19 inserted as these messages below are centered at and for having conversations about race, power and privilege. Power of Racial Identity Journey One core assumption of this section is that everyone living in the United States has their own personal racial identity journey. This journey is related to their local community, their religious community (Unitarian Universalism) and our nation’s history (The History of White Supremacy in the United States). We live in a culture which has historically racialized people into racial categories: White, African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic American (Latino/Latina) and so on. We will be learning more about this when we do the session on the history of white supremacy. And while these racial categories are more fluid today and we have more mixed-race peoples, everyone born in the United States is still put into one of these categories. Everyone who immigrates to the United States is put in a racial category. People come from many different countries in Asia, but they are lumped together as Asian Americans. It is the same for people coming from Latin or Central America – they are lumped together as Hispanics. POWER ONE The first kind of racial power is the power to oppress, control, and destroy people of color. Historically we have seen this power manifest in the extermination of Native Americans, the enslavement of African peoples, the exclusion of Asians, and the internment of Japanese. Today this power one oppression continues in the disparities between whites and people of color with regard to education, health care, the criminal justice system, access to housing, and accumulation of wealth. POWER TWO Power two is the power to provide power, privilege, and benefits to those of us who are white. The purpose of systemic racism is to provide power and privilege to those of us who are white. This is the end goal of racism. The oppression of people of color through the power one form of racis m is the means to the end. POWER THREE Power three is the most dangerous and insidious power of racism. This is racism’s power to shape racial identity. Power three is racism’s power to socialize whites into being racists and people of color into being victims. From: Rev. Dr. William Gardiner Whiteness Racial Identify Journey Unitarian Universalist Association SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 Possible Handout Continued White Privilege and Power? In any society or group with structural inequality, those who are privileged by the society enjoy benefits and advantages that are often taken for granted and invisible to them, while those with less power and privilege face obstacles and depravations that are very obvious and painful to them. In this society we are a part of, we derive benefits from being male or white or straight or able bodied without taking any personal action against a woman, persons of color or someone with a disability. Non-white individuals may also have privilege, due to their ability to obtain more resources such as education, healthcare or employment which can impact their socioeconomic status in society and ability to increase their resources. However, privilege and power as compared to Whites is proportionally still limited. Psychological costs may include but are not limited to 1) Loss of Mental Health and Authentic Sense of Self 2) Socialized into limited roles and patterns of behavior 3) Denial of emotions and empathy 4) Limited self-knowledge and distorted view of self 5) Discrepancy between others' perceptions and internal reality 6) Pain and fears (of doing and saying wrong thing, of retaliation from oppressed groups, of revealing self for fear of judgment, of different people and experiences) and 7) Diminished mental health (distorted view of self and reality, denial, projection) Social Costs may include but are not limited to 1) Loss and Diminishment of Relationships 2) Isolation from people who are different 3) Barriers to deeper, more authentic relationships and 4) Disconnection, distance and ostracism within own group/family if act differently Moral and Spiritual Costs may include but are not limited to 1) Loss of Moral and Spiritual 2) Integrity Guilt and shame 3) Moral ambivalence (doing right thing vs. social pressures and realities) and 4) Spiritual emptiness or pain Intellectual Costs: may include but are not limited to 1) Loss of Developing Full Range of Knowledge 2) Distorted and limited view of other people's culture and history and 3) Ignorance of own culture and history Material and Physical Costs may include but are not limited to 1) Loss of Safety, 2) Resources, and Quality of Life and 3) Social violence and unrest Higher costs (e.g. for good and safe schools and homes, for qualified employees) may include but are not limited to 1) Waste of resources (to deal with effects of inequality) 2) Loss of valuable employees, clients and customers 3) Loss of knowledge to foster societal growth and well-being 4) Diminished collective action for common concerns and 5) Negative health implications Benefits of Social Justice for People from Privileged Groups may include but are not limited to 1) Fuller, more authentic sense of self 2) More authentic relationships and human connection 3) Moral integrity and consistency 4) Freedom from fears 5) Improved work and living conditions 6) Access to SEQUEL CONSULTING GROUP ©2020 Possible Handout Continued other cultures and wisdom 7) More resources to address common concerns and 8) Greater opportunity for real democracy and justice From: CORY COLLINS, What is White Privilege and Diane J. Goodman, Promoting Diversity and Social Justice: Educating People from Privileged Group (Routledge, 2011).