{"id":18247,"date":"2016-09-30T18:33:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T18:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?post_type=blogpost&p=18247"},"modified":"2016-09-30T18:33:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T18:33:28","slug":"year-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/year-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Year Five"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Our first Challenge Blog will be introduced in three parts. To read more on Challenge Detroit, visit our website<\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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As I started to write this blog, I had the chance to sit down with Challenge Detroit Program Director Shelley Danner. We spoke about Challenge Detroit\u2019s five-year milestone mark this year, and I asked Shelley if she had noticed any changes in the kinds of individuals Challenge Detroit has accepted since its first year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking for individuals that embody all of the core values of Challenge Detroit – those that has the drive, the courage, the ability, that service to the community, has that humility. We attract really talented individuals who have already accomplished a lot and want to accomplish more. <\/span>There hasn\u2019t really been a huge change in that.\u201c<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I realized that I was a part of the simplicity of a successful design – one that motivates and invigorates its target audience, offering a piece of authentic sense of mission. That is: if you build it, they will come. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Walking into New Center\u2019s 440 Burroughs, commonly known as <\/span>Tech Town<\/span><\/i>, on any given Friday morning this year, you might notice a little chalk sign sitting next to the Front Desk. Updated daily, the sign greets its customers with a mantra of the day – a daily dose of coffee shop inspiration. Today, I walk in and the sign reads, \u201c<\/span>Harbor hope. Be motivated… live inspired<\/span><\/i>\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just finished my own Friday commute – I walk in and mount my bike on a rack near the door as I begin to hear the buzz of morning conversation. Two fellow Fellows walk past – one works at Rock Ventures, the other, Sachse Construction. Then comes another group, this time three – a GM engineer, a Slow Roll project coordinator, and a Marketing Associates associate. \u00a0Then yet another two fellows from Ecoworks and Clark Hill. More young 20-30 somethings, all early career professionals, continue to flock in for the morning reverie – coffee, and, if lucky, they come with baked goods from local favorite Avalon Bakery in-hand to share. We quietly chat in different corners of the large open space that is JUNCTION 440 – Tech Town\u2019s collaborative first floor workspace. Slowly, the room grows, expands. The clock hits 9AM. Silence slices through this morning\u2019s steadily rising swell as the mood shifts and focus sets. We begin our Challenge Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Junction 440, a Collaborative Detroit Workspace<\/p><\/div>\n

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Recently, I posed a simple question to my fellow Fellows – \u201c<\/span>Why Choose Challenge Detroit\u201d?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat other job provides you an opportunity to engage with multiple nonprofits in \u00a0meaningful ways to create a lasting impact on Detroit?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are larger conversations of urbanism, design, and Detroit that I\u2019d like to be a part of… Challenge [Detroit] provides an incredible networking opportunity that can open doors to have those dialogues. I think it\u2019s valuable to be able to speak both of those languages (that of the design world and of community members) and this is an avenue to do that.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Challenge Detroit\u2019s fifth year represents a right of passage for nonprofits. A mark of legitimacy and a sense of permanence bolstered by the ever-growing entrepreneurial space in Detroit\u2019s burgeoning marketplace. Challenge Detroit\u2019s uniqueness lies not just in its survival – but each year’s\u2019 intensified momentum and the rapidly expanding alumni network accompanying it.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Incremental impact, learning by doing, giving, leading, learning, testing, empathy, sacrifice, service\u201d <\/span><\/i>are all values that connect Alumni Fellows throughout the Metro Detroit area as they have left the program and moved on to future endeavors, points out Executive Director Deirdre Greene Groves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unprompted, she also points out the sheer variety, noting that, \u201cIt\u2019s awesome to have an architect and an urban planner and a doctor and an engineer at the table together […] learning about what\u2019s happening in our community and contributing to making that better\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n