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The Public’s Case Against DTE Energy
Extracting Profits
Inducing Health Harms
Damaging Democracy
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Together with our partners, MEJC and LittleSis, we find that DTE has extracted profit from its customers through hundreds of thousands of shutoffs, the second highest amount of rate hikes in the country, and unnecessary power outages that leave customers without power. They have invested heavily in new fossil fuel power plants that place significant health burdens on customers while blocking renewable energy initiatives. Finally, this report digs into the campaign donations of DTE executives, board members, and PAC to reveal how they utilize dark money to advance their profit-driven agenda.
In recent years, utility companies have been increasingly engaging in what is known as “demand response” programs. These programs allow the company to temporarily shut off power to certain customers during periods of high demand, in order to reduce strain on the grid.
620,926 At Peak Outage
ATTEND OUR TOWN HALL

Each time the power goes out, our community takes a hit. We spend hundreds of dollars replacing spoiled food, and miss days of work or school. For elderly family members and neighbors, who are vulnerable to heat exposure, and for people with medical devices that require electricity, blackouts can be deadly. Nearly a million people in Michigan went without power on February 23rd, with nighttime temperatures falling well below freezing in the coming days.

 

 

Meanwhile, our state’s investor-owned monopoly utilities shovel profits to shareholders and evade accountability for the real costs of their failing infrastructure.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Tell the Michigan Public Service Commission: Reject DTE's proposed rate increase!

REJECT DTE'S RATE HIKE

Utility Redlining: Inequitable Electric Distribution in the DTE Service Area

  • Key DTEE infrastructure is a decade or more past expected use in 4.8 kV areas

  • In Detroit, with double the vulnerability level as the region, most residents only have outdated electric infrastructure

  • Modernization efforts in Detroit favor industrial and municipal customers over residents

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LOCATION

440 Burroughs St,
Detroit, MI 48202

CONTACT US

information@wethepeoplemi.org

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Miguel Ridriguez

Managing Director

Miguel Rodriguez joins We the People as Managing Director. Born and raised in unincorporated East Los Angeles, he was shaped by the rich, multi-generational history of student activism and social justice organizing that sprung from his hometown.  

 

Miguel started organizing as a response to anti-immigrant legislation in California and through this work, became committed to building power from the bottom up. As a young adult he made a radical decision to move to Chiapas, Mexico—home of the Zapatista Movement—where, for ten years, he worked on building a solidarity network of BIPOC organizers sharing and learning from each other and directly from Indigenous Zapatista communities.  

 

Miguel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and has spent the last decade dedicated to youth leadership development domestically and internationally. He brings deep project management experience to We the People and offers a breadth of knowledge built from working alongside organizers tackling social inequities in the US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

 

Having recently landed in Michigan, Miguel is excited to embed himself in the long history of organizing in the state and looks forward to learning and growing from the gifts, skills and talents of people from this beautiful state. When he finds time, Miguel enjoys one of his many hobbies– collecting comic books, gravel-biking, gardening, hiking and baking.  

Yvonne Navarrete

Policy Director

Yvonne Navarrete is the Policy Director for We the People Michigan. She was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and immigrated to Detroit, Michigan at the age of two. Her experiences growing up undocumented in Detroit have driven her to fight to hold governments accountable & invest in the power of her community. She earned a B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Michigan where she organized for Latinx and undocumented student issues. She then went on to earn her M.A. in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. She now lives and organizes in Detroit at the intersection of immigration and education justice as a core team member of MIStudentsDream.

Betsy Coffia

Rural Lead Organizer

Betsy is a rural lead organizer with We The People and is based in Traverse City. She is a political strategist, social worker and former newspaper editor. She currently serves as a 2-term county commissioner in Grand Traverse County. Betsy is proud to honor her working class rural roots, and credits her mother for instilling a strong work ethic. She is passionate about centering the voices, experience, leadership and dignity of marginalized communities. Betsy nurtures her introvert side by spending time alone with trees and water, or enjoying life with her rescue pup Pax.

