Message from the Chair

A VOICE FOR KIDS FOR 50 YEARS

Changing Detroit by changing the odds for children

We have been talking about it for a long time, making careful plans on how to recognize it, and yet marking The Skillman Foundation’s 50th anniversary is something that has not quite sunk in yet.

As the Foundation looks back at a half-century of work on behalf of children, we take undeniable pride in what we have accomplished. That work is reflected to a degree in the programs for children we have established through the years. But to a greater degree, it is reflected in the thousands of Detroit kids we have touched.

Under the leadership of Carol Goss, The Skillman Foundation continues as a persistent, strong voice for Detroit children. That voice is getting stronger. Two dynamic new Trustees have joined our Board this year: Denise Ilitch and Mary Kramer. Each woman is a recognized champion of the Motor City and we’re delighted to have them join the Foundation. Longtime Skillman Foundation Board stalwart, Lillian Bauder, who is a former Board chair and influential Trustee is retiring from the Board. Among Lillian’s many contributions to the Foundation, was the instrumental role she played in transforming the Foundation into a community-centered change agent for Detroit children. We wish Lillian well in her retirement, thank her for her years of dedication to the Foundation and its mission, and take comfort in knowing that she’ll continue to be involved in our work.

To honor Rose Skillman’s legacy, the Foundation she created in December 1960 will host a 50th-anniversary-themed Kids Matter Here Neighborhood Summit early in 2011, launch special awards programs that recognize promising Detroit kids, and unveil a new website and A Rose for Detroit blog named after our founder. New Skillman Foundation logos feature a rose in the design for the first time throughout this Annual Report.

It’s true that there is much to be concerned about in Detroit. It’s also true, however, that there is much to be hopeful about. One aspect of that hope is the changing landscape for educating Detroit’s kids.

The Foundation, in partnership with many other organizations, has helped to change the conversation about quality schools in Detroit. The conversation now is rightly focused on quality and accountability. The creation of the Excellent Schools Detroit coalition—which is made up of civic groups, charter school operators, Detroit Public Schools, the City of Detroit, and the Skillman, Kresge, W.K. Kellogg, McGregor, and Broad foundations— and its successful launch of a citywide education reform plan earlier this year offer great hope for Detroit children. So too do the new high-performing schools planned for our city by Michigan Future Schools and the Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund.

Our current programs—Good Schools, Good Neighborhoods and Good Opportunities—continue to improve the lives of children in our city. That is our unchanging task, our greatest goal, and our constant labor. It is that labor that drives us as we enter into our second half-century. And it is, without question, a labor of love. When you see the light go on as a child learns how to use a new program at a Good Schools computer lab, when you drive by a busy Good Neighborhood’s community center on a winter night and watch dozens of residents bustling in and out of the doors, when you glimpse the beaming faces of a young family at the RiverWalk Carousel funded through the Good Opportunities program, there is no doubt in my mind that we are making a difference every day.

But we also operate under the absolute understanding that what we need is better schools, better neighborhoods and better opportunities for all Detroit children. Ours is not a job that has a beginning and an end point. Our job is to focus day in and day out on the beneficiaries of Rose Skillman’s vision. And so we move on. Proud in our history, but never content in our accomplishments. As we pass the date of our 50th anniversary in December 2010, we will pause to look back and to reflect on the meaning of the great mission that our founder Rose Skillman has placed before each of us involved in the Foundation. We celebrate ever so briefly. There are many challenges ahead. There is much work to be done.

 —David Baker Lewis, Skillman Foundation Board Chair