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In September 2021, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra made a bold commitment to Detroit, dedicating $50 million in grant funding and extensive employee volunteer efforts to nonprofits that are innovating in education, workforce development and neighborhood revitalization. This is our way of working to help Detroiters learn, work and thrive.
Through June 2022, GM has disbursed more than $17 million across 95 programs in Detroit and surrounding Hamtramck and Highland Park.
“At GM, we recognize our responsibility to make a positive social impact in the communities in which our employees live and work. Detroit has long been our home, and through strategic investments in nonprofit organizations that support Detroit residents, we are helping foster an environment of progress in the city.”
-Terry Rhadigan, vice president of Corporate Giving
Read on below to learn about some of the organizations we’re working with to improve the lives of those who call Detroit home.
Advancing equitable opportunity for Detroiters
Since the 2021 announcement, we’ve continued to make progress in the community by supporting nonprofits whose work falls under our areas of focus with equity and inclusion at the center of all we do.
LEARN
- Goal: Foster an education ecosystem where teachers and students receive support with responsive programming that helps increase stability through high school and beyond.
- Progress:
- Working with nonprofits like Beyond Basics, Math Corps, CollegeSpring and Boys and Girls Club, we are helping students build critical reading and math skills while investing in their confidence to chart a path after high school.
- A large-scale investment with Detroit Children’s Fund is helping grow the number of quality schools in Detroit through school-improvement interventions, teacher and leader training programs and national recruitment efforts.
WORK
- Goal: Take a human-centered approach to economic mobility through programs that provide paid training and supportive services like childcare and transportation.
- Progress:
- We’ve made significant investments in training programs for Detroiters through SER Metro-Detroit, Southwest Solutions, Focus: HOPE, Goodwill Detroit, The Empowerment Plan and more. Many of these programs offer an hourly wage, even while participants learn.
- GM supports large-scale initiatives with United Way for Southeastern Michigan (Ride United and Connect4Care Kids) and Human-I-T: two organizations that work to address childcare, transportation and digital inclusion as barriers to sustainable employment.
THRIVE
- Goal: Invest in the cultural pillars that make Detroit unique and help drive progress in the neighborhoods and spaces surrounding the Renaissance Center and Factory ZERO.
- Progress:
- Our support to institutions like Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Opera and Michigan Science Center is helping expand access to these gems.
- Funding to Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is helping to create engaging volunteer opportunities and programming for residents and visitors.
- Revitalization efforts have also launched in the neighborhoods surrounding our Factory ZERO facility and includes grant funding and employee volunteer projects with Global Detroit, Wayne Metro Community Action Agency, Arboretum Detroit and Hamtramck Parks Conservancy.
As we continue to make progress under this commitment, we encourage nonprofits that share our goals to submit a letter of inquiry under the Detroit focus area. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through September 30, 2022, and will resume in January 2023.