Stories that Inspire Us
America is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants helped build America, and they continue to help make the U.S. the most prosperous nation on earth. Like most American cities, Detroit is certainly no exception to the immigrant experience. Detroit grew strong with waves of immigrants. And as immigrants came to Detroit, the city prospered.
Evidence of immigrant inspiration, innovation, perseverance and success can be seen everywhere. From a burgeoning restaurant in Southwest Detroit to the design and craft of a soaring skyscraper in New Center. From the halls of science and medicine in Midtown or Ann Arbor, to the growing automotive design sector in Oakland County. And from developing a new engineering process at an auto plant on the city’s far east side to developing a new way of growing plants at a neighborhood community garden on the city’s far west side, immigrants are everywhere, fundamentally contributing to our city’s and region’s greatness.
Metro Detroit is full of immigrant stories that inspire. Here are stories of some of the everyday innovators, leaders, and neighbors who call Detroit home.
Dr. Lourdes Arriola
Internist Dr. Lourdes Arriola has practiced in metro Detroit for more than 30 years. But when she first arrived in the 1960s, she thought she was coming for advance medical training that she could apply in her home country. Lourdes earned her medical degree in [...]
Randal Charlton
Randal Charlton has led many lives: journalist, agricultural innovator, public relations, founder of a biotech company and now, executive director of TechTown. He moved to Michigan from Great Britain in 2000 for the most capitalist of reasons: the numbers made sense. “I was coming off [...]
Basil Bacall
Chaldean immigrant Basil Bacall built a successful series of hotels in Michigan, then parlayed his success into help for refugees from his native region. Bacall, who lives in Brighton, arrived alone in Detroit in 1982 when he was 17 years old. He joined an older [...]
Stephen Rapundalo
Stephen Rapundalo was attracted to Michigan for its economic opportunities, and today its his job to help create them for others. Rapundalo is president and CEO of the Michigan Biosciences Industry Association, which fosters growth in the state’s bioscience industry. Rapundalo grew up in Canada, [...]
Rashida Tlaib
It’s no surprise that Rashida Tlaib is an advocate for improved access to human services, education and civil rights. As the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, she represents Southwest Detroit, where she was raised the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. She previously worked [...]
Osama Siblani
Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1955, Osama Siblani came to the United States in 1976 to pursue his education. He completed bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Detroit three years later and assumed the position of Vice President at Energy International, Inc., [...]
Irma Elder
When Irma Elder got married, her mother told her that a wife followed her husband no matter where he goes. For Elder, who met her husband while he was vacationing in her home state of Florida, that meant moving to Detroit. “He was a general [...]
Kofi Annorh
Kofi Annorh dreamed of coming to the United States since he was a child in Ghana, studying English with American teachers. Indeed, Annorh grew up with a travel bug, eventually visiting 36 countries. But none of those destinations replaced his dream of moving to America. [...]
Tel Ganesan
Tel Ganesan pays attention to the world he lives in and the one he came from. His Farmington Hills office lobby has one clock set to the current time in India — where he was born and earned a degree in engineering — and another [...]
Stanley Zhou
Stanley Zhou believes Michigan and China have a bright future together – and he wants to help build it. Zhou, a native of Shanghai, moved to Detroit in 1997. Today he is president of the Troy based American Aligned Automotive Production Corp., which he founded [...]
Ronald Wong
Ronald Wong’s parents immigrated to Los Angeles in the 1930’s and made their living in the restaurant industry. He migrated to Michigan in 1971 after getting degrees in math, physics and business from universities in California. While working in the aerospace industry in his home [...]
Nurten Ural
Nurten Ural’s parents were deported from Crimea during World War II to German work camps. They moved to Turkey after the war and started their family, When the United States opened its arms to these refugees, they moved to Detroit to rejoin family who had [...]