You've likely seen Tytiana "Ty" Steele's work without realizing it. The set designer and director is behind sumptuous scenes in TV shows like "Queen of the South" and brand campaigns like Barefoot Wine's We Stan with Her, but now the Detroit artist is bringing her talent back to her hometown, starting her own company to help build equity in her industry.
When COVID-19 hit Michigan this year, the Detroit Innovation Fellowship cohort were well placed to support the communities hit hardest. The 23 social innovators involved in the talent development program are proving that their focus on creating sustainable, accessible resources builds the kind of resilience that see communities through a crisis.
In Detroit communities hit hardest by COVID-19, solar power projects provided some relief and continuity of service this year. For engineers and entrepreneurs Ali Dirul and Karanja Famodou, renewable energy is not just about the sustaining the environment, it's about sustaining equity.
COVID-19 setbacks and losses have not been able to diminish the optimism of neighborhood innovator Tammy Black. The Jefferson Chalmers resident is drawing on the strength of her community to sustain plans for the construction of a treehouse community center and advocate for horticultural therapy.
A group of Detroit puppeteers discovered their performing arts nonprofit is surprisingly well-placed to survive COVID-19 restrictions, with established partners, the creativity to explore new mediums, and a focus on equitable access to the arts.
It's not just a design hub that Tanya Saldivar-Ali and her husband, Luis, are building on 18th Street — the Detroit couple is developing a construction pipeline to connect residents with sustainable careers. But it's the cutting-edge technology they are using to tell residents' stories that is capturing international attention.
Detroit firefighter Gary Ringer is connecting with national health experts to promote a better culture of health in his community, and wants local stations to be a part of that change: "As firefighters, we can do more than just putting the ‘wet stuff on the red stuff,’ we can play a more intricate role in the community we serve."
The importance of a resilient community garden space in Warrendale — and the connection it brings for residents — was thrown into sharp relief against the backdrop of a global pandemic this year.
Juan Shannon set out five years ago to establish a smart neighborhood in Highland Park. With a new solar-powered cafe and expanding urban farming initiative, the developer continues to grow green technology in his community.
Juan Carlos Dueweke-Perez has come a long way from selling cheesecakes door-to-door in Southwest Detroit as a kid. Now the co-founder of Southwest Detroit Restaurant Week owns his own marketing agency and works toward bringing equity to minority- and immigrant-owned businesses: "I want to continue a legacy that doesn’t start or end with me.”
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