Category Archives: Blog
Tyre is the latest victim not of bad apples, but rotten trees
by: Angelique Power | Jan. 30th, 2023 Many of us made choices this weekend about how to handle the news, video, and heartbreak around the death of Tyre Nichols, 29, the latest brutal murder of a Black man at the hands of police. There is no right way to process this. There is no right way to make […]
Read more »What is youth organizing?
by: Lindsey Barrett | Jan. 27th, 2023 Photos from Detroit Area Youth Uniting Michigan (@D.A.Y.U.M_) at Lobby for our Lives in collaboration with March for Our Lives Michigan, February 2022. In the summer of 2020, young people—and particularly Black and Brown youth—were the organizers behind the protests that filled our streets, screens, social feeds, and public consciousness after […]
Read more »The youth are an asset: speak to them as such.
by: Lindsay Keener | Jan. 24th, 2023 Detroit Horse Power, a youth-enrichment program that uses horses as a vehicle for character development, saddled up next to metro-Detroit youth leaders with one question in mind: how could program messaging better describe young leaders? Nicole Byrd, managing director of Detroit Horse Power, was looking for authenticity and […]
Read more »Who are you?: A reflection from conversation with American Indian Health and Family Services youth
by: Nechelle Laferriere | Jan. 18th, 2023 When someone asks you who you are, you tell them. But what if you don’t know? According to the Merriam Dictionary, identity is defined as the fact of being who or what, a person or thing. But knowing one’s own identity isn’t as straightforward as many would like […]
Read more »Call for Nominations: Young Black Detroiters Making History 2023
by: The Skillman Foundation | Jan. 12th, 2023 Graphic design by featured artist, and 2022 honoree, Alexis Bagley To celebrate Black History Month, The Skillman Foundation is looking for nominations of youth for our annual 20 Black Detroiters Making History campaign. The campaign celebrates Black Detroit youth making a difference in their communities. Detroit’s Black History is astounding. Black […]
Read more »New Trustees Join The Skillman Foundation
by: The Skillman Foundation | Jan. 9th, 2023 Three new members have been appointed to The Skillman Foundation’s Board of Trustees: Jeremiah Steen, Linh Song, and Derrick A. Roman. Steen is the first youth to serve on the Foundation’s board in its 62-year history. “The secret sauce to Detroit is the people. We are so […]
Read more »Staff changes at Skillman
by: The Skillman Foundation | Jan. 3rd, 2023 “Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now.” — Audre Lorde “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”— James Baldwin “They always say time changes things, but you actually […]
Read more »Rising Detroit artist, Miranda Kyle, shares her inspiration for The Skillman Foundation’s new website banner
by: Miranda Kyle | Jan. 2nd, 2023 Art for me has always served as an outlet for self-expression and allowed me to speak my truth when I felt I could not. It allowed me to evaluate my past, live freely in my present, and to expand my future. Art has allowed me to rediscover and […]
Read more »As 2022 ends, we transition to the new
by: Punita Dani Thurman | Dec. 20th, 2022 Reflecting on the past year, I’m filled with joy and optimism. At The Skillman Foundation, we granted out more dollars than ever before in our 62-year history—over $22M across 443 grants. We improved how we show up as partner, as reflected in this year’s grant partner survey. […]
Read more »There’s more to youth membership than meets the eye
by: Lindsay Keener | Dec. 19th, 2022 Member recruitment and reputation repair are no easy tasks, but for one newly revamped business organization, they’re top priorities. The Sterling Heights Chamber of Commerce set out to understand how its network of local businesses could be a resource to young professionals. The Chamber’s leadership—Stacy Ziarko, CEO & […]
Read more »“I feel great about it!” Detroit youth donate $205k to programs that helped them
by: The Skillman Foundation | Dec. 12th, 2022 The greatest gift is to be able to give. This holiday season, a dozen young Detroiters, aged 13-23, came together to donate $205,000 to help fund the programs that have been meaningful to their lives. The act of giving was one of the final activities taken by […]
Read more »The Skillman Foundation and Parade Company Announce Detroit Student Winner of the 31st Annual Skillman Foundation Float Design Contest
by: The Skillman Foundation | Nov. 20th, 2022 “World Bus Design” Float Designed by Emerson Elementary-Middle School 4th Grader, Tahiry Gosby, to Debut in America’s Thanksgiving Parade® presented by Gardner White Photos by Paul Engstrom DETROIT (17 November 2022) – The Skillman Foundation and The Parade Company today announced 4th grade student Tahiry Gosby, from […]
Read more »Our Racial Equity Audit
by: The Skillman Foundation | Nov. 14th, 2022 We’re tracking every penny we spend by race, from our grantmaking to our operations to our endowment. Here, we share what we found in our initial scan and the actions we’re taking to operationalize our commitment to racial equity. Where we’re coming from As an organization that […]
Read more »Wellness Works: How Detroit’s youth nonprofit community used surprise funding to build better health
by: Courtney Wise Randolph | Nov. 10th, 2022 What do people need to be well? “That’s a hard question,” said Tracy Gallardo, a mental health specialist at Urban Neighborhood Initiatives. She leaned back and took a deep breath. “I think it varies for everyone,” she finally answered. “But from my experience, personally and just being […]
Read more »From Detroit to Mackinac: President’s Youth Council Reflections
by: Alexa Borromeo | Nov. 10th, 2022 Earlier this year, in June of 2022, three Skillman President’s Youth Council members – Jeremiah Steen, Logan Newman, and Mohammad Muntakim – took the Mackinac Policy Conference stage as the youngest presenters in the history of the conference. Three young Detroiters captured the attention of an audience full […]
Read more »The Dawning of a New Day
by: Angelique Power | Nov. 8th, 2022 According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ (NAEP) latest report, Black students across the country were hit harder by the pandemic in terms of reading and math proficiency. In Detroit, scores continue to trail the nation and are lower than the first year the NAEP test was […]
Read more »A case for unity, not uniformity
by: Natalie Fotias | Nov. 7th, 2022 This article was originally posted by the Council of Michigan Foundations. By 2045, or sooner, its projected that people of color will make up the majority of the U.S. population. It’s an often-used statistic. Sometimes, it’s used admirably to advocate for equitable policies that uplift communities of color […]
Read more »New Research Reveals that Black Workers Have Borne the Brunt of Metro Detroit’s Inequitable Labor Market and Uneven Economic Growth
by: Detroit Area Workforce Funders Collaborative | Sep. 30th, 2022 The Skillman Foundation is a member of the Detroit Area Workforce Funders Collaborative which supported the creation of the “Advancing Workforce Equity in Metro Detroit: A Blueprint for Action” report. This report underscores that placing a racial equity lens on talent and economic development is […]
Read more »Our Report Card: Grant partners scored our work
by: Punita Dani Thurman | Sep. 30th, 2022 Every few years since 2003, The Skillman Foundation has commissioned a grant partner survey to request anonymous feedback about how we’re doing as a funder, partner, and youth advocate. Our 2022 survey ratings have remained consistent or trended up since 2019. We’re glad to see improvements and […]
Read more »Our history in K-12 education
by: Natalie Fotias | Sep. 19th, 2022 A good education unlocks many doors. Rose Skillman founded The Skillman Foundation because she was able to unlock a lot of doors in her lifetime. And as she did, she looked behind to see all the people—all the children—who were shut off from the paths she walked. As […]
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