Amanda Uhle has over ten years of nonprofit and arts administration experience and has served as the executive director of
826michigan since September 2006. Uhle was a speaker at TEDxDetroit 2012 and in 2008 was named one of
Crain's Detroit Business "20 in Their Twenties", an award celebrating innovation and leadership. She has worked behind the scenes at arts organizations in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan and believes strongly in finding ways to support imaginative cultural opportunities in the Midwest. Amanda is especially interested in uniting creative people and projects with the resources to make them possible.
A Write-Up for Success
Last school year, MaKea was a student at Ypsilanti Middle School, where 826michigan ran an after-school tutoring program. Pictured here with 826michigan Program Coordinator
D'Real Graham, she was apprehensive about coming to the program at first. She was reluctant to ask for help with her schoolwork, which was suffering. Little by little, the tide turned for MaKea. She realized that at least one person, D'Real, believed that she could do better. He kept encouraging her. She kept working hard. And she's entering high school with new confidence and habits of mind that will strengthen her chances to succeed in school and life.
I hope at some point you have experienced that humbling, inspiring, and confusing feeling that surfaces when someone believes in you. I have, in the form of an unexpected handout once or twice and an undeserved leg up in my first real job. It's even sweeter when you don't yet know why that person believes in you. And for me, there's nothing more difficult than articulating gratitude in those situations.
At
826michigan, we're the hub for countless moments of appreciation, whether we're on the giving or the receiving end. Day after day, I see volunteer tutors enter our writing lab in Ann Arbor or the under-resourced public classrooms we visit in Detroit, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, and I'm overcome with gratitude. For some of them, the decision to spend a few hours helping a student understand a homework assignment is fulfilling and a relatively easy commitment. Others juggle complex schedules and their own responsibilities and can barely pull it off. These volunteers know that giving their time, or their dollars, is so valuable that it's worth whatever pinch results as a tradeoff.
On a larger scale, 826michigan learned this month that the
DTE Energy Foundation is renewing its support to help us expand our services for students in the city of Detroit with a grant of $100,000. This is a major vote of confidence in the work of our organization and proves this venerable company's belief that what 826michigan provides for students and the community is important and worthy of financial support.
As the
826 National model evolved over the last 10 years in seven other cities nationwide, it became ever more clear to us in Michigan that our work is a natural fit for the students of Detroit.
And we've learned that while our impact on young people is long-lasting and important, we also make a difference in the lives of the adults who participate in 826michigan programs as volunteers. We know that there are many adults in our community who are ready for a tangible role in Detroit's impending turnaround. When a volunteer chooses to participate in one of 826michigan's programs, working one-on-one with a student in his or her own classroom, the impact on that volunteer's perspective can be profound. It's equally powerful when a student sees a member of their own community giving back and chipping in to help them get ahead. If there's one thing that's clear in Detroit's current crisis, we know that progress is only possible with many and diverse people and perspectives.
I'm not new to this work. I've been executive director of this organization for seven exciting years, and with help from our super-talented staff and volunteers and countless generous donors, I've helped 826michigan establish and expand our work in Southeast Michigan and offered my genuine thanks all along the way. But still I find myself speechless. It's almost impossible to say how grateful we are, how exhilarating it is to keep increasing 826michigan's presence in the city of Detroit, how much we're looking forward to seeing our students have thousands of those, "I get it! I understand! Thank you for your help!" moments in the school year ahead. And while I may always find the process of adequately acknowledging all these many acts of kindness and generosity daunting, there is something in which I have endless confidence: 826michigan's ability to get the job done.
Just like D'Real believes in MaKea's ability to succeed, the DTE Energy Foundation believes in us, and they're showing it by making this important grant. In turn, we'll show our gratitude by visiting three Detroit classrooms weekly to work with students one-on-one, and by starting a new creative writing club after school at another site. We'll run family writing nights at the Franklin-Wright Settlements and elsewhere in the city. We'll continue to offer a range of writing and tutoring opportunities to school-aged students in Detroit. We'll recruit more volunteers to increase and expand this work in every way possible.
We recently received another show of belief from a venerable institution:
The Library of Congress. This month, the Library honored our parent organization, 826 National, with the inaugural American Literacy Award in recognition of the innovative model that inspires 30,000 students all over the country to learn to love reading and writing. We hope this turn on the national stage will motivate even more local community members to become involved with 826michigan's programs, whether in our new evening tutoring program at
beezy's cafe in Ypsilanti, in classrooms in the city of Detroit, or at creative writing workshops and field trips at our headquarters in downtown Ann Arbor.
Instead of getting hung up on what to say to demonstrate our gratitude, I think 826michigan will stick to doing what we do best. I know from experience that 826michigan's staff and tutors aren't doing this work to receive thanks. We're doing it because watching students achieve their academic and creative goals is the most satisfying conclusion possible.
MaKea begins her high school career this fall with the knowledge that 826michigan--our staff and tutors and supporters--believe in her and know she will succeed.
As for us at 826michigan, we'll launch even more programming for Detroit students this fall and continue to plan for more expansion and growth. We know that this is possible because our funders and our volunteers believe, like we do, that writing is essential for every young person and that the one-on-one attention we provide helps shape students' futures in remarkable ways.
The 826michigan annual autumn benefit pop-up dinner, Sweater Weather, happens October 19 in a private home in Detroit's Boston-Edison neighborhood. Enjoy a chef-prepared seasonal urban picnic from Brad Greenhill of Righteous Rojo, meet renowned graphic novelist and 826michigan tutor Jim Ottaviani and support 826michigan's work in under-resourced Detroit classrooms. Reservations are $75 and required in advance at sweaterweather.brownpapertickets.com.