Black Executive Director Alliance of Detroit - BEDAD

02/28/2026

Black History Month is not a finish line.

It is a reminder.

A reminder that we inherited courage.
We inherited sacrifice.
We inherited unfinished work.

Throughout this month, we lifted leaders past and present — educators, organizers, builders, strategists, nurturers, mentors, entrepreneurs. Not to romanticize history, but to recognize lineage.

The lesson is clear:

Leadership is stewardship.
Leadership is structure.
Leadership is love in action.
Leadership is intentional investment in those coming next.

And the mantle is not symbolic.
It is active.

At BEDAD, we believe Detroit’s Black nonprofit executives are not just program operators — they are ecosystem architects. The work is demanding. The responsibility is real. The impact is generational.

That is why BEDAD is dedicated to providing Detroit’s Black nonprofit executive community with the resources, relationships, and reinforcement required to sustain them on their journey toward Executive Excellence.

Because sustained leaders build sustained systems.
Sustained systems build thriving youth.
Thriving youth build Detroit’s future.

Hope is not passive.
Hope is built.

So as this month closes, we do not pause.

We recommit.

We build stronger institutions.
We cultivate emerging executives.
We expand pathways.
We hold one another accountable.
We lift as we climb.

The line held before us.
It holds because of us.
And it will hold after us — because we chose to lead.

Detroit is watching.
Our youth are watching.

Let’s continue the work.

02/26/2026

“Lifting as we climb.” Mary Church Terrell

Mary Church Terrell believed leadership wasn’t about personal advancement.
It was about building others as you rise.

PAST:
As an educator and civil rights activist, Terrell helped establish organizations that intentionally developed young women’s confidence, education, and civic engagement. She understood that exposure expands possibility; and leadership must be cultivated early.

PRESENT:
Meet Brittany Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Classy Chick Chat.

Brittany’s leadership is grounded in intentional investment in the next generation. For her, leadership is not measured by titles, but by the lives we prepare and the doors we help open.

Raised by a deeply affirming mother, Brittany understood love, but she also recognized the power of intentional mentorship and broader exposure. What began as serving as a Big Sister mentor evolved into a calling: to build ecosystems that cultivate confident, purpose-driven young women.

Classy Chick Chat is not just a program. It is a leadership incubator, affirming identity, nurturing confidence, expanding exposure, and reminding young women that their voice carries power.

FUTURE:
Brittany envisions a Detroit where leadership development is not a privilege; it is a standard. Where confidence is cultivated early. Where exposure replaces limitation. Where young people don’t just dream: they are equipped.

This aligns directly with BEDAD 2030’s vision of executive excellence and leadership pipelines, because generational legacy is built when today’s leaders intentionally develop tomorrow’s.

Reflection:
Who are you intentionally preparing to lead long after you’re gone?

02/26/2026

02/25/2026

“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays believed leadership was service, and service required excellence. He mentored generations not simply to succeed, but to strive with purpose.

PAST:
As president of Morehouse College, Mays cultivated leaders grounded in faith, discipline, and moral clarity. He believed young people deserved high expectations, rigorous preparation, and opportunities that stretched their potential.

PRESENT:
Meet Shuna K. Hayward, Vice President of Programs at Connect Detroit.

For more than two decades, Shuna has been a pillar in Detroit’s youth development and afterschool community. Her leadership is grounded in three values: Love. Hard Work. Excellence.

Shaped by servant leadership and strengthened by mentors across the country, Shuna continues to learn, grow, and build programs that expand opportunity for Detroit youth. From Stanford to Harvard to Detroit’s neighborhoods, her path reflects preparation matched with purpose.

FUTURE:
Shuna is building toward a future where Detroit’s youth thrive, with every advantage and opportunity to pursue their dreams. Through Connect Detroit’s work and ecosystem collaboration, she helps ensure young people don’t just access programs; they access pathways.

This aligns with BEDAD 2030’s commitment to executive excellence and sustained ecosystem leadership, because thriving youth require leaders who are disciplined, collaborative, and committed to lifting others as they climb.

Reflection:
Who are you mentoring today that may one day surpass you?

02/24/2026

“No matter what accomplishments you make, “No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.” Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson didn’t just win matches.

She broke barriers through discipline, preparation, and relentless focus. Athletics became more than sport; it became access.

