Michael Tenbusch named as one of Crain's 40 Under 40

From Crain's Detroit Business: Crain’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2008 includes a mix of rising stars. Some have started new companies and found success. Others have come up through the ranks at Detroit’s leading companies. Still others are working to improve the offerings and reach of area nonprofits.

Michael Tenbusch, 39

Vice president
United Way for Southeastern Michigan
Detroit

Biggest achievement: Giving Detroit youth an opportunity to play in athletic leagues with well-trained coaches and to build character through his co-founding of Think Detroit (now ThinkDetroit/PAL).

Current goal: To create high-performing K-12 schools through the use of best practices for every young person in the region, regardless of what neighborhood or city they live in.

Michael Tenbusch has spent more than a decade improving the lives of Detroit children. He started by founding a nonprofit and continues through a key position he now holds for United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

In 1996 when he was just 27, he co-founded Think Detroit, a nonprofit organization to build character in Detroit children through sports and leadership development.

Under Tenbusch and co-founder Dan Varner, the organization grew to a budget of $1.2 million, after many funding challenges, and maintained that budget while increasing the number of youth participants in its programs to 5,000 from 2,000.

In 2005, Think Detroit merged with the Detroit Police Athletic League Inc., and today it serves 13,000 youths each year.

Tenbusch left the nonprofit in his friend Varner’s hands and moved on to become COO of University Preparatory High School in Detroit before doing consulting work for the Skillman Foundation.

In January he joined United Way as vice president of educational preparedness. In that role, he’s currently overseeing initiatives to ensure children in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are reading at grade level by third grade and to decrease the dropout rates at 30 area high schools.

Tenbusch led the establishment in August of the Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund, a $10 million fund to help those low-performing high schools improve their graduation rates and secured a $1 million grant from the AT&T Foundation toward that end.

He recently helped organize a dropout prevention summit in conjunction with One D, the regional collaborative of civic organizations.

— Sherri Begin

Data... a love story

As everyone knows, I LOVE DATA! Whether it is old math, new math, statistical analysis, or just rankings, give me some numbers and I am happy.

One of my favorite datasets is 'Most Popular Baby Names.' I also enjoy 'most popular dog names' and 'most popular surnames.'

The Social Security Administration has just released its list for 2007. in addition to providing a national listing, one can also see how each state compares to national trends. Even more exciting (for me, at least) is the fact that you can compare lists over time - annually since 1960! At the national level you can see how your name ranks back to 1880 (as long as it falls in the Top 1,000). For example, Kurt ranked 913 in 1894, moved up to 801 in 1896, and then disappeared until 1911. Popularity increased annually, beginning in 1948, and reached its highest point - 109 - in 1964. My moment was short-lived as Kurt began to lose its cache, falling to 957 in 2005, and off the list for 2006 and 2007. On the other hand, when my son was born in 1980 we named him Noah - a name than ranked 241 nationally and out of the Top 100 in Michigan. We started a trend which has resulted in Noah ranking 14th nationally in 2007 and 5th in Michigan. I mentioned this to him last night and he confirmed that he is getting tired of hearing young mothers calling for Noah everywhere he goes.

While we were trend setters with our son, the naming of our daughter - Leah - in 1983 did not catch on quite as well (a fact that, judging from our son's experience, is probably appreciated by her). In the year of her birth, her name ranked 82nd nationally and 140th in the State of Michigan. By 2007, she had risen only 14 spots nationally but jumped to 59th in her home state.

Where do you rank? If your name is Emily you have been #1 nationally since 1996, succeeding Jessica (9 years), Ashley (2 years) and Jennifer (15 years) who ruled the roost since 1970. On the male side of the equation, Jacob has held the top spot for the last 9 years, taking over for Michael which was #1 every year from 1961 through 1998. In fact, Michael was also #1 from 1954 to 1959, falling behind David only in 1960.

Go to the Social Security Administration's website and have some fun - http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html - you never know what facts you can store and retrieve when conversation hits an uncomfortable silence.

I told you that DATA CAN BE FUN!

