Skip to content

How Detroit spent first Day of the Young Child

Detroit

Meet Isaiah, a 5-year-old with a big title who would like you to know he’s awesome. He’s the star who kicks off this short video, which shares images and reflections from Detroiters who took part in the city’s first Day of the Young Child on April 27.

On that date, nearly 500 Detroiters took part in conversations in living rooms, nonprofits, community centers, libraries and businesses, all centered on the topic of making Detroit a world-class city for its youngest residents.

The video will be shared at a noon, June 1 session on the Hope Starts Here initiative at the Mackinac Policy Conference. Hope Starts Here is a citywide visioning and planning process that will share a framework later this year for stregnthening early childhood outcomes in Detroit by 2027. The session is co-sponsored by Kresge and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and will take place in the Brighton Pavilion at the Grand Hotel.

At Mackinac, Kresge President and CEO Rip Rapson will be joined by Kellogg President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron, along with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Brightmoor Alliance Executive Director, the Rev. Larry Simmons, who serves on the Hope Starts Here Stewardship Board. Rapson and Montgomery Tabron chair the board. Crain’s Detroit Business’ former Publisher Mary Kramer will moderate the discussion.

At 4:15 p.m., the two foundations are co-hosting another discussion on how the entire state can benefit when early childhood development is the basis for economic recovery and revitalization. Detroit Free Press Editorial Editor and Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson will moderate the conversation, which includes:

  • Robert Barnett, dean, School of Education and Human Services, University of Michigan-Flint
  • Emettra Nelson, student and parent, Michigan State University
  • Michael Nutter, David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs; former mayor, City of Philadelphia
  • Sean Welsh, regional president, West Michigan, PNC Bank

Follow the action using #HopeBuilds and #MPC2017 and watch live coverage of the conference on DPTV. Follow @kresgedetroit on Twitter for our social media coverage of the event.