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Challenge Detroit

If you had the chance to make a difference in Detroit, what would you do?

Meagen Mazur, a former intern at CW50, took on the endeavor to Challenge Detroit. In a previous CW post, Meagen spoke of how she would like to bring more positive attention to the city by capturing the stories of individuals who have brought their unwavering motivation to help the renovating city.

"If we could focus more on the positives the city has to offer and the hard work being done to improve Detroit I feel, as a group, we can work to change the image of Detroit"

-Meagen Mazur

Like Meagen, hundreds of individuals around the country got involved to Challenge Detroit. After an extensive screening process, 33 individuals were carefully selected to become Fellows in the Challenge Detroit program. Sixty percent of those individuals are Metro-Detroit natives, while the other 40 percent are making their way from places like New Jersey, Ohio, Alabama, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Georgia, Oregon, Colorado and Canada to be a part of the positive change that comes of Detroit.

"For me…Challenge Detroit is a way to look at the city from a different lens. A person from the Detroit community is able to see someone from a different city looking at Detroit and wanting to help"

-Deirdre Greene Groves

 

Each Fellow will revolve their experience around the 5 Pillars; Live, Work, Play, Give, and Lead. Deirdre Greene Groves, Executive Director of Challenge Detroit, recently explained why these 5 Pillars are essential to Challenge Detroit:

Live- Each Fellow will have to live in the city of Detroit.

"They will live through the changes that are being made by the city, positive and negative"

Work- The Fellows will be engulfed in innovative and entrepreneurial roles by organizations who are leaders in their industry.

"Being a regular employee for the company and being able to embrace the professional work environment so they can become leaders of their own."

Play- Getting to visit the local venues which bring fun to the city of Detroit; an interesting bar, a fun show at the Fox or Fillmore, a sports game at Ford Field or Comerica Park, etc.

"Embracing the cultural community and getting to experience the fun of Detroit."

Give- Each Fellow will participate in team challenges designed to positively impact the city and region through the partnership of local non-profits in the Detroit area,

"Gaining expertise from the professionals and helping to implement change in their community."

Lead- Each fellow will receive one-on-one leadership and professional development coaching throughout the year to develop their personal skills as a leader in the region.

"Those a part of Challenge Detroit, who look to be future leaders, can understand what's happening in a leadership position."

Organizations Involved

Each Fellow will have the opportunity to work with an organization for an entire year to try and address challenges and opportunities that currently stand in the city of Detroit like community development, multi-modal transportation, and homelessness.

Some of the organizations involved with Challenge Detroit include: Pure Michigan, the Detroit Lions, General Motors, Quicken Loans, DTE Energy and CBS Radio.

(Click here to see all the companies involved with Challenge Detroit)

"Our Employees heard about the program and put us in contact with the Challenge Detroit coordinator. From there, two of our Sales Managers went through the interview process with the candidates and selected one candidate."

-Kristen Adams, CBS Radio

The candidate chosen for CBS Radio, Max Kurek, will have the opportunity to work as an associate member of the Sales team.

Congratulations to Max Kurek, Meagen Mazur and the 31 other Fellows who were chosen for the Detroit challenge.

To see Meagan's story about how she Challenged Detroit, Click Here.

For more information on the Challenge Detroit project, visit ChallengeDetroit.Org

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