The Committee for Ethnic Affairs meets on the first Thursday of every month to advise the County Executive and the County Council in matters of public policy relating to the County's diverse communities. By emphasizing the richness of the County's linguistic and cultural diversity, the Committee for Ethnic Affairs promotes interaction among the many groups that represent these communities.
Meeting notes from Thursday, March 3, 2011 -
Last night The Committee for Ethnic Affairs (CEA) board members met to update each other on what each of the three sub-committees have been doing to advance the goals set forward in last October's Retreat. The meeting was called to order by Chair, Enas Elhanafi at 7:00.
The three Sub-Committees updated the full committee on the progress of the action items set forth in both the Retreat and last month's meeting.
Policies & Issues, which is researching in more detail what services and programs exist in the county and how to better inform the residents of Montgomery County about these programs and services for the benefit of themselves and others in their communities. Their findings will then be shared with the Communications & Outreach sub-committee and the two committees will work collaboratively on ways of sharing this information with communities throughout Montgomery County.
The Communications & Outreach (Community Relations) sub-committee reported on their progress in further developing the monthly Happy Hours and Speaker Series. These projects are proceeding well and will become good opportunities for all three CEA sub-committees to work together. It was reported that three, more in depth community panel-style discussions are being planned for May, June and November of 2011, respectively. Interviews of guest speakers and other knowledgeable county staff will be shared via the CEA the Blog and Facebook pages.
The World of Montgomery Festival presented their work plan for the Festival that will take place in Wheaton, on October 16, 2011. The goals they are working on are: (1) Reaching out to International NGOs, and inviting their participation at the Festival in order to share information about their work with the wider community. (2) Gathering and presenting information at the Festival on the Sister Cities programs in Montgomery County as well as the plans for creating additional Sister Cities relationships in the future. (3) A children's crafts and story-telling project for the Festival that will engage and teach children about the various global cultures and customs that are also represented right here in Montgomery County.
For more information about The Committee for Ethnic Affairs and Montgomery County:
Post Contributed by Naomi Bloch
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