Detroit leaders are dynamic and dedicated.
But when working in the nonprofit and community development sectors, there is a tendency to equate the leaders of community-based organizations with the work they do.
In the public eye, their identities as leaders can sometimes overpower their identities as individuals. We see them as their roles—not as complex, multi-faceted human beings with their own desires, experiences, traumas, and hopes for their community.
This isn't the first time MCR has considered this topic. In our 2022 Rest and Liberation Initiative Report, we shared our findings on the prevalence of burnout, which affects many nonprofit leaders as a result of their all-in nature.
In both our strategy and our values, MCR believes that recognizing leaders as human helps us to create holistic infrastructure that makes their work sustainable, impactful, and easier.
When asked about their experiences, some nonprofit leaders affirmed that that they perceive the needs of their communities and organizations as paramount, above and beyond their own needs as leaders and as individuals. We have learned that building robust support for these leaders requires walking alongside them to understand the needs of their organizations and communities.
MCR connected with several Detroit-based nonprofit leaders to hear about their experiences, and what they wish intermediaries, foundations, and other resource brokers knew to better support them in the work they lead.
The backdrop to the work of many of MCR's client organizations is the geography and history of the city of Detroit, as well as the broader metro region. These organizations respond to a variety of acute issues in their communities, many of which stem from the larger context of the city as a whole.
"Detroit nonprofit leaders encounter unique challenges compared to their peers in other regions, largely due to the city's rich yet complex history, high poverty rates, racial disparities, and the prevalence of under-resourced neighborhoods," said Pastor Robert Olive, founder and executive director of Righteous Sons.
Pictured: Pastor Robert (center) distributes donations at a Thanksgiving food giveaway.
Delving into the roots of Detroit's history to better understand the present context is an integral part of any initiative intending to create meaningful change. Despite historic challenges, many of the leaders we spoke with pointed to the ups and downs of Detroit's history as a source of inspiration. The city's civil rights legacy coupled with its lack of reliable public infrastructure have yielded a tradition of community engagement.
Yarnell Ball, executive director of Read Art Loud, discussed this element of the city's culture.
"What drives the leaders of Detroit nonprofits is the city’s rich history of resilience, innovation, and community strength, combined with the wide-open opportunities to make a real difference," Ball said.
"Detroit has always been a place of transformation, and nonprofit leaders are fueled by a deep passion for continuing that legacy through education, the arts, social justice, and community development," she said. "The challenges in our communities aren’t just obstacles. They are calls to action, inspiring leaders to step up, create solutions, and build a brighter future for the city we love."
Detroit's openness to continuous transformation and reinvention is part of that energy which drives many leaders. Katrina Watkins, executive director at Bailey Park Neighborhood Development Corporation serving the McDougall-Hunt community on Detroit's eastside, highlighted how her neighborhood and its leaders are motivated by their past and the possibilities they see for the future.
"Neighborhoods like McDougall-Hunt have a long history of community organization and resilience," Watkins said. "Witnessing tangible change—revitalized spaces, empowered youth, and economic opportunities—fuels their dedication."
But because many of the needs in the city are deeply rooted and interconnected, leaders are required to develop eclectic skillsets in order to respond effectively to community needs.
Nonprofit leaders respond to challenges the best they can, but as individuals, they are not always immediately equipped to respond to the evolving requirements of maintaining an organization. The roles leaders adopt in pursuit of their missions can sometimes take them far from simply implementing responsive programming.
"It's not just a handful of steps [toward launching a program]," said Rashard Dobbins, executive director of Class Act Detroit. "Instead, you're expected to be the bartender, and the valet, and the person who shovels the snow, and the owner of the building."
Located in Southwest Detroit, Class Act provides media and arts programming for young adults that centers around hip-hop, but covers an array of skills from podcasting and DJing to illustration and game design.
"Everyone is a polymath. For every new project, you have to add another hyphen to your title," Dobbins said. "We take pride in it, but ultimately burnout comes with it. Everyone is doing 40 jobs when they should be doing four."
Pictured: Class Act Detroit director Rashard Dobbins at the street naming ceremony commemorating the Detroit producer and rapper J Dilla.
The constantly shifting expectations put upon leaders can mean that despite their flexibility and commitment, they don't always have the capacity or expertise required to respond to each issue as it arises. These gaps can be a major challenge when current events create emergencies that require an immediate response, like the COVID-19 pandemic, or more recently, the flooding caused by a water main break in Detroit's Springwells neighborhood.
"As organizational leaders, we are looked at as experts or like we always have the answers, but with the constant changes, we don't always have the information we need to help," said Maria Salinas, executive director of Congress of Communities. Her organization serves Southwest Detroit and reflects the city's multicultural and multilingual identity.
The political climate and policy changes at the national level require Salinas and her organization to respond to situations that have emerged quickly.
"With all of this going on, it is hard for leaders to stay well and healthy," she said. "For example, just this week alone I put in over 70 hours of work putting out fires caused by announcements coming out of the White House."