Megan Hess

Rural Organizing Director

Megan is the Rural Organizing Director with We The People based in Sault Ste. Marie, as well as a volunteer community organizer nested in rural America, and a former journalist. With an educational background in literature, she’s deeply interested in personal stories and storytelling, and how narrative can empower and disempower. Megan is also a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a mother, and a water protector and pulls a chair to the table for Native rights, intersectional feminism and environmental justice. Megan balances her work life with chocolate, yoga, and time on Lake Superior.

Harnoor Singh

Data Associate

Harnoor Singh (ਹਰਨੂਰ ਸਿੰਘ) is the Data Associate for We the People-Michigan. He is the son of Punjabi immigrants and a member of the Sikh community. He uses the teachings and values of Sikhi to motivate his work and passion to create a world without prisons and borders where all people have the right and access to a happy and healthy life. He earned a B.S. in Sociology and Statistics at the University of Michigan where he did small-group facilitation work on gender and how it is socialized and policed. He organizes camps and workshops in the Sikh community that he grew up with and works with young men to talk about healthy masculinities and how to achieve them.

Sargeant Donovan-Smith

Data Director

Sargeant (Sarge) is the Data Director at We The People–MI. She found her way to data science, first as a high school math teacher in New York City, and later as a research analyst examining student outcomes at the City University of New York. Sargeant has an MA in mathematics education from Teachers College and an MA in anthropology and history from the University of Michigan. She has also been involved in anti-racist, anti-fascist, and PIC abolition organizing in New York City and Ann Arbor for the past 10 years. 

 

Sargeant draws on her experience as a teacher, organizer, and educational researcher in her role as Data Director at We The People–MI. Her goal is to design accessible data systems that help community organizers build organizing power across Michigan.

Vidhya Aravind

Learning Director

Vidhya is the Learning Director for We The People and is based in Detroit. She originally moved to Washtenaw County to earn her Master’s of Information from the University of Michigan, and now plans to call the area home forever. After coming out as trans while a student, she participated in immigrant, labor, trans, and police accountability activism, and was particularly instrumental in major wins by the Graduate Employees’ Organization 3550. She hopes to honor the trans women of color that came before her by organizing material aid and community structures for local trans folks in need. In her spare time, she facilitates workshops for queers, plays games of all kinds, intentionally finds ways to spend time with her trans family, and is slowly transforming into an outdoors lesbian.

Amina Khalique

Policy & Research Analyst

Amina is a Policy & Research Analyst for We the People Michigan. She was born and raised in Detroit, and earned her B.A. at Wayne State University in political science with a concentration in public policy. Her experiences as a Bangladeshi Muslim woman have shaped her commitment to fighting for social justice and liberation in her community through grassroots organizing and policy advocacy. Amina wants to create a sustainable, safe, and equitable world for low-income and marginalized communities – by centering the voices of our most vulnerable communities, one policy at a time. In her free time, Amina loves baking, traveling, and recharging near bodies of water.

Alex Hill

Research Director

Alex is the Research Director for We The People. In his work, he highlights the intersections of power, privilege, and race in regards to health equity, access to basic needs, and the social implications of medicine. Previously, Alex has worked in statewide health policy organizing at MICHUHCAN, academic health disparities research at Wayne State University, and public health data and policy at the Detroit Health Department. He teaches in urban studies, public health, geography and data visualization. Alex has a map for everything and is passionate about research justice, data literacy, and counter-mapping.

