Title
Notice/Advertisement Title: Columbus LGBTQ+ Affairs Commission Community Engagement, Communications, and Outreach Committee September Meeting Minutes
Contact Name: Raven Ho
Contact Telephone Number: 614-645-9692
Contact Email Address: rvho@columbus.gov
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Columbus LGBTQ+ Affairs Commission Community Engagement, Communications, and Outreach Committee
Draft Meeting Minutes
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026
Location: 750 E. Long St., 1st Floor
Committee Members Present: Commissioner Jonathan Keilholz, Commissioner Tyson Crenshaw, Commissioner Adam Cogar, Commissioner Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, Committee Member Ronald Murray
Committee Members Absent: None
Staff Present: None
Call to Order
• The meeting was called to order at approximately 5:15 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
• Committee members welcomed Ronald Murray and provided brief introductions, including their backgrounds and goals for serving on the Commission and committee.
• Committee Member Murray shared his background in social work, behavioral health, advocacy and community engagement and discussed his interest in supporting the Commission's outreach and advocacy efforts.
• Members discussed the committee's continued focus on building relationships, expanding community engagement and reaching LGBTQ+ residents who may not already be connected to established organizations.
Sept. 24 Listening Session and Outreach
• The committee reviewed plans for the Sept. 24 community listening session at the Fran Ryan Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
• Members discussed lessons from the first listening session and agreed the upcoming session should provide more time for residents to speak, with commissioners focused primarily on listening and identifying themes.
• Members emphasized the importance of reaching residents who may not already be connected to LGBTQ+ organizations or traditional civic engagement channels.
• Potential outreach channels discussed included LGBTQ+ organizations, youth and family networks, affirming faith communities, bars, coffee shops, libraries, workplaces and other community gathering spaces.
• Commissioner Keilholz distributed flyers for members to share throughout the community.
• Commissioner Cogar asked for update on business cards to be distributed.
• Members discussed directly contacting community organizations and previous listening session attendees and encouraging them to share the session with their networks.
• The committee discussed longer-term opportunities to meet residents where they are, including smaller community conversations, youth-focused outreach and informal "meet the commissioners" opportunities.
• ACTION ITEM: Commissioner Keilholz to reach out to Raven about business cards for listening session and beyond.
• ACTION ITEM: Add "How did you hear about us?" to future listening session sign-in information to help track outreach effectiveness.
• ACTION ITEM: Committee members will distribute listening session information through their networks and identify additional organizations and locations for outreach.
Social Media and Communications
• Commissioner Keilholz provided an update on plans to launch Commission Facebook and Instagram accounts before the Sept. 24 listening session.
• The committee reviewed the proposed social media plan, including account administration, records retention, comment moderation, direct messages and automatic responses.
• Members discussed establishing a shared email account to administer the social media accounts and support continuity among commissioners.
• The committee discussed creating a regular process for monitoring messages and comments and documenting responses.
• Members agreed the accounts should primarily provide an accessible way for residents to find Commission information, connect with commissioners and learn about meetings, events and resources.
• ACTION ITEM: Commissioner Keilholz will establish the shared email account and move forward with launching Facebook and Instagram. Also, he will establish cadence for social media account review and expectations.
• ACTION ITEM: Committee members will review the social media plan and provide any additional feedback.
Commission Event and Outreach Calendar
• The committee discussed Commissioner Boyd-Nelson's proposal for a shared Commission calendar to help commissioners identify community events and coordinate outreach.
• Members agreed calendar entries should include relevant event details, links when available and the initials of the commissioner adding the event.
• The committee also discussed distinguishing between events where commissioners would attend in an official Commission capacity and events shared primarily for awareness or personal participation.
• ACTION ITEM: Commissioner Keilholz will establish the shared email account that can also support the Commission calendar.
• ACTION ITEM: Then, Commissioner Boyd-Nelson will develop a proposed calendar structure and color-coding system for review before broader rollout.
Audience Tracking and Community Resources
• The committee continued discussion of an audience map to better understand who the Commission is reaching and where additional engagement is needed.
• Members discussed tracking listening session attendance, ZIP codes, organizations and community locations reached and how participants learned about Commission activities.
• Members agreed ZIP-code data would provide a useful way to measure geographic reach over time and support future annual reporting.
• Commissioner Crenshaw discussed continuing to develop community resource information that could be incorporated into the broader tracking effort.
• ACTION ITEM: Continue development of the audience map and begin incorporating ZIP-code and outreach-source data from future engagement activities.
• ACTION ITEM: Commissioner Crenshaw will share the compiled community resource list for committee review.
LGBTQ+ Baseline Data and Consultant Discussion
• Members discussed the lack of current baseline demographic data about Columbus' LGBTQ+ population and the challenge this creates in determining whether the Commission is reaching a representative cross-section of the community.
• The committee discussed the value of updated data on the size, demographics, geography and needs of Columbus' LGBTQ+ population to help inform future policy, outreach and resource decisions.
• Members discussed whether consultant funding previously identified for the Commission could potentially support baseline research or a community needs assessment. Is it possible a future consultant could support this work?
Public Comment
• No public comment was shared.
Upcoming Meetings
• Full Commission Meeting: Sept. 16, 6-7:30 p.m., Columbus City Hall.
• Community Listening Session: Sept. 24, 6-8 p.m., Fran Ryan Center.
• Next committee meeting: Sept. 29, 5-6:30 p.m., 750 E. Long St.
• Commissioner Keilholz noted he will be unable to attend the Sept. 29 committee meeting. Members discussed using that meeting to debrief the Sept. 24 listening session and identify follow-up actions.
Adjournment
• A motion to adjourn was made and seconded. The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:30 p.m.