Advancing Macomb hosted its second annual Community Engagement Summit on September 27, 2024 at the Welsh Activity Center at Lake St. Clair Metropark. The event brought together business, community and civic leaders from across Macomb County and metro Detroit for an afternoon of networking, collaboration and learning centered on best practices for community engagement.

Jeanette Pierce, founder and president of the City Institute in Detroit, kicked off the event with an inspiring keynote address. She emphasized the significance of community storytelling and urged the audience to uncover their own narrative by identifying individuals, locations or initiatives in their community that contribute to their city’s uniqueness. She also encouraged the audience to recognize and challenge people’s assumptions about their city.

Following the keynote, attendees heard a panel discussion featuring experts in community engagement. The panelists included Nicole Brown, director of strategic partnerships at Detroit Future City, Stephanie Harbin, president of San Juan Street Block Club and Jeanette Pierce, founder and president of the City Institute. Jeremiah Staes, co-founder and host of Daily Detroit, moderated the discussion, focusing on successful community engagement strategies and lessons learned.

During her remarks, Harbin emphasized the importance of going door-to-door and having front-porch conversations with the community in order to build trust. She also discussed hosting town halls to give the community a voice and inviting local leadership to speak. By implementing these strategies, Harbin helped revitalize her neighborhood, giving residents a sense of pride and ownership. Volunteers soon began pitching in to clean up alleys and vacant lots, resulting in a shared community space for neighborhood events.

Brown highlighted the importance of building a team that represents the community and hiring local people for the work. She suggested inviting residents to outdoor brainstorming sessions and making it clear that their ideas are valued.

The event ended with small group discussions using a card deck from Reimagining the Civic Commons, a national initiative that fosters engagement, equity, environmental sustainability and economic development in our cities. During the discussions, participants gained practical tools to improve civic engagement in their communities and organizations. Key takeaways from the activity included:

• Go where the people are—you reach a more diverse group of people by going where people congregate, whether it’s a front porch, recreation area or coffee shop.
• Amplify the silent or quiet voices—bring underrepresented supporters into the conversation and help amplify their message.
• Tensions can reveal a better solution—disagreement can sometimes reveal new and better approaches to the work.
• Make the process transparent and honest—set clear expectations and explain what is achievable and what is not within a project.
• Co-create a plan and process—shift the typical power dynamics and assemble a team with diverse backgrounds who prioritize collaboration.

“We hope this event inspired attendees to return to their organizations and communities with ideas and strategies for creating positive change,” said Phil Gilchrist, executive director of Advancing Macomb. “We are grateful for the participation of our speakers and the support of our board members and sponsors who made this event possible.”

Event sponsors included City Institute, First State Bank, Consumers Energy, Macomb Community College and BridgeBuilding Strategies.

See more Summit photos HERE.

For more information about Advancing Macomb and future events, visit advancingmacomb.com.