Zane Birenbaum, a native of Brooklyn, New York is a 2019-2020 Fellow. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor’s in Architecture and is our Fellow at SmithGroup.

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

I am an entry level architect at SmithGroup, an international architecture and engineering firm that has had their flagship office in Detroit for 165 years. This office specializes in Healthcare, Workplace Transformation, Higher Education, Science & Technology, and Urban Design. I have primarily been working on some workplace transformation projects for General Motors.

I have also been fortunate to be involved with SmithGroup’s long standing Exploring Post program which teaches high school students the fundamentals of architecture and engineering with the hope of creating and enhancing interest in these professions as these students consider higher education.

Checking out the Lear Innovation Center with future difference-makers of Detroit. From left to right: Fellows Chad Slider, Maleeha Ayub, Zane Birenbaum, Jillian Hurst

Tell us about the challenge project you’re currently working on; what are you learning from the experience?

We are currently partnering with Michigan Community Resources to focus on helping smaller, neighborhood nonprofits address new issues that are a result of the pandemic. My team and I are currently working with Oakland Avenue Urban Farms (OAUF) to help them prepare for the upcoming months as COVID-19 changes how cities operate—including how people grow and buy food. We have learned a lot about how local growers and urban farms will be experiencing increased demand as larger growers, who rely on immigrant populations to tend to produce, will become less reliable. We are recommending ways to bolster OAUF’s online presence to help them continue to supply communities with food despite the limitations that social distancing has placed on in-person farmers markets.

How do you hope to impact the community this year?

I want to listen to as many perspectives as possible, including those of people in Detroit who are already doing excellent work within their communities. By working with our non-profit partners on projects that are driven by community input I hope I can help re-energize current leaders of Detroit with my own energy and commitment. I want to show people that I am part of a generation of future leaders who care and are ready to make an impact.

Please share the most memorable moment you have experienced so far as a Fellow. Why was it memorable and how has it impacted you?

Sharing about our team’s work at the presentation for challenge project #1 with DPSCD.

Our first challenge project of the year was with DPSCD, and our presentation for that project was an incredibly memorable moment because of how much pride I took in what our cohort had put together. We presented on a student leadership conference we developed the framework for in tandem with DPSCD students, faculty, and administration. It was the first presentation I had been a part of in a long time for a project that could have a real impact – and the reception and appreciation by Sharlonda, Jennifer, Angel, and the rest of the DPSCD team felt wonderful. I even blanked at first during my portion of the presentation – but I took it in stride because I was in a room that had a lot of love and a lot of support in it.

If someone reading your interview is considering in applying to be a Fellow, why would you encourage them to apply?

Challenge Detroit is an incredible opportunity to surround yourself with a cohort of future leaders of Detroit. I am 100% certain when I look around the room on Challenge Fridays that the leadership has put us in rooms with current leaders within the city and that the other fellows around me are going to be that next generation of difference-makers.