Detroit News | Dec 15, 2020 | News | 12
DETROIT The city is aiming to raise $50 million over five years to help fund a series of programs for thousands of Detroiters who’ve felt “left behind or left out.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan put out a call just over a week ago to more than 100 corporate and philanthropic partners for what his administration has dubbed the People Plan. It encompasses six programs, including help for adults seeking to obtain high school diplomas, skilled trades training and door-to-door support programs.
Each has been put into action in varying degrees over the past year, but dedicated funding will help Detroit keep them going and scale them up, said Nicole Sherard-Freeman, executive director of the city’s workforce development and job training.
Detroit Tonya Allen, who has served as the Skillman Foundation’s president and CEO since 2014 and offered a critical voice in pushing for better education opportunities for children, announced Monday she is stepping down to lead the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis.
The Detroit native said she never saw herself leaving the city, but when you are called, you must act, she told The Detroit News. She plans to step down in February.
The Skillman Foundation, a Detroit-based philanthropic organization whose primary mission is improving the lives of children, has played a critical role in Detroit and beyond, with a focus on quality education opportunities for youths, strong afterschool systems with enriching experiences and establishing career pathways.
Skillman Foundation CEO Tonya Allen leaving Detroit to lead Minneapolis foundation
Tonya Allen has spent 14 years at the Skillman Foundation, seven of them as CEO.
Skillman Foundation CEO Tonya Allen, a longtime advocate for Detroit s children and neighborhoods, plans to leave the foundation in February to become the new CEO of the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis.
In an interview with Crain s, Allen said she is taking the job because of a renewed focus at the McKnight Foundation on creating racial equity in a city that s been rocked by the shocking death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer that sparked a national movement for racial justice and police reform.