Project Team

Steering Committee

The Long Term Planning Steering Committee assembled by Mayor Dave Bing is comprised of 14-members from the business, non-profit, government, and philanthropic sectors to oversee the Long Term Planning for the Detroit Works Project.  Their role is to manage, advise, and provide guidance to the community engagement and technical team members.  They report regularly to Mayor Bing on the progress being made.  The Steering Committee members are:

1. George W. Jackson, Jr.,
   President and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Steering Committee Chair
2. Bishop Charles Ellis,
   Greater Grace Temple
3. Lydia Gutierrez,
   President of Hacienda Mexican Products
4. Heaster Wheeler,
   Assistant CEO of Wayne County
5. Alice Thompson,
   CEO of Black Family Development
6. Phillip Cooley,
   Owner of Slows Bar BQ
7. Rod Rickman,
   President and CEO of Rickman Enterprises
8. Dr. George Swan III, Ed.D.,
   Vice Chancellor of Wayne County Community College District
9. Tyrone Davenport,
   CEO of Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
10. Laura Trudeau,
    Senior Program Director of the Kresge Foundation
11. Don Chen,
    Senior Program Officer of the Ford Foundation
12. Marja Winters,
    Deputy Director of the City of Detroit Planning & Development Department
13. Marcell Todd,
    Director of  City of Detroit City Planning Commission
14. Linda Jo Doctor,
    Program Officer of W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Community Engagement & Technical Teams

Dan Pitera, Executive Director, Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture, leads the community engagement team made-up of DCDC staffers, representatives from Michigan Community Resources (MCR); and volunteers who serve as Process Leaders and Project Ambassadors.

Toni L. Griffin, Founder of Urban Planning and Design for the American City, leads the technical team comprised of representatives from:

1. Hamilton Anderson - Project Management, Land Use and Neighborhoods
2. Stoss Landscape Urbanism - Landscape, Ecology, Environment
3. Initiative for a Competitive Inner City - Economic Growth
4. Mass Economics - Economic Growth
5. Interface Studios - Economic Growth
6. Happold Consulting - City Systems
7. Center for Community Progress - Public Assets
8. Carlisle Wortman - Zoning
9. AECOM - Landscape, Ecology and Environment Audit
10. Skidmore Owings & Merrill, LLP - Urban Design Audit
11. HRA Advisors - Public Land Audit

Pitera, Griffin and their teams are responsible for blending the community expertise and technical analysis to produce the strategic framework plan that will serve as a guide for Detroit’s future.

Mayor’s Advisory Taskforce

The 50-member Advisory Taskforce with five chairs represents the general interests of the community, and serves in an advisory capacity to the Steering Committee.  They’ll offer their unique perspectives; and serve as champions for the project. Click here to see names of Advisory Taskforce members.

Process Leaders

Process Leaders are Detroit stakeholders who represent various constituencies in the city that are helping to design and lead the community engagement process that is being used for the Long Term Planning for the Detroit Works Project.  They also are helping recruit ambassadors who will support the engagement activities.

The 18 Process Leaders are:

1. Dan Varner, Excellent Schools Detroit
2. Judith Jackson, Youthville Detroit
3. Diane Van Buren, Zachery Associates
4. Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit
5. Scott Alan Davis, Vanguard Community Development Corporation
6. Guy Williams, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice
7. Sandra Turner Handy, Michigan Environmental Council
8. Ponsella Hardaway, Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength (MOSES), Member, Mayor’s Advisory Taskforce
9. James Ribbron, Detroit Resident/Detroit Board of Zoning Appeals
10. Luther Keith, ARISE Detroit
11. Christianne Sims, Urbanize (D), Member, Mayor’s Advisory Taskforce
12. Lydia Gutierrez, Hacienda Mexican Foods, Co-Chair Mayor’s Advisory Task Force
13. Phillip Cooley, Slows Bar BQ, Co-Chair Mayor’s Advisory Task Force
14. Alice Thompson, Black Family Development, Co-Chair Mayor’s Advisory Task Force
15. Heaster Wheeler, Wayne County, Co-Chair Mayor’s Advisory Task Force
16. Angela Reyes, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation
17. Norm Bent, ED of the Hispanic Consortium and the Latino Agenda
18. Rebecca Witt, Greening of Detroit