Meeting Minutes – October 19, 2016

  1. CALL TO ORDER

Sister Joan Hanna, CommissionChair, called the meeting to order at First 5 Marin at 5:30p.m.

Commissioners Present

Sister Joan Hanna - chair

Lisa Leavitt MD – vice chair

David Bonfilio

Amy Eisenmann

Heather Ravani

Supervisor Katie Rice

Juan Rodriguez

Kristen Seatavakin

Commissioner/s Excused

Gabrielle Philippe-Auguste

Staff Present

Amy Reisch

Michelle Fadelli

Public Present

Jill Casey, jdcPartnerships

Laurin Mayeno, consultant

SanwarHarshwal, Patel and Associates

  1. MEETING MINUTES

Sister Joan asked if there were changes, additions or corrections to the commission minutes for the last meeting on September 21, 2016.

Motion/Second:Bonfilio/Eisenmann

The minutes of September, 2016 were unanimously approved.

  1. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS

Commissioner Bonfilioreported advocating for Measure A with neighbors and local parents.

Commissioner Hanna spoke about Measure A with the Preschool Advisory Board at St. Raphael’s Preschool and with other Marin County residents at regional meetings.

Commissioner Rodriguez spoke about Measure A at Congregation RodefSholom, and encouraged parents to endorse the measure, make a donation, take a lawn sign or participate in a phone bank. He also spoke to the principals participating in “PESA” (Promoting Early Academic Success) and encouraged them to share the information with their teachers, who could then share with parents.

Commissioner Eisenmann reported presenting to the Marin Communications Forum on September 26th on brain growth and early childhood development, with 70 people attending. She was presenting on behalf of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and their Center on Childhood Creativity.

  • Commissioner Rodriguez noted that staff and many parents from Venetia Valley Elementary attended. When they returned to school, the “I Can Moms” (which many of the attendees belong to) continued the learning and began working on implementing many of the ideas Amy resented with their children.
  • Commissioner Eisenmann noted that a public document on their research will be released soon.

Commissioner Ravani reported on attending a two-hour Marin Promise meeting, and speaking about Measure A. She noted that they are recognizing that work on early childhood education is being done by many organizations in Marin, and that they will concentrate on 3rd grade reading, 9th grade math, the A-G requirements and college preparedness. They are also talking about racial and cultural divides and building support for equity.

Commissioner Seatavakin attended the September 26th workshop on early childhood development. She shared the materials with her child care provider and other mothers. She has a lawn sign for Measure A at her house. And she met with Aideen Gaidmore, executive director of the Marin Child Care Council about doing a workshop on emergency preparedness in January.

Commissioner Rice attended the Marin Communications Workshop on Hunger and Food Insecurity in Marin, along with 120 others.

  1. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Amy Reisch submitted her written report. She added that at an Early Childhood Education (ECE) partners meeting,as part of a facilitated exercise, the partners described First 5 Marin’s strengths/contributions in many of the ways (in addition to “funder”) that we have envisioned our roles:convener, informer, advocate etc. She also reported making an informational presentation about Marin Strong Start to the JFCS Public Policy Committee.
  1. COMMISSION DISCUSSION
  • Presentation of First 5 Marin’s Annual Audit for FY 2015-16 –Commissioner Bonfilio reported reviewing the audit from Patel and Associates at the last Financial Committee meeting, with members of the Finance Committee (chair Sister Joan Hanna, Marin County Director of Finance Roy Givens). He reported that this is a clean audit, and added that the “finding” from last year has been resolved.

SanwarHarshwal from Patel and Associates thanked the commission and thanked Amy Reisch for her communications and support. Commissioner Bonfilio called for a motion to accept the audit.

Motion/Second: Bonfilio/Seatavakin

The audit for FY 2015-16 was accepted as presented, by unanimous vote.

  • Funded Partner Report for FY 2015-16 – Jill Casey from jdcPartnerships presented the draft “Funded Partner Report” to the Commission. Commissioner Hanna commented on the difference in many partner’s goals between “targets” and actuals, noting many actuals were above targets. Amy remarked that we have been funding many core projects for a long time, but that they are not stagnant; they are improving and broadening their efforts. She gave the example of Parent Services Project, which has doubled the number of playgroups (for AprendiendoJuntos) and hired a bilingual/bicultural leader who is trained in child development. (Michelle Fadelli noted the value of that training was apparent in the example of her referral of a child/family from the playgroup to counseling and support services.)
  • Update on Strategic Planning Preparations – Amy Reisch introduced LaurinMayeno, who will serve as a facilitator for First 5 Marin’s strategic planning retreat (on Saturday, January 28thfrom 8:30 to 2 pm at Cavallo Point in Sausalito). Laurin will be working to help the commission through the strategic planning process with a “diversity, equity and inclusivity” lens. She reported having worked over the years with First 5 Alameda, and a recent training she did for them on gender diversity.

[Amy asked Laurin to mention her book, “One of a Kind Like Me/Unico Como Yo,” a story about a boy who wants to dress as a princess for the school parade and his mother’s unconditional support.]

Laurin shared a definition of equity and related infographics, and discussed her approach.

Commissioner Rodriguez said we have a broken and unfair system. Change will involve some people giving up. We need to redistribute power and privilege.

Amy said the commissioners are ready to dive into the strategic planning process.

  1. FINAL COMMENTS

Commissioner Bonfiliotalked about issuing an RFP for auditors for next year. He will be working with Amy on this in the coming months.

Michelle Fadelli reminded commissioners about the “Marin Equity Conference” on November 10th, being convened by Community Action Marin. She added that there are many pre-conference sessions on November 9th. Commissioner Seatavakin is attending, and registered for the pre-conference event on education. Amy and Michelle will also be attending. Amy noted that the keynote will be delivered by Lateefah Simon, president of the Akonadi Foundation (and current candidate for the BART board). There will also be a video featuring a call to action from Van Jones. Michelle added that the Marin Latino Health Policy Partnership will be releasing a report on Latino Health in Marin in advance of the Summit; it is a data, policy and action guide. (Amy and Michelle have participated in related meetings for several years, and Michelle has been working on the design and content of the report for the last year.)

  1. ADJOURNMENT – Commission Chair Sister Joan Hanna adjourned the meeting at 6:40 p.m.

NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING:

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

5:30 p.m.

First 5 Marin conference room

1050 Northgate, Suite 130, San Rafael, CA

REMAINING MEETING DATES FOR 2016-17:

November 16, 2016

January 18, 2017

February 15, 2017

March 15, 2017

April 19, 2017

May 17, 2017

June 21, 2017