Why City Institute
Many people who know me have told me that I should change my middle name to context because it’s such a part of who I am and what I do. It was the reason why in 2006 I co-founded a grassroots nonprofit that used tours to take locals and visitors beyond the headlines to educate them about Detroit’s history, culture, and community. That organization evolved into the Detroit Experience Factory (DXF) which uses immersive storytelling to connect locals and visitors to Detroit’s people, places, and projects. Almost 150,000 people have taken tours since 2006 to learn about Detroit’s assets, small businesses, historic neighborhoods, city planning and development policies, and innovative solutions to the challenges the city faces. Our focus was always on locals and most tour attendees actually live in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan. As a lifelong resident myself, I realized that although we can know a lot about our home from our daily life, there is always so much more to learn about where you live. The knowledge locals gain leads to a domino effect of positive impact as more people support small businesses, public institutions, community projects, and nonprofits they learned about.
As organizations and cities sought customized intensive engagements to learn, innovate and problem-solve, the City Institute concept was incubated inside of DXF while I created a set of services that went beyond those offered by DXF. I’ve worked with clients such as Harvard Loeb Institute, State of Oregon, City of Akron, City of Graz, Salesforce Executive Leadership, Challenge Detroit Fellows, and Detroit Revitalization Fellows to build experiences that leveraged my knowledge and relationships to share lessons learned from Detroit and put those lessons learned into context.
As Detroit continues to grow and evolve so do its needs. Finding clarity during the crises of 2020, I saw a need for a deeper understanding of Detroit focusing on how we got to where we are today and how we can work towards becoming a thriving and equitable city. The need to remind the world that Detroit’s people, places, and projects exist has given way to the importance of reminding the world that Detroit (and Detroiters) have always been here doing the work. The only way to equitably engage in Detroit is to understand the bigger picture - to understand Detroit in context.
That’s why I officially launched the City Institute in 2021: to focus on providing that deeper contextual understanding to locals and stakeholders in Detroit, to connect the dots between the past & present, and to better equip people to engage in and shape Detroit’s future.
While my heart is always in Detroit, I realized that the lessons learned here can be shared with communities across the globe. That’s why the City Institute offers services that have even expanded beyond Detroit to help other cities learn how to tell their stories in order to attract and retain talent, engage and inspire residents, promote small businesses and build thriving and equitable communities.
City Institute services include:
Learning Journeys: deeper dive tours and experiences that include in-person or virtual site visits, panel discussions, and case studies to share best practices
City Experience Consulting: helping communities craft contextual storytelling experiences and resources that connect locals and newcomers to the people, places, and projects that make each city unique
Speaking Engagements and Workshops led by Jeanette Pierce
Private Group Tours - understand Detroit on a deeper level whether you’ve been here a day or a lifetime. Choose from our catalog of virtual and in-person experiences or customize your itinerary to fit the needs of your group.
Discuss Detroit - conversations with small business owners, community leaders, and Detroit residents about the work they do in the city we love.
These services will complement existing Detroit Experience Factory programming including the public programming and resources people love like in-person tours, virtual live and streaming tours, downloadable checklists, and resources for living, working, and engaging in Detroit.
