When Shawn Wilson was tapped to be the President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, he was chosen for his leadership, vision, and ability to execute on “larger-than-life” and “outside-the-box” ideas.
The announcement he made on Wednesday afternoon, May 21, 2025, was a showcase of all of the above.
The CEO, in collaboration with Michigan Central’s Chief Operating Officer Carolina Pluszczynski, announced that BGCSEM will be opening a new club branch on the fifth floor of Michigan Central Station, the anchor building at Michigan Central’s 30-acre campus in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.
The expansion to Michigan Central will mark the launch of a new hub that directly connects youth from under-resourced neighborhoods to high-growth industries in mobility, technology, and advanced manufacturing. To be built within The Station’s dedicated youth floor, the Michigan Central Boys & Girls Club further solidifies Detroit as a magnet for talent and opportunity.
This expansion builds on Michigan Central’s long-standing commitment to youth skill development, infusing its innovation ecosystem with the next generation of talent. By embedding BGCSM directly into the heart of Michigan Central’s community of startups, industry leaders, and researchers, the new youth hub ensures that young people are not just prepared for the future economy – they’re helping to shape it.
“Detroit’s youth don’t represent a talent gap — they represent a powerful talent force, and our expansion at Michigan Central is a strategic investment in that force,” said Wilson, President & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan. “Our young people are bringing their creativity, resilience, and entrepreneurial capital and these are skills they’ve refined in our Clubs. Through this investment, we’re creating a direct pipeline from our Clubs into one of the nation’s leading innovation ecosystems. They now have the opportunities to lead in tech, mobility, and advanced manufacturing. This is how we build a future-ready economy.”
Key components of the new space include:
- 3C Sports Autonomous Training Center – Home to the nation’s first-ever Boys & Girls Club Autonomous Racing Team, which just completed its second year of international competition in Abu Dhabi, the team will train in a dedicated space focused on coding, robotics, AI, and mobility technology.
- Fashion & Tech Incubator – A launchpad for youth-led startups, this incubator will teach participants the skills to become successful founders and entrepreneurs. From fashion technology and e-commerce to product design and branding, young innovators will receive real-world training in building scalable ventures from concept to market.
- Innovation Lab – Designed to inspire creativity and exploration, this hybrid learning environment will provide hands-on experience in advanced manufacturing, digital media, software development, and content creation.
The Michigan Central Boys & Girls Club is expected to serve more than 1,000 youth annually and is part of BGCSM’s broader strategy to build pathways from local neighborhoods across Southeastern Michigan into the region’s growing innovation economy. Through strategic co-location in innovation corridors, BGCSM ensures youth are not only included in the region’s transformation — they are driving it.
“BGCSM’s transformative work is a national model for youth development, and Michigan Central is proud to be the place where that impact can grow,” said Nate Wallace, Head of Civic Partnerships at Michigan Central. “This collaboration brings together BGCSM’s deep community roots and Michigan Central’s inclusive ecosystem of tech, mobility, and entrepreneurship. By opening The Station’s youth floor to this next generation of creators and problem-solvers, we’re building a pipeline that connects education, opportunity, and innovation in powerful ways.”
“We talk so much about our (public-private partnerships) and our partnerships with research institutions, but it’s so important that we build that talent pipeline with our youth,” Pluszczynski said. “So it’s great work. It’s a great partnership.”
Initial partners are expected to join this effort and other nationally recognized industry leaders. Additional partners and funders will be announced in the coming weeks.
Wilson added that the students aged 14-24 who will work in the space are going to be paid, and the hope is that they continue on to work as interns in the startups situated at Newlab on Michigan Central’s campus.
“We wanted to make sure we were adding value, so it’s not just that the students and youth belong to be at Michigan Central, but Michigan Central will get value added with us being here,” he said.
There were no details about when the new club is expected to open.
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