Category Archives: News
News from the Skillman Foundation on education, economy and equity for all Detroit Youth.
What we tolerate now becomes the future we inherit
by: Angelique Power | Jan. 21st, 2026 Sometimes in Michigan, I feel like I live in a bubble. This is both very good and, at times, disconcerting. I can be quite honestly paralyzed with fear as I read headlines and see footage and images, not only from across the globe but from across the Midwest, […]
Read more »Genius Comes From Detroit
by: Lucy Stern | Jan. 21st, 2026 This blog is by Skillman Youth Council member Lucy Stern. Lucy is on the Youth Council’s storytelling committee designed to highlight the perspectives, ideas, and insights from the Skillman Youth Council. Photos by Freddy Torres. The Detroit Education Narrative Collective exhibit — Genius Comes From Detroit — brought […]
Read more »Listening and learning: How grant partner feedback strengthens us
by: Laila Bell & Sarida Scott | Jan. 20th, 2026 Since 2003, The Skillman Foundation has partnered with the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to gather confidential feedback through the Grantee Perception Report. The report examines community impact, grantmaking processes, and funder-grantee relationships, benchmarking The Skillman Foundation against similar peers, the field, and our past […]
Read more »New trustees and staff updates
by: The Skillman Foundation | Jan. 15th, 2026 At The Skillman Foundation, we run on inspiration, and we find it in abundance from the people who surround us—Detroit students, youth advocates, our partners, and our team. As we head into the new year, the Foundation has warmly welcomed two new trustees, a new staff member, […]
Read more »Where School Meets Community: How DPSCD’s Health Hubs Are Transforming Neighborhood Schools Into Lifelines for Detroit Families
by: The Kresge Foundation | Dec. 19th, 2025 By removing barriers to basic needs, Detroit Public Schools Community District is proving that when schools serve the whole family, students thrive. When Maria walked into East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney High School last fall, she was not just looking for academic support. She was […]
Read more »New Report: Building a Strong, Diverse Teacher Workforce
by: Jennifer Mrozowski, EdTrust-Midwest | Dec. 16th, 2025 Michigan’s students succeed when they learn from strong, diverse, and well-supported educators. Decades of research underscore how important teachers are in students’ lives. They are, in fact, one of the most important factors contributing to student success in the classroom. Teachers, particularly highly qualified and effective teachers, […]
Read more »Striding into 2026 Clear-Eyed and Fortified
by: Angelique Power | Dec. 9th, 2025 *steps to the mic* We did it. We are rounding that last base and heading with relief toward the end of this year. I’ve been so moved by how many have tuned into work being done in Detroit, at The Skillman Foundation, and especially by our wide-ranging, incredible […]
Read more »A Dream for the World — By Detroit Youth
by: The Skillman Foundation | Nov. 21st, 2025 For this year’s Thanksgiving parade float design contest, we asked Detroit 4th-8th graders to show us what their dream for the world looks like. On November 19, 2025, we celebrated six amazing young artists who are casting their visions for the future. Fifth-grader Lyric Weathers’ float design, […]
Read more »Detroit 5th Grader Lyric Weathers designed our 2025 Thanksgiving parade float
by: The Skillman Foundation | Nov. 19th, 2025 Detroit fifth-grader Lyric Weathers was named the grand prize winner in The Skillman Foundation’s 34th Float Design Contest today at a special unveiling event at the Parade Company in Detroit attended by students, parents and educators from the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Images are available here. […]
Read more »Feeding people should never be partisan
by: Angelique Power & Gerry Brisson | Oct. 31st, 2025 This joint op-ed was originally published in The Detroit News. Right now, as the federal government remains shut down, nearly 42 million Americans are wondering how they’ll put food on the table. SNAP benefits, the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, hang in limbo. For many families, that means […]
Read more »Schools Should Be a Safe Haven for Children—and Ideas
by: Angelique Power | Oct. 14th, 2025 Shots fired in high school classrooms. Zinging across a packed college campus. Fired in the dark of night from a car. Cracking into the peaceful realm of a home. While praying. While watching a movie. While walking between classes. Leaving a party. With every awful, violent act that […]
Read more »The State Budget is Finalized: What it Means for K–12 Education
by: Jen DeNeal | Oct. 13th, 2025 On October 7, Governor Whitmer signed a state budget that included $20+ billion for Michigan’s public schools. The highly anticipated School Aid budget comes three months late—after legislators missed their self-imposed July 1 deadline earlier this year. For context: school districts operate on a July 1 fiscal year, […]
Read more »Announcing the 2025-2027 Skillman Youth Council
by: The Skillman Foundation | Oct. 9th, 2025 The Skillman Foundation partners with people to transform education systems—teachers, parents, community organizers, policy and systems leaders…and most importantly, youth. Youth are the closest ones to our education system. They hold the insights and ideas needed for education to work for everyone. Since 2020, The Skillman Foundation […]
Read more »The Skillman Foundation Commits $1.1 Million to Strengthen Youth-Serving Organizations Through the Michigan Central Station Children’s Endowment Initiative
by: Children’s Foundation | Sep. 18th, 2025 The Skillman Foundation announced a $1.1 million gift in support of the Michigan Central Station Children’s Endowment Initiative, providing $100,000 to each of the 11 participating Detroit area youth-serving organizations. The Skillman Foundation is the first of the campaign’s original funders to equally support all 11 organizations in […]
Read more »Don’t let politics trump education
by: Angelique Power | Sep. 18th, 2025 This op-ed was originally published in The Detroit News. On Mackinac Island this month, Michigan’s Republican leaders will gather for their biennial conference to debate politics, strategy, and power. It comes at a time when Washington D.C. politics have filled the air, dividing, distracting, and drowning out many […]
Read more »Being Proudly Purple, Not Partisan
by: Angelique Power | Sep. 10th, 2025 After all these years, I found out the other day that the color purple doesn’t actually exist. Go ahead, Google it. This is true. The reality is that within the ROYGBIV spectrum of the rainbow, there is no “P” for purple. This is because while the other colors […]
Read more »Skillman Foundation staff announcements
by: The Skillman Foundation | Aug. 28th, 2025 The Foundation has been moving and grooving into our People Powered Education strategy, supported by each member of the team. Fresh ideas and diverse skills are being offered by new staff members as well as those who have been with the organization for years. We’re learning, growing, […]
Read more »Enough about Don. Let’s talk about Ed.
by: Angelique Power | Aug. 12th, 2025 Not to break the fourth wall so early, but isn’t that a great line? We have our vice president of communications, Natalie Fotias, to thank for that. You see, as each of you are in whatever state you reside, where you may be reading this, we are in […]
Read more »The “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed. What will it mean for K-12 education & kids?
by: Natalie Fotias | Jul. 14th, 2025 On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed a massive act of legislation that he dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Approximately 900 pages long, it will impact many public systems and sectors and every person in the United States. Below is a breakdown of what the bill means for […]
Read more »Statement on the detainment of Detroit high school student Maykol Bogoya-Duarte: A call for reason and mercy
by: The Skillman Foundation | Jun. 11th, 2025 Update as of June 19, 2025:In recent weeks, many communities have mobilized in defense of Maykol Bogoya-Duarte. Despite this rapid rally of support, since being detained by ICE, Maykol has been deported to his native Colombia and he will be unable to receive his well-earned high school […]
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