The David Bohnett Foundation Leadership and Public Service Fellowship, launched in 2010 with a gift from the foundation of U-M alumnus David Bohnett (MBA ’80), is a competitive award that enables Ford School students to apply their policy training to benefit the people and government of the City of Detroit.
Over the past five years, Bohnett Fellows have contributed to a wide variety of public service improvements in the city, including the expansion of curbside recycling, the improvement of public lighting, the development of plans to streamline the small business application process, and more.
We are delighted to announce the next round of Bohnett Fellows, who will serve the City of Detroit Mayor’s Office and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation in the summer of 2016.
Michael Auerbach
Michael Auerbach
From 2010 to 2011, Michael Auerbach served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency. While there, he compiled demographic data and established professional partnerships to launch a mobile farmer's market program, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. He developed and implemented an agency-wide volunteer recruitment program, assisted with a number of grant applications for educational and supportive housing services, and provided horticultural support for more than 60 community gardens. Since 2012, Auerbach has worked with Detroit’s Gleaners Community Food Bank, where he has assisted with food drive coordination and the implementation of the USDA Summer Food Service Program. Michael Auerbach is a 2009 graduate of the College of Wooster, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in urban studies. At the University of Michigan, he is pursuing a dual master’s degree in public policy and urban planning.
Luz Viviana Meza
Luz Viviana Meza
Luz Meza immigrated to Detroit at the age of 13 and quickly became an active and engaged volunteer in political campaigns, city revitalization efforts, and the local immigration reform movement. In 2013, she earned her undergraduate degree in economics and international studies at the University of Michigan. During college, she served as a founding member of the Coalition for Tuition Equality, a member of Detroit’s youth-led immigrant rights group, a member of the University’s task force on undocumented students, and a leader in the successful movement for in-state tuition for undocumented students at U-M. Meza is now serving as a Teach for America Fellow and bilingual educator in Dallas, Texas and will matriculate at the Ford School in the fall of 2015 to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. Her hope is to expand the influence of Latino communities in policymaking circles. The goal: to positively impact the social, civic, and economic wellbeing of minorities in the United States.
Meghan Bogaerts
Meghan Bogaerts
Megan Bogaerts earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in history and English from the University of Illinois in 2006. After graduation, she completed internships with the Office of U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin and an architectural planning and preservation firm in Chicago where she researched, authored, and edited content for Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature by Doug Farr (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). From 2007-2014, Bogaerts worked as a neighborhood development program manager at the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, DC. She generated technical content for the LEED for Neighborhood Development Green Building Rating System; provided in-depth technical assistance to communities; and provided editorial oversight for the most recent LEED reference guides. She also managed a committee of 15 internationally known experts in sustainability. At the University of Michigan, Bogaerts is pursuing a dual degree in public policy and natural resources.
David Bohnett is a University of Michigan alumnus (MBA '80) and entrepreneur. The foundation that bears his name is committed to improving society through social activism. Read more about David Bohnett in the State & Hill feature, "To the City and the World."