Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Regional Chamber is committed to creating opportunities for emerging leaders to collaborate with their peers to tackle key regional issues and create positive change. Each year, the Chamber liaises between these leaders and Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program (YALP). As a founding member, the Chamber works with local executives to select and recruit a diverse cohort, fundraises to cover the stipend for participants’ costs, and helps prepare participants for their experience.

By bringing programs like this to the Detroit region, the Chamber empowers the next generation of leaders by encouraging them to connect across sectors and communities to increase collaboration and create innovative solutions to regional challenges. These experiences help foster a network of talented individuals committed to moving the Detroit region forward today and in the decades to come.

Started in 2015, YALP brings together 10 leaders annually from each of 14 cities across the country, immersing them in a Harvard Business School experience. This includes case studies, speaker presentations, and whiteboard sessions that challenge participants to work together on an issue their city faces.

The program is designed to inspire collaborative innovation in cities across the U.S. and jump-start conversations about how business, civic, and nonprofit leaders can work together to bring shared prosperity to America’s communities. It is part of Harvard Business School’s U.S. Competitiveness Project, on which Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Sandy K. Baruah participates.