When I first started working at Ford through the Challenge Detroit Fellowship I was pretty nervous about the fact that I knew nothing about cars.  Then, in my first few days on the job, I quickly learned that I was going to be working with much more than just cars, but I would be working in the world of “mobility”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learned that mobility is the way people move from place to place, and mobility is one of the first steps to having access to opportunity.  As a community organizer, I began to learn about the concept of “mobility justice” and began to make the connections that mobility justice is directly connected to all other social justice issues.  Having equitable access to transportation is one of the steps to creating equitable access to economic, educational, health, and other opportunities.

 

So how does this relate to Detroit?

 

Through my position as Community Engagement and Creative Lead at Ford Mobility, I began hosting the “Mobili-D Community Happy Hour and Speaker Series” to explore this question.  My mission with “Mobili-D” was to highlight all of the diverse mobility work already happening in the city to provide context for community discussions of how can we improve mobility in Detroit and leverage some of the great initiatives we already have.  I was able to connect with and bring in a diverse set of speakers from MoGo, Detroit Greenways Coalition, Detroit People’s Platform, The Aadizookaan, LIVE6, Sit On It Detroit, and more to represent all the unique ways we can think about mobility.

 

As the Mobili-D Community Happy Hour and Speaker Series grows my hope is to strengthen our wealth of community knowledge to have informed discussions about how we want to improve mobility in Detroit and design new solutions together.

If you would like to attend Mobili-D it is free and open to all ages!  Mobili-D is every third Thursday from 5:30-7:30pm at PizzaPlex, 4458 Vernor Hwy, Detroit, MI 48209.