Twenty years ago, the Michigan Chronicle planted a flag in public dialogue with the launch of Pancakes & Politics. That first forum was about opening space—bringing power players and community voices into the same room to talk real solutions. Two decades later, the conversation hasn’t slowed down. It has deepened. This second forum of the season on Thursday April 17, is no different—except this time, the stakes are heavier, the questions sharper, and the urgency louder.
Federal funding reductions are knocking on Michigan’s door. The kind of reductions that don’t wait for cities to catch up. Decisions made in Washington are already setting off alarms for nonprofits, municipal leaders, and families who depend on support that rarely makes headlines. Communities are asking: What happens when those dollars stop? Who fills the gap? And how do we stop history from repeating itself?
Detroit knows what happens when support dries up. Neighborhoods that once had health clinics, youth centers, and workforce training hubs have been forced to operate with less while doing more. When a federal cut lands, it hits the street level before it shows up on spreadsheets. That pain doesn’t hit evenly. It finds the already burdened, the already neglected.
This forum brings the people who know this reality. Nicole Sherard-Freeman, Don Graves, David Egner, Kelly Kuhn, and Michael T. Pugh don’t come to theorize. They show up with lived knowledge, years of work, and strategies that speak directly to the problem. Their seats on this panel are not just titles—they represent sectors that have been keeping communities afloat long before headlines paid attention.
Angelique Power, President and CEO of The Skillman Foundation, put the weight of this moment into words: “It is not hyperbole to say that federal cuts to our very critical nonprofit organizations will hit hard and will hit those who need support the most. Remember that nonprofits are after-school programs, food banks, veterans’ services, health centers, and more. They are run by the hardest working humans who are driven by service to others. They are first responders to community needs. Due to the federal cuts, there will be pain, and it will be on each of us to own and to try to ease this.”
That responsibility cannot sit on one set of shoulders. It belongs to policy leaders, business heads, faith leaders, philanthropic foundations, and everyday residents who see the need every day. That’s the power of Pancakes & Politics. It brings those people into one room. The point is not to agree. The point is to push, to question, to build.
Nicole Sherard-Freeman, a trusted voice in equitable workforce development, knows what happens when job pipelines dry up. Don Graves brings federal insight shaped by his role as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce. His experience allows him to map the consequences of funding shifts with precision. Together, they build a lens that stretches from Capitol Hill to Grand River Avenue.
David Egner enters this discussion with a philanthropic perspective grounded in Detroit’s recovery journey. His work through the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation has focused on equitable development and sustainable impact. Kelly Kuhn has walked beside Michigan’s nonprofit sector for decades. Her work with agencies across the state tells a sobering story—fewer dollars mean fewer services. And Michael T. Pugh understands the financial toll. As a business leader, he connects the dots between policy and household economics. That’s where solutions must live—not in press releases, but in everyday people’s lives.
This 20th anniversary forum falls during a season where the conversations cannot stop at analysis. They must move toward collective strategy. Michigan communities are bracing for a new wave of challenges. Nonprofit leaders are already having to prepare staff for layoffs, reduce programming, or cancel community partnerships. Some cities are considering cuts to housing assistance and public safety. These are not distant possibilities. They are present-day concerns.
Families feel this tension. A mother who depends on an after-school program now has no child care. A veteran who counts on mental health services must drive an hour out of town because the nearest clinic shut its doors. That’s what Power meant when she said there will be pain. It doesn’t come all at once. It chips away slowly, until infrastructure collapses silently.
This forum will not simply spotlight the problem. It brings forward the necessity of collaboration. Public and private sectors must act as co-defenders of community. That means more than just dollars. It means transparency, access, and intentional outreach. Communities that carry the brunt of budget cuts must be part of the decision-making process from the beginning—not just as recipients of charity, but as architects of change.
Detroit is not waiting. From block clubs to boardrooms, leaders are already building models of resilience. But without sufficient support, the best strategies hit ceilings. That’s why the Michigan Chronicle’s platform matters. Pancakes & Politics was never just about breakfast and talking points. It was built to hold power accountable and lift up voices that too often go unheard.
The next forum won’t offer a one-size-fits-all fix. It will ask people to come ready to think, to challenge, to connect the dots between federal dollars and neighborhood survival. That connection is often buried in budget summaries and line-item jargon. But when you listen to the people doing the work, the pattern becomes clear. Pull one string, and everything attached starts to unravel.
This second forum of the 20th season feels different. Not because the issues are new, but because the political climate has hardened. Debates over spending have grown more polarizing. Some lawmakers are pushing to slash federal programs under the banner of fiscal responsibility. That framing ignores the fact that real people are on the receiving end. People whose communities never fully recovered from the last round of budget cuts.
There is also another layer—how race and equity are often left out of federal budget conversations. When Black and Brown communities are disproportionately impacted by funding reductions, the discussion must center those realities. Equity must be a non-negotiable. That demand doesn’t come from theory. It comes from experience. And it lives in every city bus route shortened, every school program canceled, every grant that disappears with no explanation.
Forum 2 opens the door for a broader call. If federal resources are shrinking, then local collaboration must expand. Business owners, philanthropic leaders, and community advocates must take up the space left behind. That is the only path forward. Not as an act of charity, but as a shared obligation.
This is a moment for vision. A moment to step past short-term survival and build long-term sustainability. If Detroit has taught us anything, it is how to rebuild with truth, clarity, and resilience. That lesson will carry through every conversation, every panelist response, and every question asked from the audience floor.
This forum does not promise easy answers. But it demands real accountability.
And that is exactly what twenty years of Pancakes & Politics has always stood for.
About Post Author
