Mission Statement

The mission of The Detroit Equity Report, Inc (DER) is to help Detroit’s corporate community utilize data to develop solutions that help disadvantaged communities and its residents break the cycle of poverty and access economic mobility.

Corporations and other civic institutions will be rated and scored based on metrics developed by skilled research specialists that examine areas that contribute to a good quality of life and determine whether access and opportunity to these areas are equitable. These areas include but are not limited to healthcare, representation in corporations, representation in purchasing and vending K-12 education, auto, and home insurance, and access to capital. 

Our focus will be on actual data to tell the story. We do not seek to editorialize, embarrass, or shame businesses and other institutions that lack diverse and equitable practices.  Rather, our goal is to show businesses and other institutions the data and offer solutions on how they can improve. Ours is a cooperative approach designed to benefit all parties involved.

  36%

• Detroit residents live below the poverty line which is $23,000 for a family of four.

5

Detroit is ranked #5 of impoverished communities.

200,000

African American residents in Detroit live in poverty.

12%

African Americans make up 12% of the American population.

3.2%

Only 3.2% of senior leadership of large corporations are African American.

  8%

African Americans make up only 8% of Fortune 500 CEO positions.

Why Our Mission is So Important

Metro Detroit remains one of the most racially segregated areas in the country. African
Americans make up more than 80% of Detroit’s population. 200,000 African American
Detroiters live in poverty.

Wayne State University’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights describes the Metro Detroit
region as “ground zero” for spatial-structural racism. The Coronavirus pandemic underscores
the fact that these issues are matters of life and death for our community. The recent outcries
over the murders of George Floyd and so many other incidents of injustice have once again put
a spotlight on the need for racial justice, equity and inclusion in all aspects of American life.
 

Board of Directors