Melanie D’Evelyn, Director, Detroit Drives Degrees at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce will present at the 2019 Talent Summit on Tuesday, May 14th, sharing her insight on the Detroit Chamber’s ongoing efforts towards education reform, job creation, and talent retention in metro Detroit.
The 2019 Toledo Talent Summit is the official launch of the Toledo Talent Alignment Strategy. D’Evelyn is one of several local and regional experts who will share best practices for attracting, developing and retaining the best talent for our region.
D’Evelyn will discuss Detroit Drives Degrees’, a plan to increase the percentage of postsecondary degrees in the metro Detroit region to 60 percent by 2030. Currently, about 40 percent of Detroiters hold a postsecondary degree.
“Detroit Drives Degrees’ goal is to create an education compact and collaborate with different sectors (nonprofits, higher education, philanthropy) toward reaching a common goal,” D’Evelyn said. “We want the public to hold us accountable.”
The compact’s work has already begun. Wayne State University (WSU) Provost Keith Whitfield announced last year that the university is creating a program that allows adults who left college to re-enroll without paying back the full amount of educational debt they accumulated. The idea is that the university will absorb some of that debt to encourage adults to focus on completing their degrees.
Whitfield also announced that WSU is investing in academic advisors to help current students succeed and building partnerships to offer more paid internships to students. Both Whitfield and D’Evelyn are hoping that other universities will see the benefits of these innovations and create similar programs.
To hear more, please register to join us at the 2019 Talent Summit on May 14th from 8 am to 1:15 pm at The Pinnacle in Maumee.
* Excerpted from the Detroit Drives Business Blog, “Business Leaders: Education Reform And Job Creation Will Help Michigan ‘Live Long And Prosper’” March 23, 2018
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