Derron Sanders will take the helm as the Detroit Athletic Club’s new President in 2024.
Known for being a place where “tradition and excellence thrive,” the Detroit Athletic Club (DAC) is tapping into its more than century-old history by ushering in a new prestigious legacy through electing the first Black president since its founding in 1887.
Derron Sanders of Bloomfield Hills was elected president on Tuesday, January 25, and will begin his tenure in 2024 while learning from the current DAC President, David Devine.
The CEO of Southfield-based company SG Cos. (a privately held investment advisor) was elected to a second, three-year term in this top role on the DAC’s board.
“Becoming the first African American president of the DAC is a historical moment. … I am excited to begin the next phase of my 22-year journey at the DAC and am looking forward to the next three years of service,” Sanders said of starting in two years. “I have a lot of learning to do.”
Sanders won the majority vote out of two other runners-up, Michael Lotito and J. Michael Bernard.
Initially starting as a club (founded by privileged young men interested in amateur athletics), the DAC was later revamped in 1913.
The DAC’s rich history still plays a significant role in Detroit and the state. The club was initially located on Woodward Avenue, and in 1915 the “magnificent new clubhouse” moved to its current home on Madison Avenue in Downtown Detroit after significant and careful planning by over 100 prominent local automotive and industrial leaders.
The DAC still rivals clubs around the country with its mission to encourage its members in various areas, including athleticism, to preserving the club’s art, architecture, and history through its DAC Enrichment Fun & Donors Club.
Yet, even in the club’s 135-year rich history, there has never been a black president — the election of Sanders is a turning point for the club (which also elected its second female president, Kristin Ritter, in 2020) as inclusion and opportunity is the order of the day.
Sanders told the Michigan Chronicle that, as with most historical moments, “it comes years after the hard work and perseverance of those that came before me that helped pave the way.”
Building a Legacy
Sanders named past and present Black DAC Board members, including Joseph Harris, Jack Martin (the first-Black board member), Ehrlich Crain, and Lorron James.
“Each of these individuals, along with many others, helped set the stage for me as they were the first African American Board Members at the DAC,” he said. “So as excited as I am and look forward to 2024, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank those whose shoulders I stand on.”
Crain told the Michigan Chronicle that Sanders being the fifth Black board member in the club’s history (and soon-to-be president) is “certainly a historical moment.”
“It’s just an exciting opportunity to take a step forward for the club,” Crain (who recently finished his six-year term on the board) said.
He added that to become president at the DAC, one must also be a board member, and in the past and present, there have not been many Black candidates in the running.
“You have to be invited and you also have to agree to run (for president),” he said, adding that a proud moment for him was at one point there were three Black board members (James, Sanders, and himself) serving at one time. “That was a very proud accomplishment and achievement.”
Derron’s experience includes founding and operating his commercial real estate business (sg-companies.com) and an international electrical contracting company (www.sgenergysolutions.com), the leading supplier to Fortune 500 companies and utility companies around the world, according to his website.
Derron is also active in the local community serving as a Board Member of First Independence Bank, is a Detroit Regional Chamber Board Member, an Alma College Trustee, and supports organizations such as Racquet Up Detroit, Brilliant Detroit, and others.
Growing up on the Northwest side of Detroit (on Westmoreland near 7-mile/Evergreen), Sanders and his two siblings were raised by their mother, who gave an “abundance of love and care.”
“She taught me the value of hard work, sacrifice, and doggedness,” he said. “If we didn’t have it, she figured out a way to get it, including the money to put me through St. Mary of Redford Elementary School and Saint Martin de Porres High School even when we couldn’t afford it.
“But she knew the value of education and worked two jobs at times to ensure that I could get a good education.”
His father, who served as a Detroit police officer, also shaped his life by signing him up for the Southfield Falcons football team when he was around 9 or 10, which broke him out of his shyness, and he learned the value of a team.
“(That) served as a pivotal moment that helped shaped my world view and ultimately change the trajectory of my life,” he said.
Fellow DAC Board Member James, CEO of the James Group International, told the Michigan Chronicle that he ran for the DAC’s presidential ballot last year to serve in 2023. While he was unsuccessful, he said it is “great to see” Sanders in this future role.
“He is the best person for the job,” James said, adding that it is important for the DAC membership to reflect the local community of “what we look like.”
A Little Bit of Love
Sanders said that while he celebrates his successes, he equally recognizes the DAC Executive Chef Loving, a certified Master Chef who ran a popular restaurant called The Loving Spoon, hired in 2020.
Loving said that his main inspiration behind cooking is taking classics and cooking basics to inspire his staff to “push the envelope” while still paying homage to the things expected of him at the DAC.
“The legacy truly is beyond describable as a chef when it comes to ingredients and the building’s energy,” he said. “Introducing methods that are adaptable to the existing legacy is my current and first mission; bridging that with internationally influenced cuisine during special events and other moments builds not only great energy for my culinary team but also excitement for our members.”
Loving added that the type of history and evolution of Black people at the DAC “is beautiful and pure.”
“I am humbled to be on that page and in this moment,” he said. “Most important for me is figuring out how to give it back somehow with others, which will bring the same joy. The future looks bright to me and there is more history to make.”
Sanders, who spoke to Loving recently, told the Michigan Chronicle that his fellow DAC peer was “inspiring.”
“He is so much more than a chef — he is a leader in our community,” Sanders said. “I am honored and proud to serve at the same time as Chef Loving.”
From initially joining the club to stay in shape and take his two daughters to the club for its cherished daddy-daughter dance, the DAC has been an integral part of his – and his family’s life – just as much as the values he lives by of working hard and persevering.
“Run your own race,” he said of what he tells himself in etching out a path for himself in the business world or personally. “I never set out to become the best African American businessman or the best DAC African American candidate – I just set out to simply be the best, and when you look up … it just so happens to create historical moments.”
He added that he tells them the same thing when he speaks to his children: Strive to be the absolute best regardless of color, ethnicity, or gender.
“I don’t have any self-imposed limitations,” he said, adding that Black people shouldn’t either. “We can be great because we are.”
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