It's definitely worth the investment in the investment in
thinking into how we build our middle class and raise the
incomes of Detroiters because as we grow Detroit, as I mentioned,
in the state of the city, it means nothing Welcome to Path
Breakers, a podcast from the Kresge Foundation.
This season, we're asking who has the power to change the
city. We're talking with people who
are reshaping the way things work and getting into how they
make that happen. And we're looking at 4 cities in
particular. Where Kreski does a lot of work.
Memphis, New Orleans, Fresno, and of course our home city,
Detroit, MI. In each of these places, we're
going to start at City Hall and talk with the mayor.
Then we'll head out into the community and talk with some of
the people Kresge calls pathbreakers, people making big
changes in unconventional ways. Hi everybody.
I'm Tracy Pearson. I work on the communications
team here at the Kresge Foundation and I'm a proud West
Side native Detroiter. And I'm Jamie Bennett.
I work at the intersection of arts, culture, and equitable
community development. So, Jamie, in our exploration of
these cities and the different kinds of change work happening
there on the ground, we're starting with the person who is
traditionally seen as the one calling all the shots in the
city. That would be the mayor, and
also because the mayor holds such a unique position as the
most prominent storyteller of the city, we're going to spend
some time with them. In the 1st 4 episodes of our
season, we're of course going to focus on Detroit.
Not only is it Kresge's hometown, but it's also a city
that's had a lot of stories told about it.
A lot of those stories with the headline and Tracy.
I'm going to use air quotes here.
Detroit is having a comeback. Detroit has been telling that
same comeback story for almost a decade now, if not longer.
And I know because I live here. I've seen it with my own eyes.
And while there is real truth in that story, I mean billions in
investment of revitalized downtown, a city that has quite
literally clawed its way back from the largest municipal
bankruptcy in American history. But if you drive 10 minutes in
any direction from the center of that story, you'll find
neighborhoods that have not had the same level of investment as
downtown. Residents have been working
hard, abdicating and looking for a new partner in City Hall.
Yep, and in November 2025, they got one.
Detroit voters made a decisive choice about what comes next,
and by the widest margin in the history of Detroit, they elected
Mary Sheffield mayor. Mayor Sheffield was born and
raised in Detroit. She's the daughter of a civil
rights leader and a nursing professor.
She was the youngest City Council member in Detroit's
history when she was 26 years old and then went on to become
its youngest City Council president at 33.
And now she is the first woman to serve as mayor of Detroit.
That's right, Madam Mayor Sheffield has been serving the
city for a long time. She didn't run on a downtown
comeback story either. She ran on the promise that
neighborhoods will come first, that investment will reach every
corner and every family. And so today we're going to find
out what that promise looks like.
And we're going to do that in person on the Marygrove
Conservancy campus. Kresge is moving its
headquarters to Marygrove. And so for this episode, we're
doing a very dangerous thing. And we're handing our
microphones over to Kresge President and CEO RIP Rapson.
Go ahead and take it away, RIP. Mayor Sheffield, thank you.
What a pleasure and honor it is to have you here at Marygrove.
I think one of the last times I saw you, you were transitioning
just down the hall. Yeah.
It's a special place, you know, to to Kresge, to the community
and to the city as a whole. But say a word about why would
you end up putting a transition team here or feeling this is
somehow a special place? Yeah, Well, thank you for having
me excited to be here. So, you know, the entire
campaign was rooted in how we can ensure that we're better
supporting, elevating, promoting and investing in our
neighborhoods. And so to be in alignment with
my values and vision as mayor, we just thought it was only
right to root our transition in the heart of a neighborhood, in
a neighborhood that, quite frankly, has undergone massive
transformation. There's a lot of investment
happening here. So I think it's really
highlighting how a neighborhood can go from maybe disinvestment
to strategic investment and really showcase a really
thriving and growing neighborhood.
So we were honored to be here in the community.
So many people we brought throughout here, over 300
committee members were in and out and it just really brought
that energy, energy and vibrancy into the neighborhoods, which is
what we always want to. Do well.
It's such an anchoring presence in the neighborhood.
When the Marygrove College is going through tough times and we
were asked to step in, the thought of there not being this
anchoring presence in the community was just unthinkable.
And so I think one of the things that we've found over the last
decade of investing is that it's not just a set of buildings on a
campus, It's not just a beautiful grounds.
It's it's sort of a nested reality with the rest of this
extraordinary neighborhood. And we've kind of come to the
view that you almost have to hold the web hole.
