Fall/Winter 2026 Message from the President & CEO
As the weather cools and many families throughout southeast Michigan settle into the hustle and bustle of the school year, we invite you to reflect on a set of sobering statistics and ideas for how we might respond to them, together, to create a brighter future for our young people.
At the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, our vision is of a region where everyone thrives. Yet, the results of a 2026 poll, which surveyed 600 registered Michigan voters across the political spectrum, demonstrate that we’re far from achieving this vision.
The results should be a wake-up call for all of us.
The Detroit Regional Chamber-commissioned poll found that while voters ranked Michigan as average, government data ranked our state as 49th of the 50 in population growth, 40th in per capita income, 44th in fourth-grade reading, and 45th in unemployment. An analysis of these findings identified education as a key sector Michigan must fortify to become competitive, as the global economy shifts from manufacturing to innovation, buffeted by the headwinds of artificial intelligence.
The big question is: How can we work together more intentionally to address this challenge? It’s a question we think about a lot at the Community Foundation.
We believe that realizing our vision of a thriving region requires investing in our focus area of Youth and Education, which prioritizes literacy, youth development and lifelong learning.
Last year, the Community Foundation made 28 awards totaling $1,489,576 to youth and education-serving nonprofits in southeast Michigan through our Community Impact Grantmaking program. The Community Foundation also manages several other youth and education-focused opportunities, including its Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), Project Play: Southeast Michigan, Positive Emotional Development and Learning Skills (PEDALS) and a robust scholarship program.
In our Fall/Winter 2026 report, you’ll read how these types of investments are making a difference — including a new PEDALS workshop series helping parents support their children’s emotional growth, a $50,000 grant connecting young people with career pathways and a scholarship program that has awarded more than $7 million to support students in our region. These bright spots show us that positive change is possible when we all pitch in.
The statistics might be sobering, but they can inspire us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. If we want to attract and keep talent — and achieve a high standard of living in our state — we must invest in literacy, youth development and lifelong learning today, to create those outcomes tomorrow.
You can get involved by making a gift to our Youth and Education fund, which supports one of our five focus areas. Supporting this work will ensure that your philanthropic legacy lives here, in southeast Michigan, for years to come.
Every child returning to school this fall has the potential to one day enter our workforce as an adult. Let’s do all we can to set them — and southeast Michigan — up for success.
This message originally appeared in our Fall/Winter 2026 REPORT Newsletter