Global Detroit Blog
Read below for updates to Global Detroit and immigrant news affecting Metro-Detroit.

Detroit Welcoming Games return September 13th with Futsal!
Global Detroit is excited to join in the celebration of Welcoming Week September 12-20th! Across the country, Welcoming America and its affiliates will commemorate Welcoming Week by hosting events to pay tribute to the cultures and rich diversity that make up our neighborhoods. In Detroit, Global Detroit is bringing people together [...]

Connectors Program Helps Newcomers Build their Networks
Last October, Global Detroit launched the Cultural Ambassadors Connectors Program, which connects area newcomers looking to enhance their careers to established professionals that can help them grow their business networks. The program is heavily rooted in the fact that the majority of job openings (most [...]

Relationships Built in Dayton Strengthen Network and Work Moving Forward
Our Director Steve Tobocman’s Reflections on the Welcoming Economies (WE) Global Network 3rd Annual Convening The Third Annual Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Global) Convening in Dayton was our best yet, demonstrating the growth and momentum of WE Global and immigrant economic development. The Convening [...]

Global Detroit Welcomes 105 New Americans
This past June marked the second celebration of Immigrant Heritage Month, a month dedicated to sharing stories celebrating the diversity and shared heritage that make America. We’re a country built by immigrants, and one of our greatest strengths lies in the new people we welcome [...]

Immigrant’s Guiding Values Inspire Generation
By Kathryn Brennan “We need to remind ourselves to be very careful to do the right things,” said Gary Torgow, Chairman of Talmer Bank and Trust. He learned this from his grandfather, Manuel Merzon, who emigrated from Russia in 1914 at the age of 16. [...]

Ambassadors Amplify Citizenship Excitement
Citizenship Ambassadors Help Candidates on the Path to Citizenship There was a palpable excitement in the Hindu Temple of Canton as people flooded in and staff and volunteers scurried to get ready for the naturalization event. Four Citizenship Ambassador volunteers were spread out in this [...]

Immigrants Lend Their Voices to a Community Conversation
In order to fully integrate new immigrant and refugee communities so that these communities feel welcomed and included in their new home of Metro Detroit, the Global Detroit strategy document recommended that immigrant, refugee, and ethnic communities be connected to regional leadership. To further that [...]

From the Director – Immigrants: The Vacant Property Solution
By Steve Tobocman On Wednesday, May 20th the Welcoming Economies (WE) Global Network convened some 20 leaders representing 9 of the nation’s major land banks (or their equivalents), as well as representatives from the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Legacy Cities Partnership [...]

From the Director: Michigan’s global economy
By Steve Tobocman Politicians are apt to hold press conferences for projects that announce even a few hundred jobs. Can you imagine the headline for a government action that produced 15,000 jobs that paid salaries ranging from $60,000 to even $100,000? Research from the Partnership [...]

From the Director: Broken Immigration System Hurts Detroit’s Economy
By Steve Tobocman H-1B Visa Cap Denies Area Employers Critical Talent to Grow Businesses Global Detroit, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Michigan Office for New Americans, Ann Arbor SPARK, MichBio, and other business and economic leaders joined similar groups across the Rust Belt in highlighting [...]


About Us
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.