The Detroit region’s advanced mobility industry is nuanced and multi-faceted, making it difficult to access and navigate for those on the outside looking in. Stakeholders across the region ranging from community organizations and nonprofits to professional associations, suppliers and more often struggle with how to get involved or access solutions to challenges they are experiencing.
It was through direct conversations with these stakeholders that GEM realized the need to equip individuals deeply involved in their communities with the knowledge, tools and resources to help others navigate the intricacies of the region’s mobility industry.
To fill this gap, they created GEM Connect.
“What we heard through listening sessions with stakeholders and community members was that a void still exists to make the region’s mobility industry accessible and inclusive for those who don’t know where to begin,” said Jeannine Gant, mobility engagement officer for the Detroit Regional Partnership and creator of the GEM Connect program. “Through GEM Connect, we can take individuals who have deep ties to the various communities across the region and turn them into guides for others interested in entering the mobility industry.”
Creating Trusted Connectors
GEM Connect is a nine-month initiative aimed at giving participants the opportunity to immerse themselves in the region’s advanced mobility industry, build meaningful relationships and foster an understanding of how to access opportunities. The program has 28 participants representing a wide variety of backgrounds, communities and organizations, including:
- General Motors
- Detroit Public Schools Community District
- Henry Ford Health
- SAE international
- Oakland County
- Michigan Central
- Ford Motor Company
While cohort members’ individual goals vary, each participant is well known in their organizations or communities. Participants will bring takeaways to the program to ultimately help others become immersed within the ecosystem, helping to further spread awareness and accessibility.
“I work with a lot of youth in the educational field that need to be exposed to different industries,” said Justin Payne, CEO of Blucar. “This program will help connect me with other industries outside of the one I work in. My goal is to make connections with industry leaders and stakeholders for my students and their families.”
The ultimate goal of the program is to transform the 28 participants into “Trusted Connectors” who possess the relationships and know-how to help others in the communities they represent succeed within the region’s advanced mobility industry.
“We’ve talked with students a lot about how mobility is a dignity problem,” said Melinda Gray, GM Design’s outreach and development manager. “We’re working to solve that by providing students access to the free programs we offer at General Motors, which expands their awareness of careers and the viability of creative opportunities in the mobility space. Being in a room with individuals that are all focused on solutions and driving that further is exciting for me.”
As the program progresses, an AI Chatbot created by a GEM partner will be available to participants, allowing them to access the knowledge, resources, connections and more that they gained throughout their participation in the program.
GEM Connect Kick-Off
The first convening of the GEM Connect Leadership Cohort occurred on March 27. Participants met at the Wayne State University Industry Innovation Center for an introduction to the program and cohort participants. They also engaged in a discussion about GEM’s social network analysis research with Orange Sparkle Ball founder Meaghan Kennedy.
The event included a panel discussion with industry leaders, a connection and relationship-based exercise, and an optional tour of Newlab.
The panel consisted of leaders from the mobility ecosystem, including:
- Brittany McGee, founder of Optimize EV
- Christianne Malone, chief program officer for TechTown
- Wafa Dinaro, executive director of the New Economy Initiative
The connection exercise encouraged participants to examine the organizations within the Detroit mobility ecosystem, the relationships that exist within the cohort and those they hope to forge throughout the program. Each of the cohort’s participants had the opportunity to designate a different colored sticker demonstrating a direct connection to an organization, knowledge of the organization, or a desire to become connected with an organization.
Participants who joined the tour of Newlab, a place for innovation, development and start-ups situated at the Michigan Central complex, also had the opportunity to meet and learn about the grants available for mobility businesses through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation from Chief Mobility Officer for the State of Michigan Justine Johnson.
The Future of GEM Connect
Future convenings will take place virtually at American Center for Mobility and SMT Automation, and will also include participation in Mobility Week. The variety of locations will enable participants to become comfortable with the mobility spaces that are being created across the region.
The next event of the cohort will be a virtual AI workshop hosted by Scott Smith, Founder, Pathworks AI.
“I’m most excited about the site visits,” said Cierra McFarlin, a program manager at Detroit Future City. “We’re going to Washtenaw County, we’re going to a drone site, and I generally want to see more hands-on mobility work to learn how to apply it to our current body of work at Detroit Future City.”
As it progresses, the GEM Connect program will provide new opportunities for growth, expand capabilities and ultimately build out the region’s human infrastructure to greater heights.
“The human infrastructure of an ecosystem is just as important as the technology and virtual infrastructure that gets created,” said Gant. “You want to make sure that you’re reaching the greatest number of people as possible to create sustainability and bring more people into the ecosystem.”
For more information about GEM Connect Leadership Cohort, visit: https://gemdetroitregion.com/gem-connect/