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HomeMy WebLinkAbout25.11.10 - Minutes, Diversity and Inclusion CommitteeWashington County Diversity and Inclusion Committee Meeting Minutes Commissioners Administrative Building – Room 1301 100 West Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740 Monday, November 10, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m. I. Quorum and Call to Order in Open Session called to order at 7:04 p.m. II. Board Attendance: Angela Yamashita (Vice-Chair), Jeanine Salifou (Secretary), ZSun- nee Miller-Matema, Eric Schwartz, and Allenia Washington Ex officio Attendance: Commissioner Derek Harvey Guest/Public Attendance: Ethan Loewen Absent: Tiara Burnett (Hagerstown Councilwoman), Darrell Evans (Board of Education), Terence Ngwa (Chair), and Fatima Sakarya III. Approval of agenda (Eric/Allenia) IV. Review, approval, and adoption of July and September Minutes: (Allenia/Eric) V. Introduction of Guests/Public Comments *Public Comments are limited to 2 minutes per person* ● Ethan Loewen -Anti-Islam comments that took place at the Board of Education meeting, asking if we can have a debate on critical thinking on a range of issues ● Angela acknowledged his comments and said that having a debate is not the purpose of our committee ● Motion to close public comments (Eric/Znunny) VI. Liaison/Ex-Officios Reports ● County – Commissioner Derek Harvey - are we diverse? Regular business, looking good, different questions about the Budget process VII. Old Business ● Formulation of an “Excellence in Diversity” award – Attitudes of America award Fatima and Zunny are working on the criteria categories for the awards ● Hispanic representation on the D&I Committee Angela, per Commissioner Harvey, we need to see if we can increase the number of members by having a Hispanic and Youth member Have Terence send out a formal request to Dawn and amend our bylaws to have 9 members Motion to send a formal request to add two seats to our Committee membership to 9 (Allenia/Eric) ● Zunny is talking about the Senior Center. Contact has been made with the Commission on Aging to attend their meetings. VIII. New Business (Executive Session) ● Islamic Center of Western MD Open House Commissioner Harvey - Mike Guessford on the WCPS school board commented on Facebook, wanting to protest at the Open house There was a cordial discussion with religious leaders. People being spit on talked about problems around the country Christians being murdered in Africa and Asia ● Bring in new voices Invite other committees, boards and nonprofits to attend our meetings, to see where our goals align each month, start with the Commission of Aging The Boys and Girls Club they can make a presentation so we can learn about them. (Eric/Zunny) motion to make this happen IX. Adjournment at 7:47