The Austin Human Rights Commission wants to make Austin a more welcoming, inclusive city, and its leaders are seeking advice from the community.

The AHRC will host a community conversation from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, at  Riverland Community College’s East Building Cafeteria. The theme will be “Building a More Inclusive Community.”

“It is about neighbors talking to neighbors to share ideas,” said AHRC chairman Jason Baskin.

According to Baskin, the push to make Austin a more welcoming place started when the city council passed a resolution to join other cities in the “Welcome America” initiative in 2016.

Since then, the AHRC has been surveying community members on how well the city of Austin is doing in making that vision a reality.

“We want to see what barriers are still in place,” Baskin said.

Baskin said the AHRC will present the results of its survey at the event. Baskin, among other members of the AHRC, will talk briefly about the barriers before encouraging the attendees to discuss the issues among themselves.

“At the event, we will be sharing what the key barriers are and hear from the public on how we can lower those barriers,” Baskin said. “We will go one barrier at a time until they have all been discussed.”

The AHRC plans to publish the data and the proposed solutions in a report later this year.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served and free childcare will be available.

Baskin hopes residents will take the opportunity to get involved.

“The more input the better,” he said. “All of us as Austinites have a vested interest in making Austin a strong community and working together to lower these barriers will help us be that stronger community.”