Human Relations Commission to Review Trailblazer Award Criteria

The Pasadena Human Relations Commission is scheduled to review, revise and consider approving criteria for its Human Relations Trailblazer Award when it meets Tuesday, Oct. 6, setting the ground rules for how the panel recognizes people and organizations that have advanced human relations in the city.

Chair Katie Young is set to present the draft criteria as an action item. The Trailblazer Award is a recognition program the Commission administers itself; while the Commission is an advisory body whose policy recommendations go to the City Council for final decisions, the award criteria govern the panel’s own internal honor rather than any city policy. For residents, the program offers a formal avenue to spotlight local leaders and groups working to improve relationships across Pasadena’s communities.

Under the draft criteria, an individual nominee should be a resident of Pasadena or should have made a significant contribution to human relations in the city. Organizations would need to have the majority of their work based in Pasadena and to have made a significant impact on human relations locally. The criteria also contemplate honoring an individual leader of an organization whose work reflects the Commission’s mission.

The draft places one notable restriction on eligibility: a nominee should not be currently working for the City of Pasadena or for the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education. Pasadena Unified School District teachers would be exempt from that restriction.

On process, the draft would allow each commissioner to recommend an individual or an organization, with a limit of four recommendations per commissioner, and encourages commissioners to seek suggestions from the community or from their Councilmember. Commissioners would complete an application for each nominee that includes the nominee’s name, phone number and email, confirmation that the nominee lives or works in Pasadena, a brief biography and an explanation of why the nominee is being put forward. The draft also sets a limit of one awardee per City Council district.

The draft recommends the honor be named the “Human Relations Trailblazer Award,” and the Commission has indicated it will discuss how to present the award at a future meeting. As an advisory panel, the Commission does not hold independent authority over city policy; its decisions on matters requiring city action remain recommendations to the City Council.

The Human Relations Commission is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Jackie Robinson Community Center, 1020 North Fair Oaks Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.