Detroit is in the midst of robust recovery and growth. We agreed to serve as co-chairs of the Mayor’s Workforce Development Board because we know that Detroiters want to work, and we are thrilled to support the City-wide effort to remove the systematic barriers that prevent all Detroiters from finding employment.

Our board unifies leaders from industry, education, government, philanthropy, labor, and community organizations around a common mission to:

• • • Ensure that Detroiters are able to gain the skills and support required to obtain jobs and enter career pathways; and
    • Ensure that Detroit employers can locate City residents with the skills they need to fill jobs.

Our Board has set an audacious goal to employ 40,000 more Detroiters. Our work centers on assembling a portfolio of investments and strategies that will help us to reach this goal. Our efforts to date have included: revitalizing the Randolph Technical Career Center as a hub for developing construction-related skills for both youth and adults, employing over 8,000 young people every summer through Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program, and supporting accelerated and targeted training initiatives that provide Detroiters with career pathways into the skilled trades, manufacturing, information technology, healthcare, and other high-growth, high-demand industries.

Detroiters are building skills that give them access to careers in a rapidly changing Detroit landscape through new and expanded training initiatives. Our success with these training programs shows current and future Detroit employers they can grow in Detroit, and should provide them with confidence that the City is developing a talent pool to sustain their growth.

We have an enormous opportunity to support our City’s economy, and the long-term commitment across every constituency on our board is both unprecedented and impressive. We are honored to work side by side with so many dedicated and talented people in improving our City and the lives of Detroiters.

Josh Sirefman
CEO, Michigan Central Innovation District

Darienne Hudson, Ed.D.
President & CEO, United Way of Southeast Michigan