Meet our 2025 cohort of Racial Equity Fellows (a.k.a. DEAL 9)!
We build a shared understanding of racial equity from a personal to structural lens.
We develop the skills and tools needed to disrupt racism and create equitable alternatives.
We co-create a space to deepen relationships within a multiracial and multigenerational network of racial equity leaders.
Our Racial Equity Fellowship is a year-long program for emerging and experienced leaders with a deep commitment to racial equity.
Here's a look at the 2025 cohort (a.k.a. DEAL 9)! We officially kicked off DEAL 9, our newest cohort, with a two-day orientation in January.
Through our Racial Equity Fellowship, we bring together emerging and experienced leaders — in arts and media, community development, education, environment, food security, health care, housing, and more sectors — with a deep commitment to racial equity.
We're excited to share the newest cohort with you! Meet the fellows.
This project documents how grassroots activists in Detroit have challenged systemic racism during the era of emergency management by building movements for a more just and equitable city. This collection aims to preserve, honor, and amplify the voices of grassroots organizers during this pivotal moment in Detroit’s history.
Launched in October 2023, the Voices from the Grassroots website showcases inspiring, diverse stories of resistance through grassroots activism in Detroit.
Check it out for yourself! Visit voicesfromthegrassroots.org to see the profiles, oral history interviews, and more.
"Our goal is to increase the fellow’s capacity, and we hope that, as they add to their racial equity toolkit, they will share what they’re learning within their communities and organizations where they work or volunteer." — Asandi Conner, DEAL Director
“All Eyes on Detroit” tells the story of how our work at the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) is developing a national blueprint in Detroit designed to empower local communities to fight structural racism from the ground up.
"With a focus on lifting others to dismantle structural racism, the Detroit Equity Action Lab has discovered a new way to transform hearts and minds in Detroit — and across the country."
We're honored to have an amazing team leading and designing our Racial Equity Fellowship, all of whom are alumni of the program. Learn more in the recently released feature story on our work.