You have to do housing, you have to do open space, you have to do
education, you have to do transit, you have to do all
things. And when I was thinking about
that, I was thinking about your state of the city address, which
is almost exactly what you said, which is you can't just sort of
do single interventions and hope that everything is going to
change. You have to kind of pull it all
together. But that's the toughest kind of
municipal change. How?
Where do you get started on something like that?
You know, I think right now we're really building on the
strength of some of the neighborhoods that have reached
a level of resiliency and building on those, but also in
areas where you need stabilization, right?
So there's areas, areas where they may not be ready for
economic development, but the social issues, the basic quality
of life issues will go a long way in those communities to
build them up to a level of resiliency.
And so simple things like clearing the backlog of sidewalk
requests, right, turning St. lights on the areas where
there's still a need for additional lighting, having
community violence intervention groups go into those areas,
really promoting workforce development.
I mean, those type of tools to me are critical to basic quality
of life issues in our neighborhoods.
And so we're finding areas where we can start somewhere so that
every neighborhood feels something and understood to your
point, you know, there is multi, you know, different layers and
levels of investment that are needed in several neighborhoods
for it to thrive. But I think if we can figure out
a way to provide some support in some of these neighborhoods,
whether it's just stabilization tools, investing in people,
everyone would feel as if they're receiving something.
Well, I think your trilogy of support no strengthen support.
Stabilize, strengthen, grow. Which was exactly right.
It's kind of people, places and economic development.
And the idea that somehow you can sort of differentiate A
neighborhood based on what they need.
I think is, is really smart. One of the one of the themes
that just sort of is so apparent from everything you've said,
everything you've done, is that you want to make this city a
city for children, Children and families, to be sure, But but
children Talk a little bit about some of the thinking you've done
about how to strengthen our appeal to kids and families.
Yeah. I mean, I think ultimately, in
order for us to really grow our population and in order for us
to, you know, really thrive and go to the next level, Detroit
has to be a place that center youth voices youth our future.
And if we don't invest in them now, we do a disservice to all
of us. And so we've been really trying
to center youth and children all that we do, really supporting
families, ensuring that we have a program now called RX Kids
that provides cash prescriptions to pregnant moms.
And I believe when you take care of a family, you take care of
generations and you build neighborhoods, you build
community. And so for us, this
administration is just so important that we invest
directly in neighborhoods and families as well.
Oh, yeah. In your state of the city, you
talked a little bit about small things like giving every student
of the public school system a bus pass or structuring after
school times, or making sure during the summer when people,
when kids don't maybe have quite enough to do, giving them kind
of constructive outlets. It's a, again, it's a, it's a
complicated undertaking. I think what was so impressive
about what you laid out of the state of the city was the sort
of the range of the ambition, which I think a lot of us saw in
the campaign, to be sure. But it was the depth, the fact
that you've begun already sort of layering, you know, not just
one or two or three levels deep, often 4 levels deep to make sure
that these kinds of strategies take.
How do you, how do you think about sort of the basic
challenges of resourcing and working with the private sector
or working with the philanthropic sector?
I mean, just making sure that everybody is sort of behind you
and pushing in the same. So we've been approaching it
very delicately and we we really want to be strategic in our ask.
So it's not, we just want this, this, this and just throwing
random requests out, but really making sure we have an overall
goal, goal and vision and how every request is interconnected
to the overall goal and theme of this administration.
And so as we prepare to go before philanthropy, we really
want to ensure that we have a strategic request and acts about
the direct needs that would benefit Detroiters.
So we know that that is a real need.
Detroit can only do so much. We had 800, roughly over $800
million in federal funds that are now meeting at the end of
this year. And so as we're leaning on the
private sector and the philanthropic sector, we're also
eagerly looking at ways to generate new revenue streams for
the city of Detroit as well. But also getting back to
supporting Detroiters, because when we support Detroiters,
people stay here, they live here.
We got to get people working that generates revenue to the
city of Detroit as well. So we're trying to be innovative
in our approach, but really strategic in how we, you know,
approach the philanthropic sector for for funding.
And when I go around the country, I almost always get
questions about this sort of unusual ability that I think
over the last 10 or 15 years, the city has evolved to make
sure that the public sector sets the agenda, but then the private
sector comes behind that and the philanthropic sector behind
comes behind that. I think of the riverfront or the
Wilson Park or the Greenway. I mean, so many examples.
And my sense is that by being so thoughtful about how you've sort
of laid out your priority set, it's going to make that easier.