Tanisha Pyron

Social Media Strategist

Tanisha Lynn Pyron (Pretty Fire) is a classically trained actress, professional theatrical director and a co-founding member of Face Off Theatre Company. Most recently she directed Absentia at Ohio University and is excited to make her return to the stage. She is a virtuosic artist, creative photographer, spoken word poet, teacher, influencer, storyteller, and media entrepreneur currently working on publishing her first book of original poetry. BLACK POOL OF GENIUS Volume I and launching Tanisha Lynn Pyron Creative Services,LLC as a media brand. The subversive black girl artist considers herself to be a modern day griot focusing on telling stories that redefine and re-appropriate “BLACK AMERICANA” highlighting and finding the beauty in the contradictions, pain and pride within “our stories” and thus hoping to discover and re-claim the beauty within her own. She has used acting, poetry, dance, and photography as modalities for making sure her creative vision and voice are seen, heard and felt. In her own words Tanisha expresses, “To me the art and the artist are one. As I seek to unlock and express what is contained in my own heart and to heal and celebrate my own beauty and spirit.”

Biidaaban Reinhardt

UP Environmental Justice Coordinator

Biidaaban M. Reinhardt is an Anishinaabe Ojibwe woman from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She completed her Bachelors degree in Physics and Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University and recently graduated with her Masters degree in Sustainable Construction at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in August 2020. Her thesis research focused on traditional ecological knowledge and experimental design in contemporary building materials in the Great Lakes Region. 

Biidaaban was a Climate Justice Rural Media Fellow for MEJC Action! in which she completed a media project highlighting environmental justice concerns for Michigan tribes. Lastly, Biidaaban is a graphic designer with Williamson Creative Agency and has led the creative concepts and graphic design for various organizations, events, and conferences such as the Native American Critical Issues Conference for five years with the Michigan Indian Education Council.

Catalina Rios Hernandez

Cultural Strategy Lead

Catalina was born in Mexico but considers Detroit, Michigan her home. A concept that she is slowly reclaiming. She has been organizing around different social justice issues, especially immigration for more than a decade. The root of how she approaches her movement work is making social justice accessible and believes in the power of art and culture to create that bridge. Her art practice is poetry but also enjoys painting and caring for plants. She loves visiting the Detroit river and taking walks in Belle Isle, especially during sunset.

Hoai An Pham

Digital Organizer

Hoai An Pham is an organizer based in Ann Arbor, MI, where she was born and raised as a first generation Vietnamese American. As a disabled abolitionist, she has worked in movements around immigration, labor, climate, prisons, and racial justice, with the goal of building long-term, welcoming community. She is currently the Digital Organizer for We the People-MI and also the manager of her twenty-six Sims.

Eli Day

Communications Director

Eli is a Detroiter. He’s most grateful for his city’s people, and their fierce determination to survive and build a more beautiful world — both across the many corners of the city they love and beyond them. He spent years bouncing between work as an organizer, congressional policy aide, and communications adviser. Most recently, he’s been working as a journalist, spotlighting working-class movements for racial and economic justice at spots like In These Times magazine, Mother Jones, Playboy, Vox, the Root, and more.

Terry Blastenbrei

HR Manager

Terry Blastenbrei serves as WTPMI’s HR Coordinator. A St. Louis native and longtime nomad, he made Michigan his permanent home in 2018, settling in St. Clair Shores. After many years in operations and human resource management, Terry moved into nonprofit and political work in 2016. It was in this sphere that he found he was able to truly bring humanity to human resources, building and sustaining organizations with a genuine respect of their employees. In his downtime, he loves collecting colored vinyl records, traveling, watching hockey and spending time with his wife and their two cats.

Michelle Davidson

Operations Manager

Michelle is the operations coordinator with We The People-MI. She provides support for the organization with a strategic focus on equity, the quality of life, and diversity and inclusion. Michelle’s passion involves working with community leaders to organize, host and collaborate on community events that empower individuals.

Michelle earned her Bachelors of Social Work from Oakland University and received her Masters of Social Work from Wayne State University.

Rhonda Powell

Operations Director

Rhonda Powell is the Statewide Operations Director for We The People-MI, which is focused on community organizing and seeks to build a multi-racial, working class constituency across the state rooted in economic, racial and social justice. She is also the founder and Vice-Chair of Metro Equity Collaborative, a nonprofit organization in Macomb County working to build advocacy and power in civics, economics, education and social justice.

