According to survey research, immigrant Detroiters are every bit as eager to become homeowners as non-immigrant residents. This study sheds light on barriers that may explain lower homeownership rates among immigrant Detroiters, including significantly less awareness of credit scores and lower usage of bank accounts. The study indicates that building more inclusive financial literacy, budgeting, banking, and homeownership programs will pay tremendous dividends for increasing homeownership in Detroit.

The Banglatown Vision + Action Plan (2016) is a community-driven strategy developed to revitalize an immigrant-rich neighborhood straddling Detroit and Hamtramck. Created with input from over 350 stakeholders, the plan addresses decades of disinvestment by leveraging local strengths like independent business culture and a vibrant arts scene. It outlines actionable strategies for safety, economic prosperity, and housing rehabilitation. Key priorities include fostering cross-cultural cohesion through "Neighborhood Voices," providing dedicated women’s resources, and repurposing vacant land for green space. Ultimately, the plan empowers residents to access vital information and celebrates diversity as a core strength.

This document explores immigration as a strategic tool for economic recovery in Detroit. Facing massive population loss and bankruptcy, the city looks to immigrants to provide high-skilled human capital, counter an aging workforce, and foster global trade connections. Organizations like Global Detroit lead initiatives to retain international talent and support neighborhood entrepreneurship through programs like ProsperUS. However, significant challenges remain, such as attracting immigrants to the city center rather than the suburbs and improving municipal language access. Ultimately, the report highlights immigration's potential to catalyze urban renewal.

This report chronicles the important role that immigrants and other populations play as business owners in Metro Detroit. Immigrants in the region comprise more than one in four Main Street businesses and are critical to the health of our neighborhoods, retail districts, and downtowns across the region. Immigrant business owners create jobs in numerous sectors such as health, technology, construction, and manufacturing. This report articulates the need for public policies and programs to improve access to supporting the diverse and growing portion of business ownership in the region.

A practical companion to Global Detroit’s Contact Theory as a Tool for Social Cohesion report, designed to help practitioners, community-based organizations, and capacity-building organizations launch and manage social cohesion initiatives in diverse communities. Drawing from lessons learned through the Social Cohesion program pilot, the guide offers actionable strategies, tools, and implementation tips for applying Contact Theory in community development practice. Whether you are piloting a new initiative or strengthening an existing community-building effort, this guide provides practical insights to support the cultivation of trust, belonging, and collaboration across diverse communities.

The Strategic Talent Retention at Michigan’s Economic Crossroads report tracks the employment of international student graduates in Michigan from 2013-2022, the last decade for which the federal government has published data. This study tracks the use of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) portion of their student visas by international student graduates to work in Michigan. It is the first state study using this newly-available data and documents the 97,000 international students who worked in Michigan over this decade, including over 50,000 engineering graduates. The report suggests that Michigan should invest resources into the Global Talent Retention Initiative, the nation’s first and largest international student retention program outside a university.

This working research outlines the Social Cohesion Project, an initiative born from the insights of Global Detroit’s “Building Inclusive Cities” research. That study illuminated a fascinating duality within rapidly diversifying neighborhoods like East Davison Village and Banglatown. While increased immigration correlated with tangible improvements in quality of life – think the opening of new ethnic grocery stores enriching the local culinary scene, or the revitalization of previously underused commercial spaces. The research also pointed to nuanced challenges. Specifically, it highlighted perceptual differences emerging between newer, foreign-born residents and their long-term African American neighbors.