It's almost like reverse engineering saying here's the
sort of the problem set we're kind of coming at.
And so private sector you can maybe do this piece and
philanthropic sector, you can do that piece.
It's it's exciting. I can't wait for the ask.
Good, I'll I'll remember this. I'll make sure I have this clip
here. Well, we, we are extraordinarily
fortunate in Detroit to have so many extraordinary foundations.
And I think one of the nice things is if you want to do
solar installation, you might come to Kresge.
But if you want to do water reclamation, you might go to
Herb or you might do open space with Wilson.
I mean, it's, it's an extraordinarily diverse
community. One of the things that sort of
threads through both your neighborhood approach and your
approach to kids and families is the notion of just building
wealth, building economic stability, building economic
mobility. And not just something at the
very front end with our ex kids, but home ownership, home repair,
small business development, retail attraction, all of those
things mean those are often seen as sort of very long term goals.
Do you think there's a possibility of kind of pulling
it forward by being even more strategic?
Yeah. I mean, I think it's even if
it's long term, it's definitely worth the investment in the
investment in thinking into how we build our middle class and
raise the incomes of Detroiters. Because as we grow Detroit, as I
mentioned in the state of the city, it means nothing if
Detroiters don't have access to it.
And what we're seeing is as we're trying to attract
retailers in larger, you know retail brands in Detroit, they
often times look at demographics, income levels.
We were looking for bonding and credit rated rated agencies
coming to look at our finances. They also look at the the income
levels right of Detroiters. So it's a major thing that I
think we have to address in each rate.
And so we're trying our hardest to ensure that we're investing
in people, we're building our middle class, we're expanding
home ownership opportunities and we're really looking at
education in a different way that I don't think a previous
administrations have as well. Well, and and I the absolutely
sort of breathtaking announce announcement of creating a
living wage for all city employees.
That's almost 1000 people who are going to see their incomes
go up. And I thought your challenge to
the rest of the community was really appropriate.
All right, if the city can do it, certainly the rest of us can
do it. We will try to do our part at
Kresge, but you know, it's a big, complicated community and
we all need to step up. One of the challenges of any
mirror is trying to figure out what the relationship is with
the educational system. You know, even if you have a
good working if and if a mayor has a good working relationship
with the Superintendent, Superintendent has its own board
and it's really tough. And you talked a little bit
about bus passes and out of school time, but are there other
ways that you think you as mayor can help sort of shape the
educational environment of the city?
Yeah. And and it has been a learning
experience. Some of the dynamics of, you
know, even with the bus route to the free bus transportation, we
had to deal with the school board and understanding that
dynamics. But I do know ultimately is that
Detroiters want a mayor that is more involved in education.
And so we've been very strategic in our approach, after school
programming, absenteeism, reducing absenteeism and out of
school time. Those are three areas that we
believe we could be a greater partner.
But also some of the social issues that parents face, you
know, as relates to why children are not going to school, whether
it's housing, whether it's access to child support, you
know, whatever it may be, the city could be a greater partner
and some of those social issues. And so we're figuring out more
ways to be a better partner in that regard because a lot of the
issues that, you know, families and children face go back to
housing, poverty, education, access to jobs, things of that
sort. So we're looking at ways to be a
greater partner in that regard. Well, you took the extraordinary
step of creating an entire new office for poverty elimination.
What kind of scope of authority will that office have?
What are the kinds of things we might expect to see out of it?
So they're going to really push Policies 1.
And so right now we're looking at, you know, our excuse was the
first major policy that came out of that.
The living wage policy came out of that office, the child tax
credit, which was a part of the tax return season that we
actually launched through Detroit.
But ensuring that people from homelessness to home ownership
have the wrap around services to become self-sufficient.
We want to implement a no wrong policy door policy approach.
So when you call the city of Detroit for a service, we can
connect you to the services that you need to be self-sufficient.
We're also really looking at more outflow strategies from our
homeless population to ensure that people are not in shelters
in in for too long. And so we're looking at ways to
better improve our outflow strategy as well.
But Doctor Luke Shaffer is the founder of the University of
Michigan's Poverty Solutions. And if you know anything about
that, there's tons of research data and policies around how to
address the issue of poverty. So he's going to bring a wealth
of experience to really help us address it from a programmatic
standpoint and also a policy stuff.
I'm smiling because I can't think in all of my career of a
mayor doing this of kind of reaching into academic.
