The Millennial Vision for Metro Detroit serves as the guiding document for the Congress, highlighting the six issues most important to metro Detroit Millennials: economy, transportation, government, vibrant places, education and environment.
The Congress formed in June 2009 with 18 participating cities and is now comprised of 23 cities from Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties. Participating cities are represented by their mayor or another city official and a “Millennial” resident (age 18-35). Together, they work to develop solutions to economic, social and environmental issues of regional significance.
Meet the members of the Millennial Mayors Congress >>
The Congress works to identify and research issues of regional significance, and ultimately, create a set of recommendations for local policymakers:
The Millennial Mayors Congress is a regional initiative, drawing financial, organizational and moral support from countless individuals and organizations.
The Michigan Suburbs Alliance is the organizing body behind the Millennial Mayors Congress and is the primary contributor of financial, staff and administrative resources. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and People and Land (PAL), a program of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, have provided financial support to the Millennial Mayors Congress in the past. The support of the C.S. Mott Foundation and Ford Foundation, through general operations support to the Suburbs Alliance, have also been essential to this effort.
The Millennial Mayors Congress is grateful for the ongoing support of GLUE (Great Lakes Urban Exchange), Fusion, One D, Tourism Economic Development Council (TEDC), Leadership Next and Miller Canfield.
If you, your city or your organization are interested in becoming a partner of the Millennial Mayors Congress, contact Emily Thompson at 866.960.8803 x716 or emily@suburbsalliance.org, or check out our informational packet (PDF) to learn more.
Last week, the Census Bureau released new data on where people work—in contrast to where they live—offering a reminder that our regional connections aren’t limited to the fates of our Van Goghs.
Our staff spent a day at The Forge, a shared working/training space run by Pillar Technologies, a tech consulting firm that was nice enough to donate a day of staff training in Agile Project Management. We were hoping to learn how nonprofits can benefit from this relatively new technique.
In my last blog post we learned that Millennials are underrepresented in local government—and that the Millennial Mayors Congress selected the issue of Millennial (Under)Representation as its signature issue for 2013. How can the Congress actually affect what happens in the member cities’ appointment processes? With a protocol!