The Mobility Table

The Mobility Table went on the road, visiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit to sit down with President and CEO Shawn Wilson to discuss the organization’s work to provide Detroit-area youth pathways to success. Through autonomous racing programs, media production, entrepreneurship and other professional skills, the club builds up skills and pathways to long-term economic mobility.

Alongside his position as president and CEO at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit, Shawn is the co-founder of Usher’s New Look, a non-profit aimed at developing youth into leaders throughout the world. Shawn also served as president of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Board of Education and held an executive role at Ford, where he focused on advancing social and economic mobility in multicultural communities.

The Mobility Table was onsite at M1 Concourse for the MIX Summit and Michigan Moves Demo Day! Host Jeannine Gant was joined by guests involved in building, shaping and supporting the state's advanced mobility industry to better understand the work they are doing to position the state as the global destination for all things mobility.

Glenn Stevens joined Jeannine and Bernard at The Mobility Table to discuss the importance of finding the Michigan mobility industry’s north star. Their discussion explored the need to reverse Michigan’s declining economic and educational competitiveness through investment, increased economic mobility and a stronger emphasis on innovation.

Glenn Stevens is the Executive Director of MichAuto, an organization out of the Detroit Regional Chamber focused on the promotion, preservation and expansion of the automotive and mobility industries. Prior to his role at MichAuto, Glenn was a Senior Vice President at the Original Equipment Suppliers Association.

Rich Fahle sat down at The Mobility Table with Jeannine and Bernard to discuss the growing need for regulation in the Advanced Aerial Mobility Industry, why it's important as advanced aerial mobility uses expand, and what those regulations could look like to ensure encourage safe operations across a wide variety of recreational, commercial and public sector uses.

Rich Fahle is the Vice President of Marketing for Airspace Link, Inc. Prior to his role at Airspace Link, Rich served as the head of Partnerships and Marketing at Newlab. He has extensive experience in media and strategy roles, spanning organizations including CSPAN, PBS Books and Borders Group.

Monica Wheat sits down with Jeannine and Bernard at The Mobility Table to discuss the need for a translation layer between founders, corporations and capital organizations to commercialize mobility technologies. She also discussed the ways that access to prototyping and testing infrastructure draws innovation labs away from the coasts, enabling the retention of talent and pioneers in the region.

Monica Wheat is the founder and executive director of Venture Catalysts. She was previously the managing director at Techstars Detroit, leading startup programs across multiple continents.

Lauren Else joined Jeannine and Bernard at The Mobility Table to explore the existing infrastructure that supports the mobility industry and the emerging Advanced Aerial Mobility industry in Michigan and the Detroit Region.

Lauren Else is the grant operations manager at the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification out of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. She previously worked at EnCompass LLC in monitoring roles.

Alan Hejl took a seat at The Mobility Table to discuss the importance of accessibility as a consideration during the development of mobility technologies. The conversation explored the benefits of prioritizing accessibility in the early stages of mobility technology design, the value of systemic thinking and the need to receive input from individuals with disabilities when creating human-centered solutions.

Alan Hejl is the founder and lead consultant at Spark Access. Prior to the creation of Spark Access, Alan spent over 13 years in the automotive industry in roles across Ford and General Motors, including accessibility strategy manager at General Motors.

Josh Bitterman joined Jeannine and Bernard at The Mobility Table to discuss how mobility technologies can extend beyond their intended use and create new opportunities across industries. They explored the need for flexible solutions for infrastructure, how the Detroit Region fosters connections and creates the platform for startups and other organizations to branch out globally.

Josh Bitterman is the co-founder and strategic advisor for IonDynamics Energy. He is also the co-owner and strategic director of Goldfish Swim Schools in Kansas City. Josh has previously served as the president and certified wealth strategist at Insignia Wealth Management.

Tim Slusser joined Jeannine and Bernard at the Mobility Table to explore the application of mobility technologies on aging infrastructure for maintenance and inspection purposes, the resources available for organizations working to create advanced mobility technologies and the potential for AI and greater autonomy in motmot’s technologies.

Tim Slusser is the operations director at motmot. He previously served as the chief of mobility innovation under Mayor Duggan. Throughout his career, Tim has occupied a variety of roles across business development and mobility.

Kristin Dziczek took a seat at The Mobility Table with Jeannine and Bernard to discuss the implementation of AI within the automotive industry, the impact of the mobility industry on the broader economy in Detroit and the impacts of the USMCA trade agreement review.

Kristin Dziczek currently acts as a senior policy advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s research, policy and public engagement division. Before her position at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Kristin served as the senior vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR).