I also partnered with two friends who were also year four Fellows (Harsha Nahata and Mike Plotz), to work on a short film documentary highlighting first generation Asian American immigrants in the Metro Detroit area. It\u2019s an ongoing project\u00a0and one that we\u2019re really excited about. It\u2019s been a great opportunity for me to utilize my photography and videography background.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You recently started a new position at Detroit Experience Factory, 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.<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do you believe are Detroit\u2019s top three opportunities for change and why?<\/b><\/p>\n During my fellowship year, we had the opportunity to work with Detroit Public Schools (DPS). We saw first hand that there are a lot of good people working hard, but there\u2019s still a long way to go. A strong DPS is essential for our city to move forward.<\/span><\/p>\n Blight is still a major issue in many neighborhoods in Detroit. The city has been making an effort, but there\u2019s still a lot of work to be done. Hopefully, we can encourage people and investors to purchase and rehab homes that can still be saved, while removing those that are too far gone.<\/span><\/p>\n The final thing I will add is one that anyone who lives in Detroit is well aware of, and that\u2019s disproportionately high insurance rates. In watching Mayor Duggan\u2019s State of the City<\/a> remarks it seems he has a plan in place for both auto and home insurance. I\u2019m hoping that those plans come to fruition and make it easier for those who choose to live in the city to remain here.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What are a few of your favorite ways to play and explore in Detroit?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m a big fan of the Riverfront<\/a>, Belle Isle<\/a>, Dequindre Cut<\/a>, and Eastern Market<\/a> to name a few places. All of the places listed are great places to enjoy with friends and family, and for the most part, take in the outdoors. They\u2019re also very picturesque places, that I love to capture through my camera.<\/span><\/p>\n What excites you most about Detroit\u2019s future?<\/b><\/p>\n Having lived in the City all my life I still vividly remember much of Downtown Detroit looking rather barren. \u00a0Obviously fast forward today, and the Downtown core has had a tremendous turnaround\u00a0and isn\u2019t slowing down anytime soon. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing that momentum carry on as projects like The District<\/a>, Detroit Bikeshare<\/a> and Q-Line\/M1-Rail <\/a>are set to launch soon. My hopes are that the energy happening will spill over into certain neighborhoods that haven\u2019t yet experienced that same renaissance.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What advice would you give to individuals who are considering submitting an application to Challenge Detroit’s next cohort?<\/b><\/p>\n My advice is simply to do it. The fellowship is a great opportunity to grow and learn, regardless of age\/background\/professional experience. For me personally, my fellowship year gave me the opportunity to get to know my city better than I knew before, build a strong personal and professional network, as well as help me land a job doing what it was I wanted to do.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a year four Challenge Detroit Fellow, you finished your fellowship about six months ago. What are some of your highlights, personally and professionally from the past six months? I took some time at the conclusion of my fellowship to really figure out what it was I wanted to do next. I did not remain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/15138312_10153935277810894_836370434910868340_o-300x300.jpg\")
During that time I also continued work with my small business, 3andathird<\/a>, creating digital art and vinyl decals. In the last couple of years, photography and videography have become an increasingly larger part of what I do and I was also able to work with some people I highly respect in capturing the city for their respective projects.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/15171236_10153996963690496_7755772241341764750_n-300x225.jpg\")
I\u2019m now the Communications Manager at Detroit Experience Factory (DXF). I was extremely happy to land the position and have the opportunity to work with Jeanette Pierce and her team, to continue promoting Detroit and showcasing all of the great things happening in the city. The general knowledge of the city gained during my fellowship year, as well as the network I built, have been invaluable for me in my position.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DJI_0133-Pano-Edit-300x101.jpg\")
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