Students in Gretchen Whitmer’s winter 2016 seminar on “Running, Serving, and Leading” interviewed a number of thought leaders about policy issues important to Michiganders.
These student podcasts (click on the links below to hear the audio files) feature Michigan State Representative Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW ‘14), Skillman Foundation CEO Tonya Allen, and other policy leaders talking about a broad range of issues, including:
- "State Budgeting,” with former Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (MI-D-23), by Erica Sivertson (MPP/MBA ’16)
- “Immigration issues at the state and local level,” with State Representative Stephanie Chang (MI-D-6), by Melissa Stek (MSW ’16)
- “Michigan’s pay gap for women,” with State Senator Rebekah Warren (MI-D-18), by Mika Koizumi (MPP ’16)
- “Transportation and urban planning,” with Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan CEO Michael Ford, by Joe Tate (MBA/MSc ’17)
- “Urban-suburban public health divide,” with Detroit Health Department Executive Director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, by Megan Foster Friedman (MPP ’16)
- “Civil forfeiture and police budgets,” with State Representative Peter Lucido (MI-R-36) and ACLU of Michigan Legislative Director Shelli Weisberg, by Pete Haviland-Eduah (MPP ’16)
- “Future of Michigan’s workforce,” with Lear Corporation President and CEO Matthew Simoncini, by Luis De La Cruz (MPP ’16)
- “Public education and its future,” with Skillman Foundation President and CEO Tonya Allen, by Larry Sanders (MPP ’16)
“Running, Serving, and Leading” offers students a practical understanding of what it takes to run for office, serve citizens, and lead once elected.
“It takes leadership to change, impact, create, and implement policy,” says Whitmer. “While people take on many different roles in policy formation, holding office is the surest way to make your voice heard, to provoke thoughtful debate, and ultimately to enact important policy.”
Gretchen Whitmer is a lecturer at the Ford School and interim prosecutor for Ingham County, Michigan. From 2000-06, she represented residents of East Lansing, Michigan in the state house; from 2006-14, she represented East Lansing residents in the state senate. In 2011, Whitmer was elected the Senate Democratic Leader and became the first woman to lead a caucus in the history of the Michigan Senate.