Message from the President & CEO, May 2026
Interest in regional collaboration is on the rise across southeast Michigan. Even as local communities navigate shifting federal funding, the impacts of geopolitical tensions and conflicts, and the economic impact and opportunities of artificial intelligence, regionalism is gaining traction. Collaboration with public and private partners like you helps to ensure our region is a place where everyone can thrive.
This report will highlight cases in point, including our recent announcement that the Detroit Regional Workforce Partnership (DRWP), founded in 2023 as an initiative of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, has been integrated into the Detroit Regional Partnership. The consolidation positions DRWP to have an even greater impact on advancing economic opportunities throughout the region. DRWP is one of more than 80 initiatives that the Community Foundation has incubated over the past four decades, moving projects from the infancy stage to development, strategy and execution.
We’re also pleased to be in partnership with the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation on its Rural Philanthropy Fellows program, a $2.9 million investment by Wilson spanning Michigan and western New York. Our participation ensures more than $2.5 million in direct resources for Livingston County, through our affiliate, as well as the rural corridors of northern Macomb and northern Oakland counties. Historically, these areas have lacked philanthropic infrastructure; this initiative will help us build up local leadership that will, over time, change that dynamic.
You’ll read how Trustee Stacy Ziarko is contemplating regional collaboration on behalf of the Community Foundation and in her role as president and CEO of Connect Macomb. In a Q&A in this report, she shares her belief that working together across differences is crucial: “Across the rural, suburban and urban communities of Macomb County, several common barriers to thriving consistently emerge. … Addressing these barriers requires collaborative leadership and sustained investment.”
During 2025, the Community Foundation focused on strengthening two core dimensions of our work — data-gathering, and engaging with public and private partners. This effort helped us to bring to light a number of trends related to our five focus areas of Economic Opportunity, Health Equity, Youth and Education, Arts and Culture, and Public Space and Environment. This year, we plan to build on these insights by funding research that will help us better understand important operational nuances of the nonprofit ecosystem in our region.
A healthy nonprofit sector is vital to sustaining thriving communities — something no one understood better than Community Foundation donors Raymond “Bud” and Suzanne Baber. In our feature story, we’ll kick off a four-part series that shows how the Babers’ philanthropy began with small grants from their donor-advised fund to support nonprofits in Lake Orion and Oxford, and ended with the largest estate gift in our history, benefiting organizations throughout the region in perpetuity. We hope their story will inspire you to think about how you can partner with our team to create your own legacy.
One thing that remains consistent is the Community Foundation’s commitment to creating a southeast Michigan where everyone can thrive. We know that collaborating with generous partners, like you and others featured in this report, is the only way to achieve that vision. We’re grateful for your continued support.
This message first appeared in the Spring 2026 REPORT Newsletter