Our Mission
Detroit Speaks, Inc. (DS) provides high school-aged youth in Metropolitan-Detroit with opportunities to increase social awareness, community involvement and develop leadership skills.
Our Vision
To ensure that youth are college & career ready by high school graduation, and are positive societal influencers.
“This is the organization that I needed 18 years ago.”
— Brianna R. Alexander, MPA
Co-Founder & Chief Visionary Officer, Detroit Speaks,Inc.
Our Story
Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Brianna Alexander, conceptualized Detroit Speaks in 2014 after uncovering her desire to give back to her hometown in a positive and unique way. As a first-generation college graduate, there were many aspects of college and career readiness that Brianna lacked due to disadvantages in relation to access to the proper resources and connections that would allow her to properly navigate adulthood, beyond receiving a college acceptance letter.
Brianna is a graduate of Howard University, Georgia State University and has completed a Business & Government Affairs program at Georgetown University. Although scholarship is extremely important to Brianna, she is aware that for many young people, college may not be on the immediate horizon, but that does not mean that they should go without direction and resources.
With the assistance of two other community enthusiasts and native Detroiters, Detroit Speaks was launched in 2016, offering several leadership development events and volunteerism opportunities. As of 2019-2020 Detroit Speaks has expanded and streamlined its programming to a more sustainable and impactful model which includes college & career readiness workshops, a summer leadership accelerator, scholarships and more. It is Brianna’s vision that youth will graduate high school feeling comfortable and fearless in taking their next steps, no matter what direction they decide to go in their endeavors.