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Baltimore County HRC forms three subcommittees to begin implementing 2024–26 strategic plan
Summary
At its first 2025 meeting, the Baltimore County Family Human Relations Commission agreed to form three subcommittees—community partnerships, a signature annual event and education and awareness—to begin operationalizing its 2024–26 strategic plan. Commissioners and staff also discussed closed-case reviews and next steps for subcommittee work.
At its first meeting of 2025, the Baltimore County Family Human Relations Commission agreed to form three subcommittees to begin carrying out the commission’s 2024–26 strategic plan: community partnerships, a signature annual event and education and awareness.
Commission Chair Chrissy Thornton, president and chief executive officer of Associated Black Charities, presented the plan and described the three initial priorities. “The first 1 is to form community partnerships. The second 1 is to establish a signature event. And then the third 1 is to just bolster our education and awareness,” Thornton said.
The commission framed the subcommittees as bite-sized, discrete workstreams the group can complete while new members are onboarded. The proposed community-partnerships group will identify existing local organizations, civic groups and faith leaders the commission can formally partner with and will build a database of partner contacts for outreach and referrals. The signature-event group is charged with developing an annual flagship program—panels, speakers or cultural programming—that the commission can own and use for public education and advocacy. The education-and-awareness group will review existing outreach materials, identify accessibility or translation gaps and propose updates, webinars or short educational videos for public distribution.
David Skinner, program manager for the Human Relations Commission, and commission staff said they will serve ex officio on each subcommittee to support logistics and follow-through. Commissioners volunteered to serve on the three groups during the meeting; the staff said it will distribute a list of members and begin scheduling subcommittee meetings.
Thornton said the subcommittees will coordinate with community partners and county information-technology staff for tools such as a shared SharePoint drive and for website updates. She also said staff is exploring options for social-media management and external partnerships to manage commission communications.
The commission also reviewed its role in closed-case reviews, which are part of the commission’s charter to advise the county on whether departmental protocols were followed in specific complaints. Thornton said the closed-case reviews are intended to give commissioners direct insight into resident complaints and inform the commission’s education and policy work.
Commission staff will send calendar invitations and the meeting packet, and subcommittees will report back to the full commission at future meetings. Melissa Davis volunteered to serve as the recording secretary for the commission during the meeting.
