How can African Americans and other minorities living in Detroit prepare for equitable access to quality employment and careers, now and in the future, when they have been historically underserved and disenfranchised?
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, approximately 400 people convened on Wayne County Community College’s northwest Detroit campus to explore answers and solutions to include Detroiters in the region’s economic growth. The event, Detroit Future City’s 5th Detroit Future City Equity Forum, tackled rooting out systemic inequalities and transitioning to systems promoting fairness and impartiality while simultaneously bridging gaps and providing opportunities for all Detroiters who have been systemically denied access to quality training, jobs, and careers.
“It is economically imperative for us to figure out how we can change the trajectory of Detroiters to participate in the future of work,” Anika Goss, CEO of Detroit Future City, said at the forum. “We want to ensure that every Detroiter is prepared and has access to every good-paying, high-growth occupation available in Southeast Michigan. Imagine what that would do for this city, region, and state.”
The forum featured numerous local, regional, and national experts, stakeholders, and game-changers representing private and public sectors, all speaking about the multiple pathways to creating an economically equitable city and region.
“We focus on addressing key issues such as education, employment, and equity while leveraging Wayne State University’s resources and supporting the region’s economic and social well-being,” said Christianne Malone, Chief Program Officer of TechTown and Assistant Vice President of economic development at Wayne State University. “Central to our agenda is the university’s commitment to developing and preparing talent and supporting and ensuring education directly translates to meaningful employment and economic empowerment for Detroiters.”
Malone said TechTown is Wayne State’s entrepreneurship hub and Detroit’s first innovation hub in the city’s first innovation district. Since its inception in 2007, TechTown has served
more than 6,400 businesses across Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, and other cities in greater Wayne County.
The 5th Detroit Future City Equity Forum also convened a strong panel of four changemakers who discussed strategies needed to ensure that Detroiters have equitable access to the many high-quality jobs and careers now and in the future. The panel, moderated by Stephen Henderson, host of television’s American Black Journal, included Brian Smith, Director of Youth Programming of the Detroit Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen; Kim Trent, Deputy Director of Prosperity, State of Michigan, Labor and Economic Opportunity Department; Marvin Figora, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Kelly Services; and Scott Alan Davis, VP of Inclusion and Economic Development at Solutions for Energy Efficient Logistics.
“We have to be intentional in meaningful ways about identifying and solving problems that block Detroiters and others in the state from receiving quality jobs,” said Trent, who elaborated on her role under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to bring economic opportunities and prosperity to underserved populations and communities. “So much of what I do is figuring out how state government can work collectively to create and sustain more prosperity in our state.”
“I lead our Equity at Work Initiative, which started about five years ago and seeks to remove barriers that block people from getting quality jobs,” Figora said. “In many cases, a policy was put in place perhaps 20 years ago, and no one at a company has looked at the ramifications of that barrier and its impact on hiring good people. My entire mission is to get corporations to understand that we need to change our thinking about what good talent looks like and identifying the barriers preventing talent from getting quality jobs.”
The Keynote Speaker for the Detroit Future City Equity Forum was Dr. Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School, who painted “a masterful and historical picture” of African Americans and their multi-century journeys through discrimination and systemic racism in the workplaces of the United States.
“People equate Detroit with having a significant African American population, but people are often completely blind to the ways this city’s Black population was subjected to during The Great Migration and beyond to work in the growing automobile manufacturing industry beginning in the early 1900s,” said Cobb, adding, “At the same time as Black people were coming to Detroit to find greater economic opportunities, White employers, who desired the labor, were antagonistic toward African Americans and other minorities.”
Cobb said like automobiles were produced at multiple factories in Detroit over the past 100-plus years, discrimination, racism, and inequity were also produced across every
sector of the city, especially housing, education, healthcare, and other employment settings beyond the auto industry. Cobb added that he sees how Black Detroiters have persevered and they must be included in the economic evolution of the city across multiple industries that will consist of all future booming industries.
“I’m heartened to hear and see the work that’s going on in Detroit around revitalizing and empowering underserved communities,” said Cobb. “It begins with the premise that Detroit is for everyone who calls themselves a Detroiter. And, if you succeed here in Detroit – and you will – what you will have established and given to this nation is America is for everyone who calls themselves an American.”
Cobb said he is enamored by the work Detroit Future City does to prepare Detroiters, especially Black and Brown people, for job growth occupations.
“At Detroit Future City, we are a think tank and continue to enhance our work with a strong focus on policy and advocacy,” said Goss, Detroit Future City’s top executive. “We seek to create a more equitable and sustainable city that works for all. Detroit Future City, founded in 2015, is a non-profit leading entity in the region that addresses economic and racial equity, environmental sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.”
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