City of Columbia, Missouri

Meeting Minutes - Final

Youth Advisory Council

701 E. Broadway

Columbia, MO. 65201

Conference Room

1A/1B

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

6:00 PM

Regular

I. CALL TO ORDER

14 -

Present:

Alex Hiles, Emily Crumbliss, John Yu, Grace Harris, Ahlam Alamin, Harvey Munter,

Mira Tosh, Eleanor Schierding, Xi Kang, Jacquelyn Sample, Kai Kuroki, Laya

Anand, Aryan Debnath and Ellie Brooks

1 - Aanya Shetty

Excused:

Absent:

1 - Blair Townsend

II. INTRODUCTIONS

Members of the Youth Advisory Council went around and introduced themselves.

III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion to approve the agenda made by Mira Tosh, seconded by Harvey Munter;

motion carried.

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion to approve the minutes made by Emily Crumbliss, seconded by Laya

Anand motion carried.

Youth Advisory Council Draft Minutes - November 12, 2025

Attachments: Youth Advisory Council Draft Minutes - November 12, 2025

V. SPECIAL ITEMS

Introduction and Presentation with D'Markus Thomas-Brown, Violence

Prevention Administrator - Office of Violence Prevention

Attachments: Columbia, MO Office of Violence Prevention YAC

Key Topics Discussed

-Reviewed the mission, vision, and purpose of the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP),

including discussion of root causes of violence.

-Identified poverty as one of the strongest indicators of violence.

-Discussed social determinants of health, including access to health care, food, and

community enrichment.

Prevention & Intervention Framework

-Reviewed the Intervention Ecosystem, emphasizing a trauma-informed,

community-oriented system of care.

-Noted that many current prevention programs are reactive rather than proactive.

-Discussed key strategies and programs:

+Crisis Management Systems

+Street Intervention

+Peace Fellowships

+Gun Violence Reduction Strategy

+Targeted Trauma-Informed Care

+Hospital-Based Violence Intervention

Core Focus Areas

-Defined youth focus as ages 14-24 (per CDC).

-Discussed the importance of measuring success and outcomes.

Youth Advisory Council (YAC) Engagement

Grace asked how YAC could support OVP.

-Identified YAC’s role in:

+Engaging youth where current efforts miss the mark

+Advising on effective youth engagement strategies

+Holding the office accountable

Partnerships & Collaboration

Discussed collaboration opportunities and challenges:

-Limited direct communication with CPS; alternative contacts include homeschool

communicators and Blind Boone Center (Mr. Rowe).

-University partnerships:

+School of Health Sciences involvement since OVP’s start

+Criminal Justice Dean interested in data collaboration

+Ongoing collaboration efforts with Helen Porter and Dr. Klein.

Education & Outreach

Discussed safe gun storage outreach and partnerships; added to curriculum.

Interest expressed in OVP staff speaking in schools, particularly sharing lived experience

and trauma-informed care.

OVP Earth Day table planned; coordination with D’Markus.

Communications & Social Media

Emily asked about social media engagement.

D’Markus is leading social media efforts.

Identified TikTok as the primary platform for youth engagement, with Instagram as a

secondary option.

Emphasized sharing data publicly, as youth and community members want to see

outcomes.

Youth Safety Concerns

General consensus that students feel somewhat safe, but with ongoing concerns.

Emily shared feeling unsafe after witnessing a drive-by near school.

Grace noted frequent school lockdowns.

Harvey emphasized the constant awareness of potential violence.

Weapons detection systems currently limited to high schools.

VI. OLD BUSINESS

VII. NEW BUSINESS

Youth Summit Planning

Grace gave a summary of the plans for the Youth Summit at Earth Day and mentioned

that she is still waiting to hear back from her contact. The Council discussed potentially

thinking of a secondary option if the original plan fell through.

Honeysuckle Recap

The Youth Advisory Council recapped the Honeysuckle removal that happened the last

month. They mentioned a small turnout but a great impact. They had an additional two

community members show up. Some members concluded the small turnout could have

been attributed by the bad weather.

CPS Superintendent Meeting Recap

Grace and Ahlam gave a recap on the meeting with CPS Superintendent Dr. Klien. They

mentioned to the council that there is potential to present at the Board of Education

meeting in March or April. They discussed potentially talking about their Focus Areas or

the Youth Summit.

Subcommittee Discussion

Staff Liaison Salazar mentioned that a working group and subcommittee were the same

thing, concluding that the council would need to form a subcommittee to create content.

The group then voted on the creation of the subcommittee. Members that were interested

included: Harvey, Eleanor, Ellie, Emily, Grace, and Mira. They discussed that their first

subcommittee meeting would be in January after the YAC's Regular meeting.

Motion to create a social media subcommittee made by Emily Crumbliss, and

seconded by Harvey Munter. Motion carried.

Social Media Workshop

The Youth Advisory Council mentioned the potential schedule for the instagram takeover,

discussing the need for content Monday through Friday. They gave a recap of ideas

including a slide post with photos/infographics and a timeline of other events in the future.

VIII. REPORTS

IX. GENERAL COMMENTS BY PUBLIC, MEMBERS AND STAFF

X. NEXT MEETING DATE

January 13, 2026

XI. ADJOURNMENT

Members of the public may attend any open meeting. For requests for accommodations related to

disability, please call 573.874.CITY (2489) or email CITY@CoMo.gov. In order to assist staff in making

the appropriate arrangements for your accommodation, please make your request as far in advance of

the posted meeting date as possible.