Lessons learned while covering Southeast Michigan’s nonprofits
Looking back over the stories the series has captured during the past year, here are three valuable takeaways about how nonprofits are serving their communities, moving forward.
Sarah Williams's Latest Articles
Michigan nonprofits: Where are we now? MNA’s new president and CEO has her finger on the pulse
In her new role leading Michigan Nonprofit Association, Kelley Kuhn talks the need for funding, her team's efforts to increase support for BIPOC leaders, especially, what organizations are carrying forward in the new normal, and a desire for a seat at the table. "There's this amazing infrastructure in the sector, that if leveraged," she says, "is efficient, effective, and understands the community, and its needs."
Make food, not waste: 30 Metro Detroit food businesses to lead the U.S. in sustainability pledge
In the food business, less is more. These 16 Metro Detroit food businesses have already started leading the country in a sustainability movement boasting economic, environmental, and community benefits. They're looking for more to join them.
If it ain’t fixed, break it: Nonprofits reimagine governance
As the sector faces growing complexities, many organizations are realizing their old ways of doing things are no longer working. Is now an opportunity to ask bold questions and create new visions of governance for the future?
How beloved community theater houses across metro Detroit have adapted to survive
“People said streaming’s gonna kill the movies,” says The Maple Theater's managing partner Ruth Daniels. “They said TV was gonna kill the movies, VHS was gonna kill the movies, cable and DVDs were gonna kill the movies, you know? But, nothing kills the movies." Here's how iconic movie theaters across metro Detroit, like Plymouth's The Penn, Farmington's Civic Theater, The Phoenix and The Redford, have adapted to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Room Project uplifts women and nonbinary creatives through community and collaborative leadership
"I think if you do it, and you care about it, why aren't you a writer?" says Kelsey Ronan, the operations director at Room Project. "We support you. You're at the table, same as the person who's in The New York Times this week, same as the person who has this great new essay coming out, or the poet who's a couple of books into her career. We see you. You're a writer too."
MacLean Additive brings 3D printing to the Sterling Innovation District
Ever heard of "lightweighting"? It's a big deal in an automotive industry shifting toward electric vehicles. We talk to a 3D printing company making vehicles lighter about their new facility in Sterling Heights and why they are betting on both the technology and the region.
Michigan Nonprofit Association launches Anti-racism Accountability and Action Cohort
“It's an opportunity for white leaders to better understand their whiteness, to deconstruct it and work for racial equity...people get to remain whole because that’s the goal, that people actually feel they have agency and power to change oppression and racism."
Graduates of Detroit-based community incubator experience transformational support
"This cohort created a space for us to be vulnerable, transparent and to know that if we're the best human beings we can be ourselves, then we'll be the best leaders for our organizations," says Sherelle Hogan, founder and CEO of Pure Heart Foundation.
Metro Detroit moms build a community to navigate parenting in the pandemic
“I’ve a friend who just had her fourth kid during the pandemic, and she loved the fact that no one could visit them and they could just be alone as a family,” says Maye Abdo, founder of the Mary’s New Mamas support group. “But if you’re a first-time mom who’s learning and growing, it’s an experience that’s really hard to explain. This community of girls just gets it.”
