A Landmark ‘Year of Firsts’ for Black Leaders in Detroit

Photos by Monica Morgan Photography

In a city that is nearly 80 percent Black, it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that some of Detroit’s most hallowed institutions and organizations have Black leaders at the helm. But when reality sets in and the layers get peeled back, it’s easier to see that despite the demographic makeup of the residents, many of these institutions have been slow to call on Black women and men to lead.

Certainly, there are Black leaders across all spectrums – business, law enforcement, nonprofit, education, arts and culture, and beyond – but in 2024, leaders have emerged to the highest levels of rank across many institutions that haven’t had Black people in these positions until now.

Take Kyra Harris Bolden, for starters. No Black woman had ever occupied the seat of Michigan Supreme Court justice until she came along 186 years after it was established. And not only is she the first Black woman to be a Michigan Supreme Court justice, but she’s also the youngest justice.

“There are challenges that come with being the first anything and I’m just going to be honest about that. But the outpouring of support that I receive really keeps me inspired every day,” she said.

Then take Suzanne Shank is the president, CEO, founder, and owner of Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC., the top-ranked minority- and woman-owned municipal bond underwriter in the country. In 2024, Shank became the first Black woman to chair the Mackinac Policy Conference in its 120-year history.

“I had observed really dynamic business titans in Detroit, and I was following in their footsteps. But I also found it really motivational in that I always feel a sense of responsibility to pave the way. It’s a shame that it took until 2024 to make this happen, but I certainly don’t want it to be the last,” she said.

“I’m always amazed when it’s me, but I do always feel a sense of pressure to prove that these are the right decisions. As chair of Mackinac, I was really pleased that we got so much favorable feedback. We increased diversity of speakers and diversity of thought, and we achieved record-setting sponsorships and engagement.”

Then there’s Derron Sanders. In the 137-year history of the Detroit Athletic Club, there had never been a Black President of the DAC until he was elected to serve by the club’s members.

As the CEO of the Southfield-based firm SG Cos., Sanders isn’t new to being a leader. But this institution, annually rated by peer institutions as the best athletic club in the country, had never had a leader like Sanders at the helm.

“It’s been fun. I’ll start with that. When I first started in the role, I used to kind of jokingly shun ‘the first,’ as in ‘the first African American.’ I would kind of jokingly say, well, I’m probably the first ambidextrous president the first bald President,” Sanders said.

“But then after talking to various folks and really putting it in perspective, it really is important. It’s not that it’s not important to me – because it is – but recognizing what it means to so many others really causes me to pause, and it’s humbling.

“For the benefit of not only folks that we know and love, but for the younger generation, being able to see us all together serves as powerful reminder and a true example of what Black excellence looks like.” Sanders added.

For 97 years, the Detroit Institute of Art hadn’t had a Black board chair. Lane Coleman changed that when he succeeded Gene Gargaro in 2024. His leadership at the world-renowned DIA has been felt resoundingly, with programming that speaks to and for Detroit’s Black culture.

Since taking over as Board Chair in January 2024, the DIA has hosted several exhibits from Detroit artists, had Detroit rapper Big Sean film an intimate concert for Netflix inside, and it’s hosted several events aimed at bringing more Black people and Black Detroiters through its doors.

“I don’t get a lot of pressure saying, ‘How do you feel as a Black person.’ I think a lot of people are trying to figure out who I am – especially our big donors. My job is to make them feel comfortable. This is philanthropy. I would hate for a check not to come because they’re not comfortable, but that’s not been the case,” Coleman said.

“One of the challenges is that people aren’t used to seeing me in this role. They’re just not used to it. So, I’m patient with that. I play well with others. But I’ve led other organizations and I’m a retired military officer, so I’m not always the guy that’s going to say ‘Yes.’ Me being a Black man, I just know a lot of people are still trying to get comfortable with me, not necessarily as a Black man, but as the man I am. And I have to give credit to my team for being great and helping me, because doing this is a lot of work.”

And for Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a national peer-to-peer business network of more than 14,000 entrepreneurs, the organization’s Detroit chapter just crowned its first Black woman as chair in 2024. Founded in 1987, April Clarke, President of Xpress Transportation, is the first Black woman to take the top leadership role at EO, where she began in July 2024.

 

“I’ve been a member of this organization for a decade now, and it’s a community where we all chip in and help entrepreneurs scale. So, we all chip in and help one another to reach our highest potential,” Clarke said.

“It’s amazing to see how many people have joined the board because they want to work with me. It’s amazing to see how many people have said they’ve watched me work over the past decade and they are excited for me to be leading the organization now. There can always be this sense of imposter syndrome when you’re breaking glass ceilings or being the first to do something, but I really look back on the way I’ve poured into the community and the confidence other people have in my leadership and I’m able to be grateful and validate why I’m occupying this space.”

For these leaders and many others who have climbed to the tops of their respective organizations, the roles aren’t only about breaking glass ceilings. They are about setting examples and expectations for future generations. They are about creating pipelines of Black leaders who can mold future leaders to succeed them. They are about setting new expectations of what success looks like.

“It starts with the young people. You know, one of the things I don’t think we realize as a community is that art is one of the last unregulated investment vehicles,” Coleman said. “I want my legacy to be the fact that we’ve got this community in Detroit, and we have this asset here, and that I helped remind Detroiters of those things that are vitally important.”

Adding to the importance of legacy, Shank said that she knows that her successors won’t always have the same opportunities that she did to chair the state’s pre-eminent business and policy conference, but she knows that her success in the role will ultimately create a lane for Black women in the future.

“I understand how important my success was. I understand that it took more than a century for the conference to be chaired by a Black woman for the first time. But I’m thankful for the people who understand what the science says: greater diversity leads to greater outcomes, and it’s impossible to argue that we had a great outcome because we had great diversity,” she said.

For the first time, Detroiters are seeing Black leadership in roles that were historically out of reach. These figures are not only making their mark by breaking into these spaces—they’re also reimagining what leadership looks like, prioritizing diversity, equity, and community empowerment as central pillars of their work. It’s more than a milestone; it’s a movement.

This year, more than ever, the leadership pipeline in Detroit is being redefined with Black leaders emerging in key positions. Whether at the top of major companies, in nonprofit organizations, or leading city departments, their influence is reshaping policy, culture, and opportunity in a city that continues to symbolize the strength and power of Black America.

Suzanne Shank, April Clarke, Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, Lane Coleman, and Derron Sanders are pioneers who have made historic transitions into positions previously unoccupied by Black leaders. They aren’t diversity hires, nor are their achievements the result of luck or coincidence. Like many qualified and talented leaders in the city, their qualifications allowed them break into roles that allowed them to make history as a “first.”