By Raquel Garcia, Executive Director, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision I moved to Southwest Detroit in 2005. A good friend drew me to the neighborhood. Every year, she would throw parties and I could hear happy music from other houses along with ice cream trucks and the excited voices of children buying ice cream treats. When...
Category: Blog
The Erb Institute at 25: Ready for the Transformation
Pictured above from left to right: John Erb, chair of the Erb Family Foundation, Jonathan T. Overpeck, Ph.D., dean of the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, and Thomas Gladwin, Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business during a 25th-anniversary event for the Erb Institute. By...
Systems Change Is Harder Than It Looks: Systems Shift May Be the Answer
This article was originally published by Cutter on April 26, 2022. By Neil Hawkins, President, Erb Family Foundation And Laura Asiala, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wholeworks All systems are perfectly designed to produce their results — even when their results are far from perfect. W. Edwards Deming observed that decades ago. Don’t like the results? Change the...
New Ranking of Great Lakes Twitter Influencers Promotes Positive Dialogue
Launch of the #GreatLakes Top 500 Launching September 13th, the #GreatLakes top 500 ranking of influencers on Twitter will be an online community resource and business network to help promote positive dialogue and increase stewardship engagement across the entire Great Lakes Basin and beyond. Sponsored by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation...
Three Ways the Arts Help Make Metro Detroit Vibrant
Fred and Barbara Erb understood and valued the role that the arts played in daily life and the collective impact that artists, organizations, and audiences have on our community. Today, Erb Family Foundation works to further strengthen the sector in the Detroit area in recognition of the role it plays in creating a culturally vibrant...
We Can End Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Detroit Children
Environmental justice is hard work – and complex – but just because we can’t do everything doesn’t mean we can’t do something. And this particular something is really, really important: lowering elevated blood lead levels in babies and children. The amount of lead in kids’ blood has decreased dramatically in the past several decades thanks...
A ‘Value Proposition Framework’ for Sustainable Development
This article was originally published by GreenBiz on July 7, 2021. By Neil Hawkins, President, Erb Family Foundation and Laura Asiala, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wholeworks Value. It’s the name of the game. Create it economically; capture it distinctively. Whatever theoretical economic framework (such as game theory or decision analysis) or business model you want to...
Four Ways Jazz Education Impacts Youth
Kris Johnson has first-hand knowledge of the impact that jazz education can have on youth in metro Detroit. Over the years, he’s learned and played with each of the JazzEd Detroit partner organizations—and has returned to share his artistry and inspire students in those programs as an educator and professional jazz artist. In this video,...
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