{"id":18489,"date":"2016-12-01T20:46:49","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T20:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?post_type=blogpost&p=18489"},"modified":"2016-12-01T20:46:49","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T20:46:49","slug":"alumni-spotlight-brandi-keeler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/alumni-spotlight-brandi-keeler\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Brandi Keeler"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a year two Challenge Detroit Fellow a lot has likely happened since then, what are your highlights both personally and professionally over the past three years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"dsc_8948\"Goodness! So much has changed since the end of my Challenge Detroit year and yet so much is the same. All in all, I\u2019ve still been working on my mission to empower individuals and communities to address challenges related to growth, attitude, perception, and humanitarianism. Only, instead of doing this during Friday challenges, I\u2019ve been designing and facilitating innovative approaches to personal and community growth through my business, ExpandFully (Exp\u00e5nd)<\/a>. I also started Toast2U<\/a> a monthly encouragement and accountability party, where women gather to practice intentional celebration in a fun, supportive and safe environment. The first Toast, hosted in summer 2015 was mostly CD fellows and has grown to a community event. Most recently (as of September) I joined my alma mater<\/a>, College for Creative Studies (CCS), as an admissions counselor (who knew my dream job was right under my nose!?) I’ve also joined two boards: I\u2019m a VP for the Alumni of Challenge Detroit group and I\u2019m also a facilitator and board member for the SheHive<\/a> a startup in Ferndale.<\/p>\n

You recently started a new position at your alma mater, College for Creative Studies, tell us about your position, what your experience has been like and how you continue to carry what you learned during your fellowship in your work today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your purpose is a combination of 4 things: What you are good at, what you can get paid to do, what you love doing and what you feel the world needs. And that\u2019s exactly what I wake up and do as an admissions counselor! As an admissions counselor at CCS<\/a>, I live in my purpose daily; doing passionate, fun, necessary, financially-gratifying work; while using my specific skills to impact the future of hundreds of high schools students.<\/p>\n

There is a ton of carry over from my experience as a Challenge Detroit fellow in this position. Similar to being a fellow, I have to be an advocate and ambassador for the city; oftentimes working to shift students\u2019 and parents\u2019 perspective about Detroit and what it has to offer. One huge similarity is that I work in a position that has a very similar goal to Challenge Detroit; I\u2019m working to attract and retain young creative talent to the city! What I\u2019ve learned about the city\u2019s past, present and future during the fellowship has equipped me with an abundance of reasons to encourage students to live, work, play, give, lead and LEARN<\/a> in Detroit!<\/p>\n

What do you believe are Detroit\u2019s top three opportunities for change and why?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n