Mike Brennan, President of the United Way for Southeast Michigan, Speaks About Advocating for Social Issues
On Thursday, May 6th Mike Brennan, President of The United Way of Southeast Michigan and community game-changer, joined us in a discussion about the evolution of the United Way since it has been under his leadership. A native Michigander, Mike began his career at the United Way 25-years ago after a brief stint in the corporate world where he found that he was “too young to hate his job.”
At just 10-years-old, Mike’s mother passed away, leaving his father to manage both his business and the household. As neighbors, relatives, and friends continued to show up and offer support Mike realized in life “we can’t make it going alone.” The United Way was formed on a similar premise in 1912, the same year that Mike’s family first came to Detroit.
At the time, the United Way focused on finding a different way to improve the region. Distributing dollars was just one facet of their mission. Michigan’s two United Way’s soon garnered a reputation as the most traditional, value producing models in the country. While the Michigan organizations did good things, Mike felt they could make more of an impact.
Upon returning to his native Metropolitan Detroit after 15-years at the United Way’s Grand Rapids and Washington DC offices, Mike realized that a reboot was necessary. Doing the unimaginable, Mike asked his 150-member Board to voluntarily resign so he could restart and reincorporate around a redefined mission. Amazingly enough they obliged. Mike then merged the Oakland County and Detroit offices, reducing the Board from 150- to 30-members.
Continuing to define the future success of the United Way by how progress is made on social issues, the organization now focuses on three core areas:
- Education;
- Financial stability; and
- Safety.
Acting as a resource and advocate for the community, Mike has implemented the 211 phone system to help residents of a five-country area navigate resources such as food, job placement, and shelter. Mike has also implemented an important metric for raising graduation rates from 40% to more than 80% in 30-high schools in those same counties.
Mike humbly recognizes that the United Way was born out of the community and that he is only the steward for the organization, but he has made great strides in impacting our community.