View the full session recording below.
During the 2026 Detroit Policy Conference, Laura Grannemann of Rocket Community Fund and Gilbert Family Foundation, Kate Levin Markel of McGregor Fund, and Sarida Scott of The Skillman Foundation sat with the Chamber’s Megan Spanitz to discuss the industry’s pressing issues and how philanthropy can work together better with the business community.
The group of philanthropy leaders kicked off by discussing current issues they’re seeing within the Michigan philanthropy community, which comprises about 2,100 organizations granting about $2.4 billion annually statewide.
Sharing her concerns for the industry and society’s fast-moving tendencies, Markel advised the audience to “speak the truth” and build intentionality with relationships and funding efforts to produce better outcomes, especially during tougher times in the industry and society, to continue philanthropy’s job of “what the market and economy doesn’t do.”
“Our business culture has felt under pressure to respond more and more and more to owners and shareholders,” she said. “But I feel like, as a society, we have to get back to serving community. And I think from a business perspective, that means centering customers more and not just in a sort of finite way, but in a kind of more holistic well-being way.”
The group also discussed the many ways in which business and philanthropy share goals to create a more prosperous Detroit Region. “Living on the intersection of business and philanthropy” in her current role, Grannemann said she often sees both industries misinterpret how long it can take for outcomes to materialize and the methods for solving issues.
“We have to measure what matters, and we have to give ourselves time and space to be able to really see something through, like educational outcomes or housing stability — it doesn’t get solved in a month or a year,” she said. “We overestimate what we can do in a year, and we underestimate what we can do in 10 [years]. So, let’s think about 10-year time horizons instead of our short quarterly projections.”
The group also discussed the biggest regional challenges from their perspective and the improvements they’d like to see by 2050. With a particular focus on education, Scott shared her goal of better listening to those in need and reminded the audience that everyone needs to be invested in the solutions to create the thriving region and state we want.
“The biggest change I’d like to see is one that we are really listening to the people who are most impacted by the education system, and that they are actively involved in the policy of it and the changes and really transforming the system in a way that speaks to and highlights what youth want,” she said. “It’s very different in … the way our young people think about it, and we really need to be thinking about an education system that supports them. And when they feel supported and engaged and excited, that is going to benefit all of us; it’s going to benefit the Region.”
This session was sponsored by The Skillman Foundation.
