RESEARCH LEAD, PRESIDENT OF PROXY LLC

Graig Donnelly is President of Proxy, an owner’s representative for mission-based organizations that want to improve their physical environments in order to uplift their people and their purpose. Graig was born and raised in 80's - 90's Detroit, where he watched and learned from neighbors and community leaders as they fought to better their communities on their own terms. Grounded in his education at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture & Community Development, Graig believes that we all deserve good design — his passion is to help Detroiters achieve the beautiful and inspiring spaces that they deserve to be in.

GRAPHIC DESIGN + NARRATIVE LEAD, FOUNDER OF CITYSHARES

India Solomon is founder of CityShares and owner of the creative studio, FluidSpaces. India grew up between Detroit’s westside and the near suburbs, experiencing early on the disparities in opportunity her people faced based on intentional planning decisions. She went on to study public policy, urban planning, and real estate finance in her Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from the University of Michigan, after which she worked in philanthropy to create new systems (like the CDO Fund) to expand operating support for community development organizations working on land-based projects. India is committed to a life of joy, liberation, and fulfillment, particularly for women of color, and she balances her role as a working visual + musical artist with the critical work of community development to model the free-spirited life that her advocacy seeks to make more accessible, and acceptable.

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN & ENGAGEMENT LEAD, FOUNDER OF CRANE + BOOM

Bucky, an architectural designer and the founder of Crane and Boom, has spent her entire life in Detroit's Seven Mile and Woodward area. Witnessing the stark contrast in architectural and socioeconomic landscapes between affluent neighborhoods to the west, pristine suburbs to the north, and the economically challenged community east of Woodward inspired her to become an architectural designer with a community engagement focus. The built environment continues to shape Bucky's understanding of Detroit as an intricate tapestry. This research serves as a reminder that the work so many CDOs and developers strive for is more than constructing buildings; it is about creating opportunities, dismantling barriers, and shaping the very environment where people can live, work, dream, and, hopefully…thrive.