Lots of mirrors, I think have tried to corral academic
expertise, but to actually take someone of his stature and push
them right into the middle of the city's structure is really
quite extraordinary. It speaks also to your emphasis
on talent. I mean, you have very quickly
assembled quite an extraordinary cast of characters.
Thank you. Thank you.
I mean, throughout the transition, we had thousands of
people apply for jobs in Detroit, which again shows
people desire and urgency to want to be a part of of such a
transformative time in Detroit. And one thing that I did learn
from the previous administration, and I think why
Duggan was so successful was that he always had the best and
the brightest around him. He knew that he couldn't do it
by himself. And so we were very intentional
about it, making sure that we explored.
And we have a new CEO in place, we have a new chief public
health officer, and we're still looking to fill key positions to
ensure we have the best and the brightest around us.
I remember talking to Mayor Duggan about this right after
the bankruptcy and I think at first it wasn't at all clear
people would come into a sort of a post bankruptcy era.
It's hard, right? And we, our press hadn't been
terrific. But I think you're right.
I mean, he got in cars and knocked on doors and it sure
seems like you're doing the same thing.
Same. Exactly.
We're bringing people from corporate America here.
We're trying our hardest to recruit and people want to be in
Detroit. There's so much excitement, so
much momentum, and to leave your mark and to be a part of the
revitalization and growth of Detroit, I think people are very
much so interested in. What you can probably tell this
story far better than I, but, you know, in the immediate
aftermath of the bankruptcy, we were starting to get calls from
all across the country saying, would you come talk to us about
the Detroit experience? And I thought that would last
maybe a year until, you know, it was sort of old news.
We still get those calls. People are, I think, just both
curious and deeply almost awed by the extent to which we've
been able to build across multiple platforms, again, sort
of the public, the private, the nonprofit, the civic.
And my sense is that your talent base is going to be so clear
about your agenda that you're going to get I mean, not
Duggan's folks were great, but you're going to get a kind of
person like Luke who really knows that neighborhoods are
first and foremost issues that family and kids are first and
foremost. Creating a wealth platform is
first and foremost. It's going to probably look a
little bit different. That's great.
You mentioned earlier that the federal environment, it's a it's
a tough one. And it's not just that our one
time funding is going away, but you know, they're kind of
leaving the building in terms of cities.
How how do you think the city is going to have to adapt?
I mean, I suppose in every way but.
Yeah, I mean, I think overall we've been doing we've been
doing good. You know, we ensure that we have
a new state Governmental affairs leader, Fredor Hall.
I'm consistently in Lansing building relationships with both
sides of the aisle to ensure that our agenda touches
everyone. And so we are being very
strategic in that regard. You know, my thing is I don't
have to agree with everything, but we have to make sure that
we're able to walk work across the aisle to deliver for
Detroit. So we're strengthening our
relationships with state leaders and ensuring that Detroit is on
the agenda because, you know, we impact the entire region.
And so those conversations are forthcoming.
Yeah, I my sense too is that local government is at some
level just sort of not ideological.
You know, you're presented with 10,000 problems or challenges
and you just try to create solution sets for them.
It's not red or blue, it's it's something quite different.
And I can tell you, I mean, property tax reform is 1.
I think everyone, no matter the background, right, has an
understanding or a constituency that is impacted by the high
cost of property taxes. So that is an area we've been
able to find common ground on both sides of the aisle.
And so we're trying to figure out where the common interests
are, where we can align and actually get things done.
It's a tough one, but I think there could be some movement in
that regard. So, and you know, for folks who
aren't from Detroit, who are, who are watching is Detroit's
property tax system sort of unlike what you would find in
Columbus, OH or Austin, TX? It seems like it might be.
It is. And I think the mileage rate,
right, we have so many mileages, I think over 80 meals compared
to other cities. We have the highest in the state
and almost the highest in the country.
And so that is a huge barrier to development in Detroit, which is
why we often have to see so many tax abatements and incentives
for development projects to work.
But it also is a barrier to everyday detroitors who are just
trying to buy homes and stay in their homes in our city.
So it has been a huge deterrent overall, I think to overall
economic growth and it is a issue that we have to continue
to fight and address in our city.
The only other thought I was had when you were saying that is
that both the sort of the local environment being non
ideological and also having a really robust corporate sector.
I mean you, you came and spoke with the CEO's group.
You know, we have Mary Bar on one side and Rodger Penske on
another. I wonder if that in some ways
isn't a little bit of insulation.
This is a very robust, hard working corporate community and
they they're not going to get ideological on you either.
