I Am Young America is a social venture that promotes entrepreneurship as a means to combat youth unemployment and boost economic impact in cities. Our mission is to help revitalize American cities by empowering young entrepreneurs to launch businesses, and mobilize citizens everywhere to champion them. We're starting right here in Detroit: Get Inspired by reading young entrepreneurs' Stories, Learn to do-it-yourself through collaborative how-to Guides, Connect with them through interactive features and engagement opportunities, Explore their favorite spots, homes, and other Places, and Champion them as "spotters", mentors, resource providers, and local patrons through our CitySpotters platform. Get started: Navigate using the menu above.
Oneka Samet grew up on American comic books like X-Men and the Silver Surfer. With a penchant for reading comics and Japanese fashion, she opened up Chou Anime Cafe in Midtown.
Tawnya Clark, Founder of The Batata Shop, illustrates how perseverance and patience can help Detroiters, both young and old, grow their business slowly and successfully--a recipe for long-term success.
28-year-old Jacob “Jay” Rayford is the epitome of a social entrepreneur, creating businesses like Rep Your City and City Loyalty not solely focused on the bottom line, but that also impact his community. To say his passion is infectious would be an understatement.
Originally from Brighton, Kimo has become one of the most passionate Detroiters you'll ever meet. His passion for helping people become the best possible versions of themselves through his Corktown fitness and health studio True Body Fitness is unparalleled.
Andy Didorosi is a serial social entrepreneur, founding ventures like Paper Street, Detroit Bus Company, and The Thunderdrome. He started working when he was sixteen but realized it wasn't for him. "I'm a terrible, terrible employee," he says, "I could never work for anybody ever again."
CitySpotters are everyday citizens like you, who inform us whenever they 'spot' a promising new business or movement led by a Young Citizen Doer. Accepted contributions may appear on I Am Young Detroit and be rewarded with cool gifts that encourage local spending with the young entrepreneurs featured. Learn more>
‘Spot’ a promising new business or movement led by a Young Citizen Doer in Detroit for your chance to earn points.
Earn additional points by playing a ‘Supporting Role’ by Submitting How-To Guides, Becoming a Virtual Mentor, Offering Resources, and Answering User Questions. [Coming Soon]
Redeem the points you’ve earned for Gifts and Rewards that encourage local spending with our featured Young Doers.
Help populate Detroit’s virtual map with “bright spots”—inspiring people, places, and movements that you’ve spotted. We’ll use the map to show how, when, and where Young Citizen Doers are innovating.
Join CitySpotters today by visiting http://thecityspotters.com
Being a doer isn't limited to traditional entrepreneurship nor age—the local artists, neighborhood builders, and community leaders featured here come from all walks of life and are breaking the mold to carve out their own unique paths, all the while touching the lives of others along the way.
In our new Guides section, we'll feature an ever-growing and vast array of doer and user-submitted "How-To & Where-To Guides" that those looking to live, work, and "do" in the Detroit might find useful. Looking to contribute? Join CitySpotters and submit your own. We'll reward those that we publish here on IAYD with points that can be used to redeem gifts that encourage local spending.
Interested in posting a 30-day job posting? Purchase job post(s) here>
About I Am Young Detroit // Since 2009, I Am Young America, L3C has published I Am Young Detroit, an online publication and movement created to attract, retain, and empower young Doers in Detroit through relevant content, resources, engagement and funding opportunities. With IAYD 2.0 we're also working to empower citizens everywhere to champion them by providing their own.
From Detroit Pop:
“Detroit Pop’s old stomping grounds is the latest venue to offer Pop-up retail space and services for emerging entrepreneurs.
D: hive describes Pilot as “an ongoing retail pop-up project that seeks to bring creative and engaging businesses to D:hive’s interior white-box space. Pilot will provide selected retail and service entrepreneurs with two months of rent-free space within D:hive’s welcome center at 1253 Woodward. This is an exciting opportunity open to all entrepreneurs to test their brick and mortar potential in a prime location downtown”.
Program participants get two months of free space, marketing and graphic design support, mentorship, and build out and event planning support.
The first pop-up kicks off with Pot & Box. Interested applicants can find more info here“.
A few weeks ago we shared Livernois Community Storefront’s pop-up plans on Detroit’s Westside. We’re seeing a trend here!
Dear I Am Young Detroit Supporters & Friends,
I can’t thank you enough for all of the support that we’ve received over the past four years, and am excited to share some exciting new projects I Am Young America/Detroit is working on. It’s taken us about that long, but we finally have a clear vision of what we’d like to accomplish long-term and how we’ll do it…
Read the full Spring 2013 Quarterly Newsletter here.
Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion is soon to be bustling with exciting new pop-ups and cultural events. Through its Impact Detroit Initiative and in partnership with Detroit Economic Growth Corporation’s Revolve Detroit program, the Detroit Collaborative Design Center is spearheading the Livernois Community Storefront project on the strip. The project will activate a vacant storefront and create a community hub showcasing small businesses and local culture.
In this months’s Creative Conversations feature, Fast Company asks Can Detroit entrepreneurs save the city?
Written by Chuck Salters, we hear from IAYD regulars Andy Didorosi & Jerry Paffendorf, Motor City Java House’s Alica and Jon George, and I Am Young Detroit’s own Margarita Barry.
Despite the growing interest in bringing healthy food options to Detroit, the city is still referred to as a “food desert”. With existing grocery stores like University Foods, Honey Bee Market (plus many, many others) and new services and stores sprouting up like Harvest Express, Whole Foods, and Papa Joe’s, is the city really a food desert? Detroit Food Map intends to find out.
Apparently Detroit is so cool that even Crate & Barrel, the 170+ store home furniture and accessories retail mega chain, had to get in on some of the action. This month the store features I Am Young Detroit alum Veronika Scott as an “influencer” on their In The Loop blog. Could this mean the chain could soon call Detroit home? Does Scott get to keep the goods CB2 re-imagined in her space? Will that outrageous $400 rug ever go on sale?
Would-be techie entrepreneurs, give your business a jump start this summer through the Launch Detroit 10-week boot camp. Launch Detroit is aimed at training and funding entrepreneurs who are looking to launch a technology-based startup.
To qualify for this program, you have to be a full-time college student, or a recent graduate from a Michigan university, who’s willing to relocate to Southeast Michigan for the duration of the boot camp. Interested applicants can apply alone, but Launch Detroit highly encourages teams.
Address // At D:pop 1253 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48226
Telephone no. // (313) 444-4293
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