“New York is humbling. You can’t come here trying to control or change the city, the city changes you.”

From Toronto to Philadelphia to Baltimore, I spent the last week on a family road trip throughout the East coast. Being away from Detroit and seeing these a variety of other cities gave me space to reflect on my experience this past year.

When it comes to Detroit, I often hear the tone focus on how much opportunity there is to create what you want to see in the city, to “make an impact.” The last week was a humbling reminder that cities are entities of their own. I’m one of thousands of people, businesses, years of history that shape a place. When these come together they create something more than just the sum of each individual piece – they create a unique rhythm and energy that can’t be controlled or molded so easily.

In other places I see an acknowledgment of this in a way that doesn’t always exist when the conversation turns to Detroit. Detroit’s not a blank slate, and no one individual or group should craft the trajectory of the place.

But even more so, when that trajectory is being molded – when there are conversations on the future of a city – it’s important to ask who that impact is for, who it is by, and with what intention.

As someone who has done a series of short fellowship programs since graduating, I’ve been in spaces where I’ve been lucky to have incredible access to decision makers. And yet, from Flint to Jakarta to Detroit, I’ve seen a recurring theme: while my college degree and acceptance to these programs gives me the opportunity to speak to key stakeholders and influencers, the individuals living the experiences that these policies affect don’t have the same access to the decision making table.

A quote from a panelist at the 2016 Detroit Policy Conference still echoes in my mind:  “anything done for us, without us, is not for us.”

In the past six months through Challenge Detroit I have had the opportunity to work with the Mayor’s office, Detroit Public Schools, the Coalition on Temporary Shelter and now the Downtown Detroit Partnership. I would be lying if I said I haven’t reaped the benefits of this vast network.

But as we are providing research and feedback,  I’m constantly reminded that I’m not a parent in DPS, and I can’t completely represent the perspective of one. I’m not a neighborhood small business owner in the city of Detroit, and while I can try to serve as an honest bridge between those parties, there are very real limitations as to how much I can convey. While the research I’ve gathered can be informative, it isn’t the same as having a direct interaction with the individuals who are living the experience. Having me as a fellow shouldn’t replace direct access to decision makers for the communities impacted.

Expertise on a subject matter can come from a variety of places. As Lauren Hood said at the Detroit Policy Conference, people can have a PhD in place, in their neighborhood, in the community they grew up in. And when the decisions at play directly affect their lives, this expertise is often more relevant than what an academic degree or other professional development program can offer, and should be valued in the same way.