If you’ve been around Global Detroit over the past month, you may notice the absence of some team members who were absolutely critical to building Global Detroit into the incredible organization that it is today. At the end of September, we said goodbye to Sloan Herrick, our Chief Operating Officer.

Sloan has been a part of our team for 12 incredible years and you don’t need to know Global Detroit well to know that she impacted and shaped virtually every aspect of our work, our team and culture. Sloan was the person who put our dreams and vision into action. She was the person who figured out how to execute our many activities and programs. Her warm spirit and friendship helped make Global Detroit a joyous place to collaborate. Sloan had a special bond with almost every staff member, board member, intern and partner she interacted with over those 12 years.

We are more than envious of what’s next for Sloan and her husband and daughter, as they bought quite the sailboat and are preparing it to sail to the Bahamas and beyond for the coming months and, maybe, years. It’s a storybook next chapter to 12 years of incredible hard work that have shaped culture and programming at Global Detroit in ways that we will carry forward.

During the pandemic we also said goodbye to Guiqiu Wang, Millie Chu, Alistair Kiyingi and Kristin Palm, all of whom sought new professional opportunities. Each made their own lasting legacy at Global Detroit.

In the coming months, we are eager to announce a series of new team members, including a new Managing Director who will oversee our work in Southeast Michigan. (We expect this announcement in mid-December!) Steve Tobocman, continuing as executive director, will increase his focus, time, energy and attention on statewide and national efforts while continuing to support all the work we do.

“We are so thankful for the many contributions Sloan has made to Global Detroit over the years.  Her leadership, strategic thinking and her dynamic personality will be greatly missed,” said Global Detroit Board Chair Karen Phillippi. “We will miss all of those staff members who have moved on, however, the Board is very excited about the future of the organization.  We look forward to the new Managing Director joining us, as well as seeing where Steve will take Global Detroit nationally.”

To bridge these executive leadership changes, Global Detroit is pleased to announce the addition of two extraordinary leaders who will support Steve as interim members of the leadership team at Global Detroit.

Ritchie Harrison has worked with the staff and board at Global Detroit over the last two years, collaborating with his wife Clarinda Harrison through their consulting firm Planning TES (The Everyday Sacred), to assist the organization in deepening efforts to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Ritchie brings more than 15 years of experience in planning and community development work in Detroit, in addition to experience in leadership development. “My intention is to foster leadership that transforms conceptions of planning and community development to create the kinds of communities that enable all people to thrive and flourish,” notes Ritchie.

Eva Hassett has been a collaborator with Global Detroit for nearly a decade from her home in Buffalo, New York. During her 12 years as executive director for the International Institute of Buffalo, Eva worked with Steve, Sloan and Global Detroit Board Chair Karen Phillippi to help build and develop the Welcoming Economies (WE) Global Network, a program of Welcoming America run in partnership with Global Detroit that served as a regional network to more than 20 local immigrant economic inclusion initiatives across the Rust Belt tapping into the economic development created by immigrants. Eva was instrumental in connecting Global Detroit as the strategic planning consultant for the Buffalo region’s refugee resettlement collaborative. She brings experience in refugee resettlement, workforce development, and nonprofit and public sector leadership. She served as Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Commissioner of Finance and Administration for the City of Buffalo, worked in finance in the private sector and holds an MBA from Yale.

Both Ritchie and Eva are plugging into the organization’s growth and transformation in numerous ways. We are eager to leverage the expertise they bring around Detroit neighborhoods, race equity work, refugee resettlement and immigrant economic inclusion.

To read about the rest of our amazing team, click here.