Tell us about living in Detroit. What neighborhood do you live in and what things make it unique.

I live in Southwest Detroit where I grew up as a kid. Southwest is full of immigrants, such as my family, and me and we come from all over the world. It’s one of neighborhoods that has stayed strong despite all of the downfall. I grew up here when it was completely occupied with people. I loved smelling the different food, hearing the different music featuring all types of international artist, and seeing the families all interconnect. I grew up with neighbors from Puerto Rico, China, Poland, Albania and Iraq. Then things got bad, but many of us couldn’t leave, and some of us didn’t want to leave. I was one of the many who wanted to stay and make an impact. I think that’s one unique thing about this community and so many others like us currently going through change and gentrification. It has devoted residents and community members and always has.

What have you learned from Challenge Detroit so far?

I’ve learned to listen more than I speak. That I’m able to lead by scaffolding a good program and recommendations and then step back for others to be able to participate. It’s about learning best practices and then practicing what you preach in order to truly make a genuine impact. It’s about allowing others to become leaders and making sustainable impact.

Tell us about your host company and your role in the organization.

My original host company was the Detroit Lions. I had a really fun time working for an NFL organization and their community relations team. For someone who only enjoys football for the beer and wings, I learned to appreciate the game, the players, and the staff making it all happen. It’s a very small team of highly passionate people for the jobs making it look like an easy show. It’s not. I was challenged at work more than I have ever been, but it was good to see how hard I could work to overcome obstacles. I was lucky enough to hear about a job at the Wayne County Executive’s office and applied knowing that it would be a guaranteed job after Challenge (the Lions was not) and one in a field that I have always been personally interested in, government. I got the job in February and started working for the County on my birthday (best birthday gift ever!) and have been happy working for a member of Wayne County’s cabinet as an executive assistant. Aside of administrative duties, I have the ability to help out on projects and I love learning from the executive and his team. There is so much work to do and again, it’s a small team doing all the work.

What kind of impact do you hope to have with your host company and within the city?

I hope to be able to work hard and learn all that I can. I hope to be able to contribute to Wayne County and its residents in someway. The connections I make and the network I have is also great when it comes to working on community projects I spearhead on my own.

How as being a Detroit native impacted your experience as a Challenge Detroit Fellow?

It has been really difficult. It’s kind of upsetting sometimes learning about all of the issues in Detroit and caring about gentrification more than others that we come across in our work, but it’s a part of the process. It’s also been exciting getting to learn about cool places that I have never heard about like Raven Lounge! It just makes me realize how much I still don’t know and reminds me why I love this city so much.

To learn even more about Gabriela’s experience in Detroit and as a Challenge Detroit fellow check out her spotlight video below.