Kurt Metzger
Research Director, United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Seven Oakland Human Service Agencies Collaborate to Provide Better Service

Agencies factor in convenience for clientele; form unique partnership with assistance from United Way

Oakland County, MI - Oakland County residents who are in need of assistance will now be able to navigate human service agencies with greater ease. After recognizing the need to streamline services for their clients, seven Oakland agencies, -- Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency (OLHSA), Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan, Lighthouse of Oakland County, Jewish Family Services of Metropolitan Detroit, Catholic Social Services of Oakland County, Oakland Family Services and Common Ground, formed a unique collaborative, the Oakland County Client Service Collaborative (OCCSC).

Together, the agencies will create a seamless system for clients seeking services and support. The agencies will also establish client criteria, eligibility requirements and formulate a single intake system linking clients to services with all seven agencies. Once completed, United Way’s 2-1-1 will be included within the collaboration. United Way is also studying the collaborative as a possible model for the future of human services.

“We know that our clients are busy -- often they are working two jobs, caring for children and a home. Their daily schedule will not allow them to make multiple stops at various agencies for assistance,” said Collette Kelly, Executive Director of the Furniture Bank of Southeastern Michigan. “We felt the need to streamline the services they need, and make the path to self-sufficiency a little smoother.”

On behalf of all seven agencies, Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency (OLHSA) was awarded the grant of $42,000 for one year, from United Way for Southeastern Michigan to act as fiduciary for the Oakland County Client Service Collaborative (OCCSC). OLHSA has hired a project manager to oversee the collaborative and work with partnering agencies to form a system linking services.

“Right now things are tough for a lot of people. They need to be able to make one stop to find out what services are available to them when they visit an agency,” said Ron Borngesser, CEO at OLHSA. “No one can really afford to take days off work and wait to try and get help - it’s counterproductive. Our collaborative will break down barriers and give our clients access to much needed services. The seven agencies have been working together for years. This just makes it official.”

About United Way for Southeastern Michigan

United Way for Southeastern Michigan mobilizes the caring power of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to improve lives in measurable and lasting ways throughout the region. The organization is led by a diverse group of volunteers from business, labor, government, human services, education and the community. United Way provides opportunities to invest in the metropolitan Detroit community through its annual Campaign and is a leader in convening partners to impact local residents each year by increasing economic self-sufficiency, protecting children and youth at risk, strengthening families, empowering neighborhoods and communities, and promoting health and wellness. Additional information is available at www.uwsem.org

Detroit schools: There is good news

As the Research Department continues to analyze the recently released Graduation/Dropout data from the State of Michigan (a report will appear on the web next week), I wanted to tell you the good news about Detroit schools.

A total of 32 high schools (out of 204) in the tri-county area (graduating at least 20 children) achieved an on-time graduation rate of 95 percent or better. The City of Detroit School District accounted for 6 of these schools, two of which - Renaissance and Cass - placed in the Top 7 in the region. The other districts with multiple entries were Bloomfield Hills (3), Grosse Pointe (2), Rochester (2), Troy (2), and Utica (3).

Detroit is also well represented on the other end of the graduation spectrum - those with graduation rates below 60 percent. While a significant number of the schools with the lowest graduation rates were Alternative Education institutions, and thus not necessarily relevant to our high school initiative, the Detroit Public School District did have a number of entrants. Among the "regular" public high schools in Detroit that had graduation rates below 60 percent were:

• Northern High School 56.9%
• Detroit City High School 56.4%
• Mackenzie High School 56.3%
• Southwestern High School 56.0%
• Central High School 55.9%
• Finney High School 53.5%
• Chadsey High School 52.0%
• Redford High School 48.0%

A final report, including results for all tri-county high schools, along with additional data will be forthcoming.

Kurt Metzger
Research Director, United Way for Southeastern Michigan
kurt.metzger@LiveUnitedSEM.org

United Way 2008 Hurricane Recovery Fund

With your help, United Way will continue the enduring work to put lives and communities back together. What took the hurricane just a few moments to destroy will take years to rebuild. Gifts to the United Way 2008 Hurricane Recovery Fund will support services that help to bring a community back better than before (e.g. housing, mental health, quality child care, job training).

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