Each spring, the Detroit Regional Chamber convenes the state’s most influential political and business minds for the Mackinac Policy Conference – a marquee event meant to shape Michigan’s future. In 2025, the Chamber doubled down on themes like talent retention, economic growth, and infrastructure, wrapping it all under the banner of “Michigan’s Equation for Impact.” And while the high-level conversations were relevant, smart, and often hopeful, one thing was clear to many: the equation for real impact is incomplete without more diverse voices at the table.
At its best, the conference lived up to its billing. Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered a strong address, focusing on bipartisan unity and forward-looking goals such as improving literacy, supporting military infrastructure, and attracting advanced manufacturing. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan made headlines with a bold $4.5 billion K–12 education funding proposal, and the first official debate between Detroit’s five leading mayoral hopefuls – James Craig, Fred Durhall III, Saunteel Jenkins, Solomon Kinloch Jr., and Mary Sheffield – added an undeniable energy to the event.
From a content and logistics standpoint, the Detroit Regional Chamber should be commended. The flow of programming was tight. The issues discussed – K-12 education, innovation, public safety, housing – are central to Michigan’s competitiveness. And the Chamber continues to prove it can bring together cross-sector leaders for high-level, solutions-focused dialogue.
The conference also provided an opportunity for top newsmakers to sit in front of the state’s top news media outlets, including the Michigan Chronicle. Michigan Chronicle talked to Gov. Whitmer about the importance of meeting with President Donald Trump to keep resources like the F-15EX jet facility at the Selfridge Base and expanding Medicaid under a Republican administration, and how crucial it is for Michigan to land a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Michigan within the next five years. Sylvester Hester, President and CEO of LM Manufacturing, chatted with the Chronicle about the importance of training programs that will prepare the youth for jobs as the state enters its next big manufacturing boom. And Adrian Lewis, the CEO Forgotten Harvest, talked about food insecurities and how a potential $2 million cut in federal funding will result in hundreds of thousands of meals that won’t reach the mouths of Michigan’s most at-risk youth.
The Chamber gets it right when it comes to bringing the most influential leaders together from across the state to converge for the last week in May each year.
But Something Was Missing
Despite the conference’s strengths, 2025 seemed to mark a noticeable drop in Black representation among both speakers and attendees. (Although there was no definitive data showcasing a decline, the conference, for lack of a better phrase, felt less Black.) For a state where Detroit plays such a critical economic and cultural role, this absence was not just an oversight; it was a missed opportunity.
In 2024, Suzanne Shank, President and CEO of Siebert Williams Shank, made history as the first Black woman to chair the conference. Under her leadership, the 2024 conference featured a record number of women speakers, including influential Black women leaders. Shank was intentional in curating a speaker lineup that reflected Michigan’s diverse voices and perspectives, aiming to create a platform that showcased the state’s most pressing issues through the lens of underrepresented communities.
One glaring omission from the 2025 conference was the lack of panels featuring Black leaders addressing the deeply disproportionate impact that federal funding cuts and stalled support for nonprofits have had on Black communities. These are not abstract policy matters. These are urgent issues with real consequences – affecting childcare centers, mental health programs, housing initiatives, job training programs, and grassroots organizations that are often the lifelines in underserved neighborhoods. Many of these nonprofits and small businesses are led by Black Michiganders who are solving problems government alone cannot fix.
Equally concerning was the conference’s silence around the ongoing rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the public and private sectors. There is overwhelming data showing that DEI is not only morally necessary, but also that it’s economically smart. Companies and communities that embrace inclusive leadership and equitable hiring practices perform better, innovate faster, and build more resilient systems.
This conference could have – and should have – been a platform for the Detroit Regional Chamber and its partners to declare, unapologetically but apolitically, that Black leadership is central to Michigan’s success. This was a moment to say that equity is not a buzzword, but a business imperative. It was a chance to send a national signal that Michigan is not retreating from inclusive progress, but leaning into it with intention and clarity.
Such a declaration from one of the country’s most influential regional chambers – on one of its most prestigious stages – could have sparked a wave of renewed support for DEI across the state, despite a national push to rid us of a system that strives for more equitable outcomes. It could have inspired other chambers, cities, and states to recommit to the at least having discussions about systems and policies that have consistently delivered better outcomes for everyone, not just some.
That message wasn’t delivered. And the silence echoed.
A Call for 2026
The Detroit Regional Chamber should be proud of the platform it continues to build. But if it wants the Mackinac Policy Conference to truly reflect Michigan’s full talent and potential, it must recalibrate.
That means recommitting to diversity in programming, not just for optics, but because diverse perspectives lead to better policy. It means centering Detroit’s priorities more deliberately, recognizing that the city is both a barometer for statewide equity and an engine of economic power. It means creating intentional spaces for underrepresented voices on the main stage and not just at the margins.
The truth is, Black Michiganders have always been central to the state’s story. From Motown to manufacturing, from municipal leadership to entrepreneurial innovation, Black voices have driven culture, commerce, and community. Ignoring them now doesn’t just overlook a demographic. It overlooks decades of proven leadership and future potential, and the ability to buck national trends and stay the course with these proven successes leading the way.
As planning for the 2026, the hope is to see a Mackinac Policy Conference where Black voices are not only present, but central, shaping the policies and narratives that will define Michigan’s next chapter.
Because Black leaders aren’t just guests in these spaces. They’re co-architects of the future that all attendees are working toward creating. And when Black communities are not represented in rooms of power, policy misses the mark. Budgets get written without understanding local needs. Talent leaves. Opportunities dry up. And the entire state suffers – not just morally, but structurally and economically.
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