PAST:
Gibson’s excellence opened doors in spaces that weren’t built for her. She proved that discipline creates opportunity, and opportunity can change a life.

PRESENT:
Meet Guye Goodlow, Founder and CEO of Renaissance City Chargers.

Born and raised in Detroit and a Renaissance High School graduate, Guye understands what structured opportunity can do. From earning football scholarships to completing his MBA, to building the Renaissance City Chargers, his leadership is grounded in discipline.

Through coaching and nonprofit leadership, Guye is not just building athletes—he’s building men. His goal isn’t only championships. It’s scholarships. Employment. Productive citizenship.

Opportunity + discipline = mobility.

FUTURE:
Guye envisions Detroit youth walking in peace, prosperity, and positivity—prepared for careers, confident in their discipline, and positioned for success beyond the field.

This is ecosystem work.
Win the game.
Win the scholarship.
Win in life.

Reflection:
Where are you using discipline to open doors for someone else?

EconomicMobility OSTVision

02/22/2026

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer did not begin as a national leader. She responded to a need. And in answering that call, she found her purpose.

PAST:
Grounded in faith and unwavering conviction, Hamer believed that what you do in service to others carries eternal weight. Her leadership wasn’t about recognition; it was about responsibility.

PRESENT:
Meet Shadora L. Ford, Founder and CEO of Destined For Greatness Mentoring Inc..

In 2010, Shadora saw a gap in mentorship beyond the school system. What began as a desire to support one young woman became a movement. Over the years, Destined For Greatness has walked alongside thousands of young women and families across Detroit; offering mentorship, resources, digital access, workforce development, and consistent community presence.

For Shadora, leadership is rooted in faith: keep God first. Lead with intention, integrity, and humility. What you do in service to others is what lasts.

From District 5 community work to digital equity efforts with Connect 313, to operating a neighborhood resource hub, her work reflects long-term commitment, not momentary impact.

FUTURE:
She is building a Detroit where youth have access to opportunity, digital careers, and an exciting journey toward greatness. Where young people drown out negativity and step into strength. Where mentorship creates pathways, not exceptions.

This is the future BEDAD 2030 calls forward: leaders who answer the call, stay the course, and build ecosystems that expand possibility for generations.

Reflection:
What began as “helping one” in your life, and grew into purpose.

02/21/2026

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King taught us that love is not passive. It is disciplined. It is courageous. It is leadership in motion.

PAST:
After the assassination of Dr. King, Coretta Scott King carried forward a movement rooted in love, justice, and moral clarity. She showed that leadership anchored in compassion is not weakness—it is power sustained over time.

PRESENT:
Meet Nicole Wilson, Executive Director of The Yunion.

Nicole’s leadership is grounded in love and integrity. As a faith-based organization, The Yunion’s mission is rooted in love, from the inside out. Her example was shaped early by watching her father serve as a pastor for 45 years. She witnessed leadership expressed through warmth, presence, meaningful “How are you?” conversations, and sacrificial service to others.

For Nicole, love is not abstract. It is daily practice. It is how you greet students. How you care for families. How you show up when it’s inconvenient.

FUTURE:
Nicole is building toward a future where every student who encounters The Yunion carries a remembrance of love. A Detroit where youth feel valued, supported, and seen, and where leaders model the very compassion they hope to cultivate.

This is the kind of leadership BEDAD 2030 calls forward: systems strengthened by integrity and communities transformed through love in action.

Reflection:
What would change in our leadership if love wasn’t a slogan, but a standard?

02/20/2026

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington believed in ownership: of skills, of institutions, of destiny. He focused on equipping people with practical tools to build economic independence and long-term stability.

PAST:
Through the Tuskegee Institute, Washington trained generations in vocational skills, entrepreneurship, and leadership. He believed exposure and economic literacy were pathways to mobility.

PRESENT:
Meet Richard Grundy, Co-Founder and CEO of Journi and a founding member of BEDAD.

Richard leads with ownership and accountability. He believes exposure expands imagination, compassion sustains connection, and distributed leadership builds strength beyond one person.

At his core, he is drawn to helping, revealing to others that they already have the ability to accomplish their goals. For Richard, youth are Detroit’s most valuable resource. And he wants them to know it.

