Den Collective
Detroit Education Narrative Collective presents
Genius Comes From Detroit
The Detroit Education Narrative Collective
Detroit storytellers present the future of education, as told by and created by the city’s students, teachers, and community leaders.
Click each storyteller to learn more about them and see their education story.
Eleven storytellers with deep roots in Detroit education set out to co-create a positive, shared narrative about Detroit students and the promise of public education.
The narrative: Genius comes from Detroit.
The Collective met monthly from September 2024 through September 2025, learning how storytelling and narrative can influence systems change, co-creating a shared narrative, and producing their stories.
The DEN Collective is a project of The Skillman Foundation, created by Natalie Fotias and co-facilitated by Imani Foster. Imani also published an opinion piece inspired by the DEN Collective narrative.