In Rhonda’s previous role, she served as Director of the Macomb County Health and Community Services Department. She is the first African American appointed as a Director in Macomb County.

Rhonda has an extensive history of leadership experience which also includes; Director of Macomb Community Action Agency, Deputy Director of Michigan’s Aging and Adult Services Agency, Director of Macomb County Senior Services and Director of MCREST. Rhonda has received multiple awards for her strategic leadership and vision, including the 2019 Athena Award from the Macomb Chamber Foundation.

Rhonda has been committed to the work of advocacy, equity, inclusion, and organizational development for over 20 years. She is a certified Sixth Sigma Green Belt, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Siena Heights University, and a Master of Science degree from Capella University, both of which are concentrated in Human Service.

MARIA IBARRA-FRAYRE

Deputy Director

Maria is the Deputy Director for We the People Michigan. She immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was nine years old, and grew up Southwest Detroit and Dearborn. Maria has been fighting for immigrant justice for over a decade, including organizing with undocumented immigrant youth, deportation defense, and building mutual aid systems that center the leadership of women of color. Maria graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy with a degree in English, and has a Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan. In her free time Maria likes drinking expensive tea, playing with her puppy, Coriolis, and trying to publish her poetry.

Caitlin Homrich-Knieling

Lead Organizer

Caitlin is the Deep Canvass Coordinator with We The People based in Detroit. Organizing found her while she was doing her MA in Anthropology at UMass Amherst in 2014-2016. She is originally from the rural, working class “Thumb” of Michigan, and she roots her motivation to fight for multiracial liberation in the lives of her loved ones there. Her vocation is using the practices of curiosity, storytelling, honesty, and love to build bridges with people of different life experiences and perspectives, and training others to do the same. She is a new mama and devotes her spare time to Catholic prayer practices, giving astrology readings, renovating her home in Detroit, and visiting her family.

Johanna Bogater

Northern Michigan Organizer

Johanna Bogater is a Southwest Michigan native that moved to the Upper Peninsula for it’s remote quality and natural beauty. The political climate of recent years motivated her to get active. As a part of the group she co-founded, Alger County Action – whose goal is to get locals into office – she became a City Commissioner. Since its creation the group has gotten representation in many spaces across the county as well as participated in voter advocacy work and actions around issues campaigns related to economic, racial, environmental and social justice. She will serve as a Northern Michigan Organizer with We The People.

Tori McGeshick

UP Organizer 

Tori McGeshick (She/her/hers) is from Getegitegaanig formally referred to as the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Tori prides herself in being a mother of two, and having the responsibility of raising the next generation. Tori earned a Bachelor of Arts & Science of Applied Speech Communication with a concentration in Advocacy at Ferris State University. She also earned a Masters of Legal Studies, Indigenous Peoples Law  at the University of Oklahoma. In order to further engage in grassroot work throughout Indian Country, she completed the Native Organizers Alliance Organizing Fellowship and the Native Justice Coalition Organizing & Outreach Internship. Tori envisions herself as a voice for her people, as well as Mother Earth; by embodying traditional, spiritual, and cultural aspects throughout her journey as an organizer, she continues to honor her ancestors.

Robert Hazen

Field Organizer – UP

Robert Hazen is an Anishinaabe person from the Upper Peninsula and a member of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. He is currently an undergraduate student at Michigan Technological University where he is pursuing a double Bachelor’s in Social Sciences and Mathematical Sciences. In his current capacity as a student and organizer, he is an activist for better representation for Indigenous students and faculty in higher education, an activist for Indigenous sovereignty over treaty rights, land use, and energy, and a student researcher with the Geospatial Research Facility at Michigan Technological University working on preserving Indigenous cultures, histories, and knowledges.

