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Global Detroit is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation that revitalizes Michigan’s economy by pursuing strategies that strengthen Detroit’s connections to the world to make the region more attractive and welcoming to immigrants, internationals, and foreign trade and investment as a means to produce jobs and regional economic growth.
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Originally funded by the New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Skillman Foundation, a comprehensive Global Detroit study was released in May 2010 that documented the impacts that immigrants have on the regional economy and identified eleven strategic initiatives for its revitalization. To date, the Global Detroit Initiative has helped launch over a half dozen distinct initiatives in southeast Michigan to make the region more welcoming and to capitalize on the economic opportunity that our international population and connections bring.
As of 2014, over $7 million in philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual funding has been raised for innovative initiatives identified in the Global Detroit study, including international student retention, the Welcoming Michigan campaign, an urban neighborhood microenterprise training and lending program, the Global Detroit Welcome Mat network of immigration and social services, Cultural Ambassadors, a nearshoring initiative, and operation funding for Global Detroit.
Pursuing a broad array of innovative initiatives is critical to strengthening our regional economy, producing jobs, and restoring prosperity to southeast Michigan families.
Global Detroit has four strategic goals:
- Make the region welcoming to the international community and immigrants.
- Attract and retain international talent in the region.
- Attract international investment and businesses that create jobs.
- Strengthen, grow, and revitalize neighborhoods in the city of Detroit and in the region’s core communities.
Global Detroit Study
In 2009 during an intense crisis in Michigan’s economy, regional business, philanthropic, academic, and community leaders commissioned the Global Detroit Study to determine the impact that immigrants were having on the regional economy and to develop strategies that could tap into immigrants’ talent, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and determination to foster regional job growth and prosperity. Since 2010, Global Detroit has been launching the initiatives conceived in that study and has helped raise over $7 million in corporate, government, and philanthropic investments to implement this vision.
Partners and Initiatives
The purpose of Global Detroit is to determine how immigrants, internationals, and global connections impact the region’s economic growth and development, and to develop, implement, and support the strategies that create jobs and build prosperity amongst all that live here. To this end, Global Detroit has launched five partner initiatives and continues to run several strategies in house to help grow our regional economy, produce jobs, and restore prosperity to Detroit and southeast Michigan.
Learn MoreGlobal Champions
Global Detroit is a leader among a growing movement of local immigrant economic development initiatives across the nation. These immigrant economic development efforts have developed organically and independently over the last half-decade and are beginning to redefine the national character around immigration. Learn more about this important work.
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