In an effort to support Detroit’s next generation of entrepreneurs, the University of Michigan Ross School of Business has partnered with Detroit’s Brightmoor community to host a Maker Faire at Detroit’s Eastern Market on Aug. 27.
“Our MBA students will be working side-by-side with Detroit high school students for a week to develop a long-term, sustainable vision for an extraordinary set of youth initiatives in the Brightmoor community,” says Brian Flanagan, managing director of the Sanger Leadership Center at the Ross School of Business. “They’ll create a variety of innovative products and plans, youth activities, demos, and exhibitions.”
The students will work with Ross business students to create and launch several products and pitch them to representatives from General Motors and Deloitte. The Detroit Youth Maker Faire, which is free and open to the public, will include food, music, and school supply giveaways.
“The Detroit Youth Maker Faire will be a fun, energizing, community event for Detroit families and professionals,” Flanagan says. “It will feature and celebrate the ingenuity of the city’s youth, and all proceeds will benefit a set of community initiatives that are truly transforming lives. As a bonus, it will feature great local music and cuisine.”
Proceeds from the event will go to the creation of the Brightmoor Maker Space, a 3,200 square foot building on the Detroit Community Schools campus, that will offer youth and adults a space to create. The facility will also offer workshops in wood, prototyping, and video, along with residency programs for artists and designers.
The U-M Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. launched a crowdfunding campaign in June to support the project and raised nearly $32,000 for the project.
For more information about the event, click here.
