Human Relations Commission to pursue human-trafficking workshop and CU "difficult dialogues" event

The Boulder Human Relations Commission on Dec. 17 agreed to pursue two related community trainings: a workshop with the Lab to Combat Human Trafficking and a separate community "difficult dialogues" program facilitated by University of Colorado affiliates.

Commissioners and staff discussed timing, audience and format. Commission members said the trafficking lab prefers not to schedule weekend events except for large audiences and that the earliest weekend availability would be April. The commission was told the lab typically has a 50%–75% turnout among people who register, and that virtual workshops are possible. A staff summary said, "they do about 30% of their trainings virtually." (Kara, Lab to Combat Human Trafficking, as reported by staff.)

Commissioners flagged the school district as an important audience. Elizabeth (city staff) offered to connect the subcommittee to Housing & Human Services staff and other nonprofit partners to assess feasibility and calendar availability for parent, educator and older-student audiences. Commissioners agreed to check presenter availability for February or March HRC meeting dates and to pursue concurrent outreach to school and HHS contacts so scheduling could be coordinated.

Separately, commissioners approved moving forward with exploratory contact with CU’s Difficult Dialogues program. City staff said they had received a "green light" to continue conversations with CU and that staffers could help shape goals, audience and framing for a dialogue that focuses on community-level skills for engaging across deep disagreement rather than on international policy debates.

Action steps recorded at the meeting included: staff will (1) confirm lab availability for February/March meeting windows, (2) exchange email introductions between the subcommittee and Housing & Human Services, and (3) provide contact information for CU’s Difficult Dialogues team so the subcommittee can design a session focused on skills for respectful engagement.

Commissioners emphasized framing and outcomes: they said they wanted tangible skills participants could practice (listening, holding others’ humanity amid disagreement) and that facilitators should advise on whether to address specific contentious topics directly or to focus on community processes. Staff recommended beginning outreach with existing HHS contacts and nonprofit partners before broad external promotion.

No formal vote was recorded on these directions; the items were recorded as follow-up actions for staff and the subcommittee.