Mary Sheffield delivered her first Mackinac Policy Conference address as Detroit’s mayor, uplifting what she sees as the foundation of the city’s growth: the well-being of its people.
She noted Detroit’s continued population gains and said that decisions being made now will guide whether that growth is temporary or truly sustainable.
“The strongest economies are not built just from buildings and balance sheets but from healthy, stable and economically empowered people,” she said. “We know that buildings matter, but they are only as good as the foundation on which they stand. For me, investing in people is that foundation. It should be the foundation of any growth strategy.”
Sheffield acknowledged Detroit’s progress over the last decade with neighborhood stabilization, business growth, historic crime reduction and affordable housing investments and its improved financial position.
“While all great news, I wasn’t elected to maintain the status quo,” she said. “I was put in office for Detroit to rise higher.”
The mayor then laid out her commitment to tackling poverty elimination as a “pro-growth strategy” during the 2026 conference centered on the theme of common ground.
Poverty, she said, is not just a social issue, it’s an issue that reverberates in the economy and business sectors, workforce and overall regional competitiveness.
“If we are serious about building a sustainable growth strategy, we need to be serious about eliminating poverty and increasing economic mobility,” she said. “For far too long, it’s been viewed through a narrow lens of charity or subsidy.”
Detroit is leading the state in population growth, with new Census figures showing an influx of 5,000 new residents in the last year, ending July 1, 2025. The growth marks the third straight year of significant gains for Detroit and maintains its position as the nation’s 26th most-populous city, a ranking it has held since 2023. Detroit is one of only three communities in Wayne County to have grown in population since 2020. The roughly 650,000 residents is a far cry from the 1.8 million that called Detroit home 75 years ago.
Still, the city’s poverty rate is around 35% – and about 51% of Detroit children live in poverty, she said.
“That is the highest in the state of Michigan and the third highest in the country,” Sheffield told the crowd, adding that translates to more than one in every two children. “That is an economic red flag that should concern each and every person in this room. Our children are not just our moral responsibility, they are our future workforce, entrepreneurs, homeowners, civic leaders – and the problem of poverty and its consequences don’t stop at just Detroit’s borders.”
The mayor also used the stage to urge state lawmakers to prioritize property tax reforms, saying that her administration has begun to meet weekly with a working group on options to achieve a lower property tax rate.
Sheffield said in her first 100 days in office, the administration has made sweeping changes and investments in people. She highlighted multiple initiatives, including:
- The creation of the new department of Human, Homeless and Family Services. The office is led by poverty czar Luke Shaefer, who founded the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions.
- The expansion of the Rx Kids program to Detroit. Since launching in February, the no-strings cash program for moms and babies has enrolled over 2,300 Detroit families, doling out a collective $4.5 million.
- A wage boost for an estimated 900 full-time city employees that will bring their annual compensation up to $44,616, or what’s considered a livable wage in Wayne County.
“My administration chose to implement these policies and programs not just because it was the right thing to do. We also know that it is sound fiscal policy,” she said.
On the business front, the mayor hit on the city’s Legacy Business Project and the growth of emerging industries like aerial mobility and defense and noted conversations with undisclosed global companies looking to locate in the city.
Sheffield also told the crowd that she hired Winnie Liao as Detroit’s chief operating officer to reform licensing, zoning and permitting. Detroit will soon have pre-approved home design plans, which Sheffield hopes will help meet the goal of building 1,000 new single-family homes during her four-year term.
She said that her administration is working on an aggressive business attraction strategy – since the city lacks some bigger box shops like T.J. Maxx, Costco and indoor amusement parks. The main hurdle beyond regulatory burdens and density to securing those shops, she said, is poverty. “It’s the income levels needed to support their businesses,” she said.
Sheffield also detailed her ongoing efforts to prioritize Detroit youth. The mayor recently announced free Detroit Department of Transportation bus service for Detroit schoolchildren. Since it launched, student rides have doubled, she said, and SMART followed suit, expanding the program as a regional resource. But the free bus access also spurred concerns over young people congregating and causing disruption downtown and conversations about ensuring there’s enough safe spaces for the city’s young people.
The city is boosting programming for young people via Sheffield’s long-running Occupy the Corner program and her new initiative, Occupy the Summer. Plans are underway to create a slate of programming into the fall. Her administration has also pulled together a council of young people to advise and weigh in on more strategies and opportunities for Detroiters, including in the workforce.
Sheffield noted the expiration of the city’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, which in part bolstered the city’s youth employment efforts, and asked business leaders to step in to support Detroit’s youth this summer.
“We are giving young people real reasons to choose Detroit,” she told the crowd. “For those that live here now, we are investing in them so they make the decision to stay.”
