Category Archives: Blog
ComNetworkDETROIT: How to Gain Impactful Media Coverage
by: Natalie Fotias | May. 25th, 2021 Having a media strategy is important for raising awareness about your organization’s work and mission. It can help you attract new advocates, donors, and volunteers; build the credibility of your organization and its leaders; challenge negative perceptions about the people you serve; and help influence public opinion and […]
Read more »Let’s Talk: Supporting Black-Led Nonprofits
by: Terry Whitfield | May. 17th, 2021 A discussion of the funding & leadership development challenges for Black-led organizations and how these opportunity gaps can be closed. About this event Skillman Foundation Program Officer Terry Whitfield moderates a conversation with Allandra Bulger of Co.act Detroit, Nicole Wilson of The Yunion and Black Executive Director Alliance of Detroit, and Shawn H. Wilson of […]
Read more »Youth Employment to Advance Workplace Equity
by: Urban Alliance | May. 13th, 2021 Join Urban Alliance and The Skillman Foundation for a webinar examining how youth workforce development is essential to building more diverse, equitable talent pipelines and sharing best practices from Detroit for effectively implementing this work. Tuesday May 18, 2021 at 11am-12 pm EDT Across the country, companies are […]
Read more »Standardized Testing for Michigan Students Begins, But Debate Carries On
by: Ammara Ansari | May. 4th, 2021 This blog was co-authored with Walter Cook, a researcher with the Detroit Education Research Partnership at Wayne State University Statewide Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP, has begun for Michigan students, after much debate. There has been a range of perspectives and opinions from school administrators, teachers, policymakers, child advocates, and researchers about the benefits and costs of testing students’ academic […]
Read more »At the heart of education is great educators
by: Teach 313 | May. 3rd, 2021 Brave and Talented Detroit Educators, We continue to celebrate, champion, and honor your hearts, your work, and your passion for teaching, leading, and loving our students and school communities. This year, we hope you have felt and received revolutionary collective love. YOU are children’s and school communities’ essential warriors and frontline champions! Throughout the week, we will be sharing tools and strategies to add to your self-care toolbox. Why? The health pandemic […]
Read more »What billions in funding could mean for Detroit schools & students
by: The Skillman Foundation | Apr. 21st, 2021 Three federal stimulus bills that include substantial funding for K-12 education have been passed in the last year: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, passed March 2020), the CARES Act II (passed December 2020), and the American Rescue Plan (passed March 2021; the largest amount of K-12 funding among the three). Together, these packages […]
Read more »Today’s trial made history. How we help kids make sense of it will shape the future.
by: The Skillman Foundation Staff & Board of Trustees | Apr. 21st, 2021 The Derek Chauvin trial took place over nearly four weeks. For many, these four weeks represented 400 years that black and brown people have been on trial in America. For whom skin color has shaped outcomes in everything from the justice system […]
Read more »Self-Care for Adults who Serve Kids
by: Carmen Kennedy-Rogers | Apr. 19th, 2021 This event took place on May 6, 2021. Watch the full webinar below. Join with likeminded peers to reflect on the importance of personal wellness. Learn tips and techniques to help give yourself grace, carve out personal time, and reenergize. This gathering is a space for all who […]
Read more »Punita Thurman joins Coalition for Michigan Schoolchildren’s Right to Play
by: The Skillman Foundation | Apr. 16th, 2021 This piece was adapted from a press release from Playworks Michigan. DETROIT , April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Playworks Michigan , a nonprofit affiliate working to keep kids active and healthy through play and recess, announced the convening of a new coalition to raise awareness about recess in schools and support statewide […]
Read more »Employers: Here’s How to Create More Valuable Opportunities for Young People
by: Kumar Raj | Apr. 16th, 2021 Earlier this week, Jerry Norcia, CEO of DTE Energy and trustee for The Skillman Foundation, wrote a piece for Crain’s Detroit Business about how best to support interns during the challenges of remote work. This is important for two reasons: first, many students have been attending school and […]
Read more »The Search For Detroit’s Absent Students
by: Rev. Larry Simmons | Apr. 13th, 2021 VICE News, April 2021, “The Search For Detroit’s Absent Students” I am deeply concerned about the well-being of young people in Detroit and always have been. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified and made more visible many of the disparities that already existed in cities like ours, where poverty holds […]
Read more »Strong schools depend on principal wellness
by: Carmen Kennedy-Rogers | Apr. 13th, 2021 This piece was co-authored with Tanisha Manningham and Walter L. Reese and originally appeared in Chalkbeat Detroit. Read the original post. Getting kids back in the classroom to reestablish their social connections and catch up on lost learning is our top priority. Learning blossoms in the right environment, […]
Read more »Sam Woods: My Very Detroit Story
by: Sam Woods | Apr. 2nd, 2021 Dwayne Jenkins, my mentor in college, once told me if you find something that really upsets you on a personal level, you can channel that frustration into a passion for making a difference. My personal experience with lead poisoning did this to me. In the summer of 1999, […]
Read more »Operating by Values, Treating Grantees as Partners, and Strategic Time Horizon Considerations
by: Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors | Mar. 30th, 2021 This post was originally featured by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Read the original post. Philanthropists have consistently weighed the importance of accountability, legacy, and impact as the pillars that outline their approach to effective philanthropy. The concept of strategic time horizons has emerged steadily over the past couple […]
Read more »More Than Ever, Young People Need Currency-Builders
by: Stephanie Malia Krauss | Mar. 19th, 2021 Introduction from Kumar Raj, senior program officer At The Skilllman Foundation, our aspiration for young people is that they have equitable access to learn and to lead. We want Detroit youth to be ready for whatever path they decide to pursue after high school, to engage in […]
Read more »How Equity Gets Us Closer to the American Dream
by: Maria Woodruff-Wright | Mar. 18th, 2021 The American model of success has glorified the individual hero or heroine in cinema, politics, and even in education. We celebrate those who, “despite the odds,” rise to greatness. This narrative makes us feel that anything is possible despite our current circumstances. A better life awaits if only […]
Read more »DMACS Survey: 1-in-5 Detroiters Will be Out of Money in 3 Months due to COVID-19 Crisis
by: Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan | Mar. 9th, 2021 This post was originally published by Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. Read the original post. DETROIT – About half of Detroiters say they are more likely than not to run out of money in the next three months due to the COVID-19 […]
Read more »Examining and addressing COVID-19 racial disparities in Detroit
by: Brookings Institution | Mar. 9th, 2021 This post was originally published by The Brookings Institution. Read the original post. One in every 645 Black people in the United States can expect to die from COVID-19, per data from February 2021. Blacks are 2.1 times more likely than whites to die from the virus. In fact, […]
Read more »La Puerta Portal Opens the Door to New Opportunities for Hispanic Students
by: Michigan Hispanic Collaborative | Mar. 4th, 2021 The Michigan Hispanic Collaborative (MiHC), a nonprofit purposed with accelerating Hispanic economic mobility and reducing the poverty rate throughout Hispanic communities, today announced the availability of the La Puerta portal, a dynamic site that helps students, parents, and young professionals navigate their way through college and careers, […]
Read more »Nonprofits Aim to Create BIPOC Solidarity Network in Detroit
by: Michigan Nonprofit Association | Mar. 3rd, 2021 Read the original press release from the Michigan Nonprofit Association. DETROIT – Michigan Nonprofit Association, in partnership with Data Driven Detroit, is pleased to announce the release of the first-ever Nonprofit Leadership Census survey aimed at building a solidarity network among BIPOC-led nonprofits (Black, Indigenous, and People […]
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