“We anticipate our first ever BOO!KLEY Nights to be a howling, grown up good time and plenty of festive fun for the kids, too,” says Michael McGuinness, director of the Downtown Berkley DDA.

"Our country’s educational system was inequitable before, and it still is," says Cindy Eggleton of Brilliant Detroit. "COVID-19 has given us an opportunity to rethink systems, and I’m wondering if we are rethinking enough? As not-for-profits, organizations and people, I take seriously our responsibility to turn this not-so-great thing into an opportunity to look deeply at how systems work in order to better serve kids and families."

George Hamilton had been looking for employment for three years before the COVID-19 pandemic produced staffing shortages and he finally got his shot. For inclusive workforce advocates like Dutton Farm in Rochester, the hiring fallout has opened up pathways, and placement organizations have seen a huge boost in their ability to find employment for members: "Now there’s more of an understanding of the talent and the skill levels we have here.” 

"If we can get our young women to understand their value and place in the world at elementary and adolescent ages," says Karen Palka, founder & executive director of A Beautiful Me in Port Huron, "they are more likely to take on roles in their adult lives that enhance their communities in some shape, form or fashion. 

“Michigan was home to the first mile of paved road, and now we’re paving the way for the roads of tomorrow with innovative infrastructure that will support the economy and the environment, helping us achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” says Gov. Whitmer.

“When something interrupts your program, you still have to go forward, whether you go around it, above it, through it – whatever you need to do,” Kris Marshall, Winning Futures.