HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-WFDC-2017-03-23WORKFORCE DIVERSITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE (WDAC)
MEETING
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Regular Meeting 9:15 a.m. March 23, 2017
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Co-Chairs (2): Liz Klohmann, Sue Kittel
Members (5): Eloise Barrett, Ray Benjamin, Nancy Bereano, Cynthia Brock, LaWanda Cook
Staff (2): Schelley Michell-Nunn, Denise Malone
MEMBERS EXCUSED:
Co-Chairs (1): Sue Kittel
Members (2): Dan Cogan, Audrey Cooper
1 Call to Order
1.1 Welcome/Check-In/Announcements. None.
2. HR Director Report
Law Enforcement Shared Services Survey: This survey has been distributed to the public. Schelley will
e-mail the survey to the WDAC.
Diversity Consortium Roundtable: The Diversity Consortium Roundtable will be on May 24, 2017,
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Ithaca College. Registration will begin on April 3, 2017. If you register
by April 21, 2017, the cost is $65 per person. After April 21, 2017, the cost increases to $80 per person.
New Jim Crow Book Read: The last gathering for the New Jim Crow Book Read is scheduled for April
17, 2017, starting at 5:30 p.m. at GIAC.
Sister Friend: Sister Friend was held last Friday – April 17, 2017. The event was well attended.
3. Council Liaison Report. None.
4. CIITAP Toolkit (Finalize)
The Committee reviewed the Diversity Toolkit and suggested changes. All the changes suggested and
agreed upon will be made in the document.
Some of the suggested changes or discussions were:
• What categories will be tracked (e.g. age, race, gender, etc.)? There are categories the City is not
tracking; but can do so moving forward. Go simple now with language; change as City changes.
• At the beginning of the toolkit, add a statement saying that the City is not currently collecting
this data (list the groups in which the data is not being collected – e.g. age, disability, etc.); but is
moving in that direction;
Workforce Diversity Advisory Committee (WDAC) Meeting
March 23, 2017
Page 2
• Glossary: Match terms listed in the glossary with terms being used in the toolkit. Add Disability
and its definition to the glossary. Replace Minority with Under Represented, Race & Ethnicity.
Remove Sex and its definition. Add the bullets under Sex to the bullets under Gender;
• Gender: The WDAC had a discussion about what the appropriate wording should be when
referencing gender in the Workforce Demographic Profile. Should it be listed as Gender Identity
or Expression? Should the list under this heading be male, female and other? Cynthia Brock
mentioned that the table has already been approved by Common Council and that any changes
would need to be approved.
The WDAC continued to express concerns about the use of gender, male and female. Eloise Barrett
stated that she had researched the wording to use and e-mailed it to the Committee. She will forward the
e-mail to the Committee again. Nancy Bereano volunteered to contact Luca Maurer, who is the LGBT
Education, Outreach & Services Program Director at Ithaca College, for appropriate wording. Schelley
stated that that she would look at the wording used in the Law Enforcement Services Survey.
Once the changes have been made, the draft document will be distributed to businesses identified by
IURA Executive Director Nels Bohn. Once the document has received feedback from this group and
been updated, the WDAC will present the Diversity Toolkit to Common Council for feedback and
approval.
The WDAC suggested that the City of Ithaca should complete the document to show that the City is
adhering to what is being requested from companies participating in the CIITAP program. This can be
done during the same time the document is being completed by the businesses.
The next steps for the document:
• Cynthia Brock will make the changes suggested by the WDAC
• Cynthia will forward to Nels Bohn, the suggested changes to the Workforce Demographic
Profile
• The HR Department will provide the first sample reporting
• Liz Klohmann will ask that the updated toolkit be put on the next Senior Staff agenda
5. Advance Notes (Review & Discussion). None.
6. New Business. None.
7. Next Meeting Date: April 27, 2017.
8. Adjourn
8.1 Adjourn: With no further business and on a motion by Liz Klohmann, the meeting was adjourned at
10:55 a.m.