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At Michigan Central, we believe that investing in youth and their talent development is essential to fostering Detroit’s next generation of innovators. This summer, we partnered with 12 local youth organizations to curate tailored experiential learning programs on our dedicated youth floor in The Station. These courses provided nearly 450 students with opportunities to continue learning and growing critical skills that prepare them for high school, college or future careers.

The organizations we have worked with over the past 3 months to nurture our future entrepreneurs and innovators:

“We’re grateful our summer students had the opportunity to experience Michigan Central through the campus tours, Code 313 workshops, Founder Chats at Newlab, and seeing cutting-edge technology at work. Opportunities like these show our students how impactful the skills they’re building in our programs can be.” – Richard Grundy, CEO and Co-founder of JOURNi

Some highlights include various drone activities, Newlab Detroit tours and founder meetups, tours of The Station and workshops on the youth floor. By working closely with these organizations, we were able to tailor and deliver experiences with the goal of growing Detroit’s talent pipeline.

In addition, it also furthered the advancement of Michigan Central’s ecosystem, building connections between today’s and tomorrow’s workforce. For example, Michigan Central member and accelerator Femology had 5 of its founders participate in one of the curated sessions with the Engineering Society of Detroit, hosting a workshop for 35 girls that taught the foundations of being an entrepreneur.

“At Femology, we believe the entrepreneurial journey can start at any age. Partnering with the Engineering Society of Detroit through Michigan Central allowed our founders to share real-world lessons with young girls entering high school, sparking curiosity and confidence in their own ideas. Sometimes it only takes one interaction, one moment of connection to help nurture a girl’s journey as she begins to imagine her own future. These experiences open doors, showing what’s possible and planting the belief that she belongs in the rooms where innovation and leadership take place. That’s how we grow both tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and Michigan’s broader ecosystem.” – Meagan Ward, Founder of Femology

As the new school year starts, Michigan Central remains committed to developing talent and making sure the future built here provides opportunities for the Detroit community and region. There is much more to share over the next few weeks in this space, so stay tuned.