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Committee outlines timeline, formats for Strength and Diversity Award nominations; panel to select winners
Summary
The committee proposed a 45-day nomination window and creation of a 3–5 member recommendation panel to select winners of the Strength and Diversity award; members discussed allowing video and paper submissions, outreach through libraries and local media, and limiting the number of awards to preserve symbolic value.
The Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Committee agreed on a proposal to open nominations for a Strength and Diversity award in early July, give the public a roughly 45-day nomination window, and empanel a 3–5 person recommendation committee to review nominations and bring a selection back to the full committee for formal approval.
Veronica Pillar, the committee chair, described the proposed flow: a public call for nominations, a small recommendation committee that will review submissions and recommend one or possibly two recipients, then a formal committee vote and, if required, a legislative approval step.
Members discussed how nominations should be accepted. Joan Jerkowitz suggested allowing nontext submissions: “video applications, as long as they cover the same material, might be a suitable way to encourage more involvement,” she said. Committee members supported multiple submission options — paper forms, online forms, audio or video — and recommended distributing physical forms at libraries, town halls and other public locations.
Discussion also addressed award scarcity and symbolic value. Rob Brown urged limiting the number of awards so the recognition remains “somewhat elevated,” while others argued for rolling nominations or additional categories in future years once the process runs smoothly.
Communications and logistics items identified for follow-up included fixing a broken link in the existing nomination form, producing a press release, using QR codes on paper copies to ease digital access, and coordinating with county communications staff to publicize the call for nominations. Committee members volunteered to work with the communications director to finalize language for multiple submission formats and to set distribution points for paper forms.
No final vote was taken on winners or exact award counts at Wednesday’s meeting; the committee expects to publicize the nomination period in early July and to allow the recommendation panel about 30 days to review submissions and present recommendations.
