Release: The Power of One Dedicated Woman Awards honor 7 Detroit-based community leaders, celebrate 10th year

DETROIT, August 19, 2024 – The nonprofit Michigan Community Resources, in partnership with Detroit-based activist Dotti Sharp, celebrates 10 years of honoring unsung leaders changing Detroit neighborhoods through The Power of One Dedicated Woman Awards.

This year, seven honorees will receive The Power of One Dedicated Woman Award. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by a review committee of past winners and other stakeholders. Honorees are evaluated based on the award criteria: they must be residents of Detroit, age 18+, and a cisgender or transgender woman or nonbinary person. Honorees must share their time, talent, and treasure to improve Detroit communities, and their efforts must be largely unsung or unrecognized by mainstream media, the public, and traditional award opportunities.

This year’s The Power of One Dedicated Woman Award honorees include:

• Brandi Haggins, Vice President of Opportunity Hubs at Life Remodeled and a volunteer for local organizations supporting youth and Black leadership
• Brinda Devine, developer of The Kornr Store mixed-use development in Detroit’s Northwest Goldberg neighborhood and supporter of women working in development in Detroit neighborhoods
• Carla Tademy Blakey, who works at the nonprofit Communities First, Inc, and practices through her own firm, K & C Consultants, PLLC; she volunteers with the Girl Scouts and other community-based causes
• Khyiana Tate, a Detroit-based Deaf advocate and author of the book Signing with Khy, published before her high school graduation
• Sharita Pierce, president of Mapleridge Community Association and Building D4 Community; after completing her contracting licensure at the Detroit Training Center, Sharita started her career in real estate, and uses her skills to revitalize her community in northeast Detroit
• Pastor Stephanie Jones, faith leader at Ark of Deliverance Revival Center, which supports seniors and young families and became an essential hub for community health during the pandemic
• Thomasenia Weston, a Southwest Detroit resident activist advocating for limiting local truck traffic to benefit community residents and improve quality of life

This year’s honorees join a cohort of 62 past winners who each continue to work tirelessly to improve Detroit neighborhoods.

10 Years of Honoring Women

In line with its mission, Michigan Community Resources has continued to cultivate connection-building and peer resource sharing among the growing cohort of past honorees. The cohort includes women and nonbinary individuals serving all corners of the city in different areas of service, including place-based community development, arts and culture, enrichment for youth and seniors, and more.

"Our relationships with the honorees open doors for new types of engagement and networking among present and future recipients of this award," said Heather Nugen, program director for Systems Transformation at Michigan Community Resources. "Honorees have a supportive, city-wide network they can tap to troubleshoot, innovate, and collaborate that just wouldn’t exist without the ten years of leadership and celebration this award has created."

Award recognition includes a token baton—symbolizing sharing leadership with others—along with a tablet, a cash honorarium, and additional in-kind organizational development services from MCR to support each honoree’s community-building efforts. Honorees will be celebrated by their communities at the upcoming awards ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 20, the first in-person awards event since before the pandemic.

“Since we partnered with Dotti 10 years ago, The Power of One Dedicated Woman has become a well-loved and well-respected recognition for women leading positive change in Detroit,” said Shamyle Dobbs, CEO of Michigan Community Resources. “We are so grateful to Dotti for leading this effort to recognize women for their unsung and unique contributions.”

Sharp was recognized recently with a Greatest Woman of All Time ("GWOAT") Award from Olympian boxer Claressa Shields during the lead-up to Shields's July 2024 fight at Little Caesars Arena. This was the first award of its kind, and Sharp received it alongside boxing hall of famer Jackie Kallen.

Sharp said, “I have been honored to partner with MCR in putting on The Power of One Dedicated Woman Awards for the past 10 years. The MCR team are part of my family.”

This year’s awards sponsors include Enterprise Community Partners, The Kresge Foundation, Rocket Community Fund, Co.act Detroit, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

About the Event

Members of the media are invited to attend the awards event tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 20 from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the North Rosedale Park Community House (18445 Scarsdale St, Detroit, MI 48223).

Tickets are available to the public on a sliding scale from $25 to $75 and include breakfast and participation in the awards ceremony.

Purchase tickets here: https://connect.mi-community.org/tickets-power-of-one-2024

About Michigan Community Resources

Michigan Community Resources supports nonprofit and grassroots organizations with capacity building services, tailored cohort experiences, and legal guidance. Using a lens of racial and social equity, we seek to build power within the nonprofit sector by shifting norms, practices, and attitudes, leading to systems transformation for our sector and our world. Learn more at www.mi-community.org.

Photo by Adam J. Dewey, courtesy of Salita Promotions

The Power of One Dedicated Woman Awards co-founder Dotti Sharp (left) poses on July 25 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit with her Greatest Woman of All Time ("GWOAT") Award alongside Olympic boxer Claressa Shields (center) and boxing hall of famer Jackie Kallen (right). Shields awarded Sharp and Kallen this first-ever recognition in advance of the WBC Heavyweight Championship at LCA on July 27. This year's seven The Power of One Dedicated Woman Award honorees were also recognized inside the ring in front of the crowd at LCA on July 27.