History
Odias started settling in Austin, Texas in the 1970s. In the first few decades, the community consisted of a few families and graduate students at the University of Texas. As we entered the 21st century, the community started growing, matching the growth of the Austin metropolitan area. Despite the growth, Austin Odia community has remained a close knit community and works hard to preserve its cohesiveness by communicating and meeting often and volunteering together.
In 2003, the first electronic group, a Yahoo group, was created for the community to stay connected. In 2016, community members formed a few committees to focus on different areas of our work. Facebook and WhatsApp groups were also created as additional quick communication platforms. When the Yahoo Groups closed, in 2020, the official communication platform moved to a Google group.
In 2020, we started holding monthly general body meetings of all members as an inclusive decision making process, to increase member involvement. A community-wide survey was done to better understand the values, interests, and needs of the rapidly growing community. Based on the results of the survey, together, the community created tenets and guidelines to be followed by all community members. Existing committee structures continued and each committee created their own specific guidelines needed for their operations. A few community members also started new initiatives such as language, culture, and yoga classes. We continue to learn and grow as a community.
Tenets
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Community will treat every member as equals and avoid creating clicks/subgroups to maintain integrity of our community.
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Community members can voice diverse opinions in decision-making processes.
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Community will have a continuous feedback mechanism to better understand members’ interests throughout the year.
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Community will promote collective leadership, accountability & open communication.
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Community will actively collaborate on mechanisms to build openness not only on our decisions but also into our decision-making process.
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Community will promote participation, prevent & resolve conflicts, build trust and eliminate noise through effective moderation.
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Respectful and conciliatory actions are the expected norm, harassment such as offending, bullying, disrespecting of any kind will not be permitted.
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Community resources/assets must not be exploited for personal gain of any kind by anyone.
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Community provides an environment for entertainment, fun, learn-N-grow through active volunteerism either individually or by group.