Bill Ford, Mayor Mike Duggan to Headline Detroit Startup Week

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Next week’s first Detroit Startup Week, with more than 100 events and 2,500 participants expected, will feature speakers including Bill Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, among others. Ford and Duggan will appear together on Monday morning at the Masonic Temple.

“More than a century ago, Ford Motor Co. was a startup business that applied innovative thinking and collaboration to get where it is today,” Ford says. “We are proud to support the next generation of entrepreneurs at Detroit Startup Week who embody that same spirit.”

Other speakers include Jennifer Piepszak, CEO of Chase Business; Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, co-founders of theSkimm, a daily email newsletter; Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership and co-founder of Denver Startup Week; Jason Mendelson, co-founder of Foundry Group, a venture capital firm; Pamela Lewis, director of the New Economy Initiative; Eugene Richards and Patricia Lay-Dorsey, the artists behind Facing Change: Documenting Detroit, a community-based photojournalism initiative; Devita Davison, co-director of FoodLab; April Boyle, director of the Build Institute; Garlin Gilchrist II, deputy technology director for civic community engagement for the City of Detroit: and Jon Rimanelli, CEO of Detroit Aircraft.

“Our city is unlike any other, with both ingenuity and a welcoming spirit, brilliance and grit, and opportunities abound,” says Kyle Bazzy, lead organizer of the event. “Detroit Startup Week is designed to glue together those opportunities, celebrate what’s already working, and lay the groundwork for what’s to come.”

The week of events, which runs from May 23-27, will include panels, networking opportunities, happy hours, and free headshots for entrepreneurs. Events will take place throughout the city including venues such as the Masonic Temple, Grand Circus, Techtown, and Bamboo Detroit. For more information, click here.​