Whether or not any organization possesses in-house the skills and knowledge necessary to complete their mission is often directly tied to a more discreet and ongoing issue: sustained operational funding.
A problem MCR has discussed in a previous blog post, ongoing and sustainable funding remains out of reach for many organizations.
"Accessible funding and resources remain limited, making sustainability a constant struggle," said Jackie Dunlap, executive director at Teachers Supporting Teachers Everywhere, which focuses on the wellness and work-life balance of educators. "The weight of community needs, financial constraints, and systemic barriers adds to the difficulty of the work," Dunlap said.
Additionally, the few operational funding sources that are available are often extremely competitive, and the scarcity means many organizations are pitted against one another in situations where partnering might yield deeper impact. Generally, funding opportunities often take the form of project-specific grants, which provide discrete and time-bound resources that often do not make it possible to fill a gap with permanent staff members, training, or internal infrastructure which would contribute to organizational sustainability.
And though support from philanthropy powers a lot of nonprofit work, whatever inadequacies it presents would be less challenging if other opportunities were available. Maria Salinas insists that philanthropic assistance comes as only as one piece of a broader but incomplete puzzle. According to Maria, many municipal and federal sources of funding still fail to provide adequate support for initiatives across the city.
"Philanthropy has taken on a lot of financial responsibility for programs and nonprofits where typically city, state, and/or federal funds would support," Maria said. "But because of past mismanagement and corruption in the city government that has hurt our city and its residents, distrust, and removal of funding, Detroit doesn't have the same governmental support as other cities."
"In my opinion and in my dream world, accountants, marketing and tech professionals, and grant writers would be freely available to nonprofit leaders at no cost, allowing them to focus more on their impact," Ball said.
Ball also shared a model for what helped her organization get off the ground—an opportunity in which Michigan Community Resources plays a direct role.
"I was fortunate to receive the Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit Plus grant as a fairly young nonprofit, and the resources and guidance provided were invaluable. More initiatives like this, offering not just funding but hands-on guidance, can make a huge difference in helping nonprofits thrive and better serve their communities."
Pictured: Yarnell Ball attends an MCR networking event in 2024.
Michigan Community Resources has supported the Kresge Foundation's KIP:D+ program with technical assistance and programmatic guidance since 2018. In each subsequent round of grants, MCR has helped shape the program to include wider and deeper support—for example, through denied application consultations, and broadening the service area to include Hamtramck and Highland Park.
In addition, MCR connects nonprofit organizations and grassroots initiatives to specialized professional support. One of the organization's core program offerings since its inception has been its Pro Bono Legal Programs for Nonprofits, which allow organizations to access transactional legal support that would otherwise be inaccessible financially to many nonprofits. Additionally, MCR has built relationships beyond the nonprofit sector to equip organizations with access to an array of service providers, consultants, and other skilled professionals through our Dovetail partnership. Leveraging these kinds of resources allow organizations to focus on their missions.
In addition to providing and referring direct services, intermediaries like MCR also help amplify information about available foundation resources and opportunities to their nonprofit constituents. Jackie Dunlap points out how accessing information about available resources can be challenging.
"Many nonprofits learn about support networks only through specific programs," Jackie said. "Expanding the visibility and accessibility of these opportunities would empower more leaders to succeed. Additionally, direct engagement with grassroots nonprofit leaders—through town halls, advisory boards, and listening sessions—can help funders and policymakers gain a deeper understanding of their needs."
Dunlap is one of many leaders who believe that more engagement and better relationships between funders and organizations would foster a healthier ecosystem. Rashard Dobbins recommends philanthropic and municipal bodies explore methodologies such as the Seven Approaches Model for capacity building, which creates a framework for partnering with and empowering nonprofits as a way to support communities.
Part of that framework includes addressing underlying patterns rooted in culture, something that requires understanding communities served by nonprofits. Maria Salinas suggests that visibility and showing up in person is one component of that understanding. She said that city officials especially need to embrace their nonprofit allies, and showcase those relationships to help residents trust that officials understand community needs. Salinas implores funders and policymakers to really get to know the organizations they are supporting and relying on to provide essential services.
"Detroit intermediaries, foundations, and government officials can better understand and support the experiences of Detroit nonprofit leaders by partnering with them in efforts on the ground," Salinas said. "That means that they need to do site visits to understand the communities they serve and residents' and nonprofits' everyday challenges. They should show consistent visibility in our neighborhoods standing alongside nonprofit leaders so they can show solidarity in their goals and lend power to the nonprofit leaders."
"Spend a day with us, do one-on-ones with leaders, get face to face," Salinas said. "Nonprofit leaders need time face to face with these officials to know what decision makers are thinking. In doing so, they can be better aligned. And those decision makers need to understand what is actually happening on the ground."
Thank you to all the leaders that shared their experiences for this article. Your work is invaluable.
Share your feedback! Send an email any time to our content creator Andrew Smith at asmith@mi-community.org to let us know what you think about this and other MCR stories.