March 2021
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission kicked off its first meeting of the New Year by electing officers for the 2021 term. Stacie Clayton was re-elected to her second consecutive year as Chair. Zenna Elhasan was elected as Vice Chair and Bishop Ira Combs was elected as Secretary.
The meeting also marked the first time the state’s ethnic commissions and Women’s Commission have met as a group with the MCRC. The MCRC listened to updates from each and offered ways the MDCR can assist with discrimination complaints.
Each commission provided an overview of their respective work and answered questions from MCRC commissioners. The following representatives of the state ethnic commissions presented at the beginning of the meeting:
- Chair Manal Saab of the Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs,
- Chair Ayesha Ghazi Edwin and Outreach Coordinator Denise Grim of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC),
- Chair Monica Reyes and Executive Director Felipe Lopez Sustaita of the Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan (HLCOM),
- Co-Chairs Rochelle Riley and Robert Womack of the Black Leadership Advisory Council (BLAC), and
- Chief Strategy Officer Shannon Garrett of the Michigan Women’s Commission (MWC).
The next regular meeting of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission will be held on Monday, March 22.
