The Skillman Foundation

Photo from Artemis II lunar flyby, NASA.

It’s the end of civilization!!!

No wait. It’s a ceasefire.

We are no longer allowed to support DEI!!!

No wait, that’s not legal, we are, of course, able to support diversity, equity, and inclusion.

No more mail-in ballots; married women cannot vote; federal troops will prevent you from voting, no matter what!!!

Wait, that’s a dystopian novel now streaming on Netflix.

Hold up. Is that actually my news feed?

Hi.

Have you had trouble understanding when to panic, when to ignore, when to disassociate, and when to act? You are not alone.

Welcome to the Age of Discernment, with thousands of daily split-second decisions forcing us to determine what transmissions are signals we must respond to, and what is noise meant to distract, discourage, and ultimately defeat our ability to even know the difference anymore.

At The Skillman Foundation, our antennae is trained to take in signals in terms of what impacts Detroit, youth, and education.

This does not mean we are not clocking other worry signals that are coming through. It also doesn’t mean we are not crying silently to the signals of hope being sent across the hemisphere from Artemis II. Or that our hearts aren’t beating faster after hearing Bryan Stevenson from the Equal Justice Initiative speak about hope at Detroit’s Garden Theater to a packed house this month (hear what Stevenson says about hope in his conversation with On Being).

Those are signals too. We are choosing what matters based on what we can DO, leveraging our mission and strategy, and we are choosing to find all the signals telling us to keep going, keep believing in miracles and the wonder of the space-time continuum.

We are listening, responding, and sending out more signals of hope of our own to anyone who’s listening.

Our strategy, People Powered Education, is a big swing for the fences to update the K-12 education system for and with Detroit youth by linking arms with people across Michigan to enact a long-term vision for change. While this is the bulk of what we do, we keep the light on for opportunities that underpin whether Detroiters, Michiganders, and youth in particular have the enabling conditions needed to succeed—and have a say—in life and in school.

A key component of our People Powered Education strategy is ensuring communities have agency and voice to change systems.

And so, one more signal. This one from the heavens. While viewing planet Earth on April 5, 2026, Easter Sunday for Western Christians, Astronaut Victor Glover from Artemis II was asked to reflect with us on this moment. He paused and then shared:

“I think maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special.

In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe—you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist (in) together.

I think as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world—whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not—this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing. And that we got to get through this together.”

The noise, albeit constant and at times deafening, is just audio wallpaper, disappearing as often as it emerges. The signals, however, are the blinking stars lighting the hemisphere.  

And as we gaze at them and decipher their meaning, through the lens of mission, vision, and strategy, the signals begin to chart a new path forward as we head together to a brightening horizon. One filled with hope, recognition of the importance of this moment, and the determination to get through this. Together.