Maya Milton

Detroit Organizer

Maya is a lifelong Detroiter and womanist. The foundation for her desire for action was seeing the examples of black womanhood and her family’s engagement with politics. This influence manifested her destiny of participating in fighting for equity and accountability, which she has been able to do by creating politically motivated theatre and, more recently, with direct action.
 
She will graduate from Wayne State University with a BA in Sociology in Spring 2023 and plans to pursue movement work after. Her adoration of Detroit’s singular signature and the subcultures that come with it is what inspires her to uplift the voices of Detroiters. She feels divinely blessed to be one of many Gen-Z people building a world they feel proud to leave behind.
 
Maya believes in experiencing joy whenever doable. Anytime she gets a chance, she’ll take an incredibly long walk, read tarot, immerse herself in theatre, or eat as much vegan soft serve as possible.

Nia Wells

Data Associate

Nia is a Highland Park born, Detroit organizer, community activist, and data professional. Her family’s participation in the civil and women’s rights movements, seeded in her a passion for activism that has only grown over time. Before becoming a Data Associate, Nia spent multiple years as a field organizer mobilizing voters throughout southeast Michigan. 

 

Nia attended the University of Alabama where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. While in school, she organized fellow students around issues like voting rights via electoral campaigns. She is passionate about spreading knowledge and deconstructing the mistrust of political systems within communities of color. In her current role as a Data Associate, Nia aims to use data to help organizers better reach voters and community members around vital community issues.

Diego Vasquez-Salgado

Data Associate

 

Diego Vasquez-Salgado is a Data Associate with We the People MI, based in Detroit. Diego was born in Temixco, Morelos, a small town in central Mexico in 1999, before migrating to the U.S. at the age of 2. As a result of his life  experiences, Diego feels strongly about the importance of fighting for human rights, labor rights, and all the rights of all people of color. 

 

Diego earned his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Detroit Mercy in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. After college, he started in the movement as a volunteer canvasser for many different campaigns, including some with We The People-MI. In his current role as a Data Associate, Diego contributes to our organizers’ work and campaigns across Michigan, and helps organizers use data to share stories about their organizing efforts and to build stronger communities across Michigan. 

Cornell Batie

Finance Director

Cornell C. Batie oversees We The People MI / We The People Action Fund’s finance and accounting operation. He’s a strategic leader with 30 progressive years of leveraging leadership talent in the areas of operations, finance, and
procurement.


Cornell is a high-level executive with extensive experience in running operations in both for-profit and not-for profit entities. He has a strong background in board governance; providing consultation to diverse groups of senior executives and Board of Directors on complex business strategies, board effectiveness, and developing successful corporate governance processes.


Cornell is a native Detroiter who holds two undergraduate degrees in Management and Accounting from the University
of Detroit Mercy, and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from Wayne State University.

 

He is exceedingly skilled in tailoring his coaching style to unique personalities and situations, empowering staff to execute on key strategies, and driving excellence. His ability to assimilate company missions, identify key stakeholders, navigate through silos, and deliver results gained him the Spirit of Detroit and Crain’s CFO of the Year awards. Other award recognitions include the State of Michigan Special Tribute and Michigan Chronicle’s Men of Excellence.

Rachel Udabe

Policy & Research Analyst

Rachel is a Research and Policy Analyst with We the People Michigan. She is a new resident of Detroit; hailing from Los Angeles, her big Mexican family instilled a respect for education as a vehicle to change the future. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California with Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Public Policy, she taught English as a Fulbright recipient in Taiwan, absorbing the educational and community-based culture of the rural county she considers her second home. After 2.5 years, Rachel returned to the States and earned her Master’s degree in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University while teaching in urban areas around the country, comparing her aspirational academic curriculum with stories of students’ sobering realities impacted by systemic discrimination and institutional disenfranchisement. She moved to Michigan to contribute to a vibrant and passionate environment with this organization working to create happy and healthy communities for all. 