He is committed to ensuring young people have the confidence to create and the knowledge to generate revenue for themselves, whether in technology or beyond. Not just employment. Ownership.

FUTURE:
This reflects the future BEDAD 2030 envisions: Detroit youth equipped with economic mobility, leadership capacity, and systems that expand opportunity rather than restrict it. A city where young people build wealth, not just wages, and where leaders multiply other leaders.

Reflection:

How are you building ownership, not just opportunity, for the next generation?

02/19/2026

“We specialize in the wholly impossible.” Nannie Helen Burroughs

Nannie Helen Burroughs believed leadership required moral courage, discipline, and unwavering integrity. She didn’t just speak about opportunity—she built institutions that delivered it.

PAST:
As an educator and founder, Burroughs created schools rooted in faith, excellence, and dignity. She believed young people deserved both structure and love. For her, integrity wasn’t a personality trait; it was infrastructure.

PRESENT:
Meet Kimberly Johnson, Founder and CEO of Developing K.I.D.S..

A proud Detroit Public Schools graduate, Kim founded Developing K.I.D.S. in 2006. Today, the organization serves over 1,000 youth annually, and recently completed an $8M capital project to open a 23,000 sq. ft. facility for Detroit youth and the non-profit community.

Kim’s leadership is grounded in integrity and faith. She is intentional about treating people fairly and serving in ways that preserve dignity. Whether serving on the Governor’s Student Recovery Advisory Council during COVID, building state OST systems, or co-founding BEDAD, she knows her success is tied to Detroit’s youth thriving.

FUTURE:
The future Kim is building is one of unlimited opportunity, where youth are supported, loved, and valued within systems designed to help them succeed. A Detroit where integrity anchors institutions, and young people are equipped not just to participate, but to lead.

Reflection:
What are you building that reflects your integrity, not just your ambition?

02/18/2026

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.” Howard Thurman

Howard Thurman believed leadership begins with seeing humanity in others and in ourselves. He resisted systems that reduced people to roles, labels, or numbers. He called leaders to live with purpose, balance, and moral clarity.

PAST:
Thurman taught that service is not performance. It is grounded presence. And real community is built when leaders resist the impulse to define people by statistics instead of stories.

PRESENT:
Meet Dr. Heather Hetheru Miller, Executive Director of Encourage Me I'm Young Inc.. (EMIY)

Heather’s leadership is deeply person-centered and collaborative. She resists reducing community to data points and instead focuses on connection, dignity, and purpose. Influenced early by St. Francis of Assisi and Ralph Waldo Emerson, she has long believed that service is a calling, and that balance between giving and receiving is essential for sustainable leadership.

She is building spaces where mentorship, supportive tools, and genuine connection replace judgment. Where Detroit’s youth are not managed, but guided. Not labeled, but understood.

FUTURE:
This vision aligns with BEDAD 2030: a Detroit where youth are supported by responsive systems rooted in relationship, mentorship, and respect for cultural heritage. A future of meaningful growth and transformation—built on connection, not control.

Reflection:
Where in your leadership can you choose connection over judgment?

02/17/2026

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Whitney M. Young Jr.

Whitney M. Young Jr. understood that change requires more than passion. It requires structure. Systems. Pathways.

PAST:
As leader of the National Urban League, Young worked to expand access to education, employment, and economic opportunity. He believed equity meant building systems that made success possible, not rare.

PRESENT:
Meet Raymond Parks and Emily Parks, leaders of The Uplift Program.

Their leadership is grounded in collective responsibility and deep respect for human dignity. They believe young people thrive when they are seen as whole human beings: not labels, not statistics, not problems to fix.

Their approach was shaped by witnessing both the gaps and the brilliance in their own community. They’ve seen systems push youth aside, and they’ve seen the power of slowing down, listening, and choosing to believe.

Becoming parents and nonprofit leaders deepened their commitment. They realized passion alone is not enough. Passion needs structure to create lasting change.

So they lead with intention, collaboration, and long-term vision; building real pathways, not isolated exceptions.

FUTURE:
This is the future BEDAD 2030 calls forward: a Detroit where access to mental wellness, education, creativity, and opportunity is expected, not extraordinary. Where youth see leaders who reflect them and understand that leadership is possible for them too.

Because when pathways exist, young people don’t just survive systems; they lead within them.

Reflection:
What pathways are you building that will outlast your presence?