Paulette Bolofer-Fulkerson
Project Design & Partnerships Director

Paulette Bolofer-Fulkerson was born in Bohol, Philippines, and immigrated to Detroit at the age of eight. She is deeply passionate about community—especially Detroit, her adopted hometown. Her commitment to supporting communities is rooted in her own upbringing in a diverse neighborhood in the Evergreen–Outer Drive community (West Side!) and strengthened through her work with nonprofits focused on literacy and college access for first-generation college students in Detroit.

Paulette graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, specializing in Exercise Physiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Apparel & Textile Design, with a focus on Functional Design. These disciplines reflect her desire to marry form and function—designing with thoughtful intent and improving people’s lives through human-centered design. Her academic work included designing and constructing adaptive apparel for an eight-year-old with a degenerative connective tissue disorder; developing performance and sustainable footwear concepts informed by biomechanical analysis and footwear lifecycle research, including a running shoe for overpronators; and creating a cardiac rehabilitation patient motivation and program satisfaction survey during her internship at Detroit Medical Center. Before ultimately returning to Detroit, Paulette spent time living and working in Kentucky, New York, and Southern California. Upon her return, a volunteer experience supporting struggling readers in Detroit became a pivotal moment that shifted her career trajectory. Since 2011, she has worked alongside and in service of K–12 and post-secondary students from Detroit and surrounding communities in a variety of roles.

Paulette’s diverse interests and professional experiences have given her both a broad perspective and a deep respect for the nonprofit sector. Her time as a Fellow in Challenge Detroit’s fifth cohort reawakened her love of design and reinforced her commitment to advocating for youth, families, and communities. She joined the Challenge Detroit leadership team in September 2018, focusing on recruitment, the Fellow experience, and community engagement. In July 2025, she stepped into her current role as Project Design & Partnerships Director, where she leads collaborative projects with local nonprofit partners.

Outside of work, Paulette enjoys spending time with her husband and their pandemic baby, as well as with her immediate and extended family and friends. She loves playing sports—especially competitive volleyball—being outdoors (winter hikes have become a favorite), engaging youth in physical activity, and introducing people to Detroit. Paulette is also deeply interested in mental health, particularly normalizing conversations around it and expanding access in communities where stigma persists (with gratitude to her college advisor, Kevin Nadal, for introducing her to Filipino American Psychology).