Megan Matyjasik

FIELD ORGANIZING SUPERVISOR – UPPER PENINSULA/NORTHERN MICHIGAN

Megan is the 2022 Field Organizer Supervisor for northern Michigan and the UP. She is based in Sault Ste. Marie. She is a career-changing librarian who has been working with multiple advocacy organizations in Michigan for the past two years, including We the People Michigan, for their 2020 Deep Canvass Pilot. She has a BA in French from the Ohio State University, and a Master’s in Information Science from the University of Michigan. She worked in libraries for 30 years as a “social justice, tech-savvy librarian,” writing many grants for pilot projects to better serve marginalized people in her community. In 2017-18, she dipped her toe into a career shift as an Americorps VISTA volunteer in southwest Colorado. In her free time, she likes hanging out and hiking with her spouse and three dogs, swimming, biking, playing word games/puzzles, watching murder mysteries, and listening to podcasts.

Aarica Marsh

Administrative Coordinator

Aarica Marsh is the Administrative Coordinator for We the People Michigan. Aarica has worked with local, state-wide, and national campaigns and organizations on a wide variety of strategies, including field, fundraising, operations, and communications. Aarica is a first-generation university graduate who worked for more than a decade in the food service industry which cultivated her love of food and also her drive to create a more equitable world for working class people. Aarica enjoys spending time with her 13 nieces and nephews, gardening, going to local shows, and meeting people. She currently lives in Hamtramck, MI with her partner and their three cats.
 

Celina Madden

Digital Strategist

Celina is a digital creative and strategist based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Born in China and raised in the Chicagoland area, Celina‘s cultural and life experiences have deeply informed her creative process as a queer international adoptee. She has worked in and with movements centered around reproductive justice, survivor and victim advocacy, and immigrants’ rights. When she’s not on the internet, you can find Celina cooking for her chosen family or immersed in a pile of books. 

Nelly Fuentes

Statewide Immigration Strategist

Nelly is a regional organizer with We The People in Southwest Michigan. She is a native woman of Mesoamerica who migrated to the Michigan region at the beginning of the century, landing in Kalamazoo in 2006.  She believes in the human right to free migration within Turtle Island and is passionate about migrant liberation efforts. Anti-colonial practices and healing are at the center of her organizing vision. As part of her healing practices, she invokes the guidance and wisdom of her ancestors through the art of tortilla making.

Marita Ky

Policy and Research Analyst

Marita is a Policy and Research Analyst for We the People. She was born in Cambodia and moved to West Michigan at 11-year-old. Marita earned her B.A at the University of Michigan, dedicating her studies on the Socioeconomic Contexts of Healthcare and Health Policy. She believes that our collective existence and liberation are bound together. Working with We the People allows her to materialize her passion for justice and study in policy to cultivate realities of justice and peace for our collective existence. Outside of work, Marita loves biking, spending time on Lake Michigan, and going to live music events with friends.

Maya Milton

Field Organizer – Detroit

Maya is a lifelong Detroiter and womanist. The foundation for her desire for action was seeing the examples of black womanhood and her family’s engagement with politics. This influence manifested her destiny of participating in fighting for equity and accountability, which she has been able to do by creating politically motivated theatre and, more recently, with direct action.

 

Maya will graduate from Wayne State University with a BA in Sociology in Spring 2023 and plans to pursue movement work after. Her adoration of Detroit’s singular signature and the subcultures that come with it is what inspires her to uplift the voices of Detroiters. She feels divinely blessed to be one of many Gen-Z people building a world they feel proud to leave behind.

 

Maya believes in experiencing joy whenever doable. Anytime she gets a chance, she’ll take an incredibly long walk, read tarot, immerse herself in theatre, or eat as much vegan soft serve as possible.