No, I, I completely agree. And that that has been something
that has been very encouraging to see first hand.
I, I witnessed it on the council for 12 years.
But now in this position to see the dedication of the
philanthropic sector, the private sector, who all are
committed and invested in Detroit's growth, gives me the
reassurance to know that, you know, even in difficult moments,
even with some of the federal difficulties that we're
experiencing, we have a group in a community of people who are
committed to Detroit's resurgence.
So very, very thankful for the corporate, private sector and
philanthropic community as well. Never forget in the sort of the
pre bankruptcy couple of years from 2008 to 12, when Mayor Bing
just needed more police cars and more EMS vehicles.
And, you know, Roger Penske put that together like in two days.
Yeah, it was, Yeah. And whether it's on rail or the
waterfront or anything, if there's a this is not fair to
ask. But if there's a single thing or
two things that you might ask of a regional CEO's group did,
where would you prioritize, do you think, or is that too hard?
No, it's not. I mean, I think, you know,
infrastructure is is really big in general.
I'm going to always go back to just overall neighborhoods
investment in our our neighborhoods.
But I think connecting us from a regional standpoint has been a
huge conversation for quite some time and trying to figure out
what that looks like from a regional perspective is
important. But overall, I would say more
investment in general into neighborhoods and neighborhood
infrastructure. Well, maybe the the last
question, if I might. You're clearly enormously upbeat
and optimistic and inspiring about the city's future.
But as as we read newspaper headlines about all sorts of
mischief, what do you say to Detroiters to help them
understand that they're going to get through this?
You know, Detroit has always gotten through, and that is the
spirit of resiliency, of perseverance, of determination
of Detroit. You know, we fight.
We never give up. And so I would just encourage
Detroiters 1 to not sit back and allow some of the things that
we're seeing to happen, especially if we feel as if it's
unjust or not right, because voting matters.
Speaking up and speaking truth to power matters.
As we see voting has consequences and we can see it
in some of the programs that are being cut, some of the things
that are happening nationally. So definitely continue the grit
the fight. Things are going to get better.
But we need all Detroiters to step up, to use their voice and
to advocate for themselves and their communities and be a part
ensuring that Detroit continues to rise higher.
Oh, that's inspiring and maybe a wonderful place to leave it.
Mayor Mary Sheffield, thank you very much for your time.
It's an honor to have you here. Glad to be here.
Thank you. Thank you.
Tamara Sheffield and Kresge President RIP Rapson, thank you
for that insightful conversation.
Next week, Jamie and I will be back in the host chairs with the
first of our three feature Detroit Path Breakers.
You'll meet the one and only Orlando Bailey, Executive
Director of Outlier Media, a newsroom dedicated to
investigating and publishing the stories and information that
Detroiters literally ask for. And you'll also get to meet
Caitlin Murphy, who's the executive director of the Live 6
Alliance. She's helping to transform the
Livernois Mcnichols neighborhood in northwest Detroit.
That's right. And then we'll shoot across town
and talk to Simone Segovac, project director at the
Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.
Simone helped secure the $48 million benefit package coming
to the neighborhood that will soon be host to not one, but two
international Freight Crossing bridges.
Like and subscribe to Path Breakers on YouTube and your
favorite podcast platform to hear how these path Breakers are
getting it done. Path Breakers is produced by the
Kresge Foundation. Founded in 1924 with a mission
to promote human progress, Kresge today works to expand
equity and opportunity in America's cities.
Learn about our grant making and social investing work in
Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans, Fresno, and cities across the US
at kresge.org. To hear more stories from the
Path Breakers, be sure to subscribe to the show wherever
you listen to podcasts. Our host for this episode was
RIP Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation.
Our producer, as always, is Juliet Hindley.
Managing editor is Krista Yankee, with huge help from her
Kresge colleagues Maria Dilorenzo, Kate McLaughlin,
Jordan Duncans and of course the one and only Tracy Pearson.
The video interview with Mayor Sheffield was shot and produced
by Mark Marks on location at the Mary Grove Conservancy.
Our director of photography was Rodney Johnson.
Audio technician was Keith Skembre, associate producer Bria
Brown and video editor Carmel Flanagan.
The show art is by Alejandro Herrera.
Logo animation by Colin Likes. Our social media mastermind is
David Carrig. And a special thank you on this
episode to Kresge's Detroit program, including Wendy Lewis
Jackson and Jonathan Wei. Thank you for listening and
we'll see you next week.