Well

good afternoon or good evening and welcome to uh six PM session where we celebrate any of the community uh events that occur.

People in our community, also known as our ceremonial session spotlight on community, and so uh I want to ask the clerk call rope.

Councilman Bowman.

Present Vice Mayor Brown.

Here.

Councilwoman Campbell present, Councilwoman Fairby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper, present.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Present.

Mayor Gray.

Present.

And with that, I want to ask uh Mr.

Brian Marcese, Marketing Outreach Coordinator to uh share the information on tonight's spotlight.

Thank

you, Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor Brown, members of Council, City Manager Bunting, and uh Senior Deputy Attorney Trish Melichick.

Um, tonight's spotlight ties our excellence in government strategic polity priority.

Um, most often we talk about that priority in terms of people who work for the city.

Attracting and developing great public servants, providing great customer service, and just being good stewards of the community resources and the public trust.

But Hampton's updated strategic plan makes an important point.

Excellence of government happens when residents and their government work side by side.

And one of the main the plan's main strategies is to offer a wide range of opportunities for our residents of all ages and abilities to connect, participate, and share their voice.

When people think about government, they usually picture this room, council chambers, council staff, budgets, votes, all that type of thing.

But some of the most important work in local government happens far from this room.

It happens around a table at a senior center on a Monday morning or in a conference room on a weeknight in a group of teenagers planning an event for their peers.

It happens when residents and volunteer residents volunteer their time to advise the city that they love.

And

that's why our boards and commissions are so important.

They're a direct line from residents to city hall.

Members are appointed to council or appointed by council they study the issues they bring forward ideas and concerns and they help make the decisions made in this room reflect the people who live here in the city.

And

in Hampton that voice does not belong to just one generation.

Tonight we're highlighting three groups that together span a lifetime of civic engagement from teenagers just finding their voice to seniors who have been shaping the community for decades.

First we're going to begin with the our youngest voices the youth advisory group has a long and nationally recognized history of putting young people at the table not as an afterthought but as real partners in civic life the youth advisory group carries that tradition forward this group is made from young people from ages 13 to 19 from across Hampton.

Their mission is simple and powerful to discover and create opportunities to bring young people together young diverse people together.

And

they do this in two ways they create spaces where teens can have honest meaningful conversations about diversity and inclusion they plan and run their own events and help their peers understand and respect one another's differences.

These teenagers are balancing school sports jobs and everything else that comes with being a youth today and they're choosing to spend their time making sure their classmates feel seen heard and welcomed that is leadership and that's exactly what excellence in government looks like at 15 years old.

The

youth advisory group is also the youth arm of our next honoree which makes it a perfect handoff.

At this time I'd like to invite um Gabriela Oliveris Noah McMillan and Evan Roan to come forward to be recognized.

And mayor

first

okay guys

our

second yeah you guys can stay stay down from the dice if you like and save yourself some walking our second honoree is the Citizens Unity Commission, a group whose members span every generation from students to retirees its story began in 1995 when City Council asked a group of residents to take an honest look at diversity in Hampton after roughly two years of numerous studies, meetings, community forums that group made a recommendation.

Hampton needed a permanent community-based body to carry that work forward.

Last week, the Citizens Unity Commission marked its 30th anniversary of helping Hampton live up to a simple goal to be a city that is welcoming, supportive, and inclusive of everyone who calls it home.

Over three decades, the commission has turned that goal into action through programs that you're probably very familiar with.

The Hampton Diversity College, which is an interactive course that helps residents and workplaces understand the value of diversity inclusion

and

the Unity Awards, which since 2000 have honored the people and the organizations making Hampton a more united community.

The Commission has also supported many other events, conversations, and marginalized voices in our community.

And

I have to give a shout out to Gabe Diaz and Genevieve Elazer Harris and the Unity Office for running so many of these programs that the Commission has implemented.

Excellence in government is not just about efficient services.

It's about being a steward of the community's trust.

And trust is built when people believe in their city, believe that their city sees them, hears them, and values them.

For nearly 30 years, the Citizens Unity Commission has built that trust one conversation at a time.