Kamau Jawara

Detroit Organizer

Kamau is a politocultural organizer from Detroit’s east side with passions for community and storytelling. Kamau uses political education & cultural strategy to support concentrations of Energy Justice, Leadership Development, & Co-Governance. In order to build SEMIsaic, our unified dream of organized residents of Southeast Michigan, we must be persistently curious and care for each other. That is to say, movement must start with developing the power & solidarity of black Detroiters.

Kate Atkinson

Kate Atkinson

Tech Coordinator

In her work Kate has a large interest in tech accessibility and helping the team with all their needs. Kate has a broad range of skills from a history in private software development. She is proud to work at WTPMI and to apply her personal values and professional skills to support the organization. Kate is located in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, and in her free time enjoys gardening and sewing projects.

Diego Navarrete

MIGRANT LEADER SCHOOL COORDINATOR

Diego is an undocumented organizer and proud Southwest Detroiter. He was born in Mexico and migrated with his family at a young age to Detroit, Michigan. As an undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient, Diego has been an advocate for immigrant rights and social justice. He has been an active organizer since the age of 14, empowering other youth in Detroit to engage in local politics and advocate for issues affecting their communities around education, immigration, and economic justice. Diego is a recent graduate from Harvard College, where he studied Government and organized with undocumented members of the Boston community. He is passionate about empowering undocumented folks and building avenues of political participation for immigrant communities.

Layla Elabed

SE MI Organizer

Layla is a lead regional organizer with We The People in Southeast Michigan. She is a proud daughter of Palestinian immigrants, number twelve of her fourteen brothers and sisters, and mother of three fierce future social justice warriors. Layla has been a long-time advocate for intimate partner violence and sexual assault prevention, environmental justice issues, voter rights, and movements that amplify justice, and the voices of black and brown communities. She continues to engage the collective power of her ancestral roots and her learning to shift and empower marginalized communities for equitable and sustainable change. To counter burn out, Layla makes time to spend with family and friends, and eating good food.

Elnora Gavin

SW Michigan Organizer

Elnora is a poet, author, playwright, publisher, activist and consultant. She was born and raised in Benton Harbor, MI and graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 1994. After graduating from Howard University with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Legal Communications with a minor in Business Management, Elnora continued working as a contracts assistant for a management services consulting firm in the Metro DC area as a logistics coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services. Her volunteer service with the Howard Chapter of the Big Brother Big Sister Program ignited her calling to return home and work as an educator in both traditional and alternative environments. As a convening partner for the Race2Equity Benton Harbor Hub and Co-Founder of the Peace4Life Student Organization, Elnora facilitated healing workshops, community events and strategy sessions to address key areas of local concern with regard to destabilization efforts of public schools in both the City of Benton Harbor and across the State of Michigan. In collaboration with residents, racial equity leaders, and supporting organizations, Elnora worked to establish alliances that empowered public school advocates and students to successfully change the political narrative that was driving school closures.

Tinu Roland

Detroit Organizer

Tinu is a regional organizer with We The People in Detroit. She is the mother of three girls — a third grader, preschooler, and infant. She is the President of HOPE Village Families Community Association, a community organization on the west side of Detroit that she helped found, and recently received the Michigan Community Resources Power of One dedicated women award for her work with HOPE Village Families. She also serves as an education organizer with Good Jobs Now and a fellow with Mothering Justice. Star believes that, in this work, you have to be the change you want to see in order to truly be effective. 

Art Reyes III

Executive Director

Art is the founding Executive Director of We The People. He was born and raised in Flint, MI and hails from three generations of proud UAW members. Before WTP, Art was the training director at the Center for Popular Democracy, where he led national training programs for organizers, lead staff, and executive directors. He spent much of 2016 working in Flint responding the water crisis and helped launch Flint Rising. Previously he led Michigan Voice, a statewide civic engagement organization. He has a BA from Michigan and MPP from Harvard where he taught a community organizing class with Marshall Ganz. He’s filled with random facts about the state of Michigan and lives with his wife Ashley, baby Emilio, and gigantic puppy named Kona the Coney Dog.