You can read more about the commission's conception here:

And at 9:36 AM, this meeting is getting started. The secretary does roll call and then we get into approving April's meeting minutes.

Kathryn M. Hall, VP of Diversity and Inclusion at JACK Entertainment, and chair of the committee shares a loose agenda of what commission members will discuss today: gauging interest for a new vice chair, talking more about the commission's mission, and city website updates.

The commissioners are still getting onboarded, getting their official emails, and getting information uploaded on the city website. The website is currently sparse with limited information, but they hope it will be up for the public ASAP.

Shameka Jones Taylor, chief operating officer at Saint Martin de Porres High School, and Dameyonna Willis, founder and executive director of Queen IAM are working on recruiting for the commission seats that are currently unfilled.

Dameyonna shared some of the skills/categories they were looking for from potential commission members: previous volunteer experience, at least two years of higher education experience, consistency, representing labor, being a union member...

good standing with place of employment, Black women in college, with a sliding scale GPA. All of these questions/categories can be viewed on their online application. They are also hoping to add a section where applicants can list any support they might need.

They will have three commissioners screen each application and are still thinking through how to respond to potentially unfinished applications. The chair asks the commissioners to read through the application criteria now.

Applicants are required to be residents of the City of Cleveland. They are looking for a CMSD student to be represented on this commission. For the last few minutes, they've been discussing student participation.

The chair wants to reach the "everyday women" with this commission, not just the ones that fill the commission-specific criteria. Another commission member asks about opening up the student representative to not just include CMSD students, but from other schools too.

Right now the priority is to get the commission staffed so they can start making decisions. A back-and-forth around applicants needing "recommendations" ensues...as commission members ask about the access to getting recommendations.

They are now talking about what they are looking for from representatives of Black women in labor.
The chair now brings up Signal Cleveland, checking in with Lauren who is in-person and names that she is excited to have so many documents here today :) #CLEDocumenters

The chair lists some of the responsibilities of the commission/ potential subcommittees: research, public hearings, education, economic development, healthcare, justice, and civil rights. She encourages commissioners to begin thinking about where they want to take the lead.

Inclusivity, collaboration, communication, and transparency are key tenets of this commission. The chair names that no one person can make these decisions alone--we truly benefit from the diversity of thought and that is how we serve the community.

In new business, the commission congratulates Anastasia Sakairoun on her recent graduation from Cleveland State University College of Law. The commission also welcomes new house counsel Sierra Lipscomb!

The commission decides to have folks volunteer (or be "voluntold") for the subcommittee topics named above. This list is just a preliminary note and will be sent around for folks to finalize which topics they want to pursue.

A commissioner suggests adding in the category "quality of life." This is particularly important as a 2020 City Lan Livable Index study placed Cleveland among the worst cities for Black women.

And with no more new business, this meeting officially adjourns at 10:48 AM. This concludes the May meeting of the Commission on Black Women and girls. For more meeting coverage, check out .

Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any inquiries on the meeting or these tweets to @cledocumenters. Or email us at cledocumenters@gmail.com 😊 see y'all next time!