Departure from Doubletree Hotel

Leave for Lansing, Michigan

Meeting with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Website: https://www.michiganbusiness.org/

MEDC delivers tailored assistance to invest and expand your operations and workforce in Michigan communities. Through collaboration with more than 100 partners, we have tools and resources to support businesses at any stage of growth. No matter your business size, industry, or your community needs, the MEDC’s programs and local and regional partners have resources to help.

Visit Michigan State Capital

Lunch at Tavern and Top

Address:
111 E Michigan Ave, Lansing, MI 48933

We believe in Michigan. We believe in quality. We believe in working harder. We believe that life is better shared with friends. We believe in our community. We believe in family and farming. We believe in love as the secret ingredient. It isn’t just food and drink. We appreciate the little things. We are Tavern + Tap.

Meeting with Senator Erika Geiss and Senator Sarah Anthony

Senator Sarah Anthony has always fought for equity and opportunity for all Michiganders, including the most vulnerable among us. Throughout her 20 year career in public service, Sarah has made history multiple times, serving as mid-Michigan’s first African American woman to be elected to the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate. In 2023, she became the first Black woman to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. 

As Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, she earned a reputation as a pragmatic, effective legislator, where she passed multiple bills into law with substantial bipartisan, stakeholder, and community support. She fights to strengthen education, expand health care, reform Michigan’s criminal justice system, support workers and uplift small businesses. Under her leadership, she has passed bills addressing college affordability, workforce developments, support for veterans, and housing issues.

Before serving in the Capitol, Anthony was the youngest Black woman to serve on a County Commission in the United States. During her time as a commissioner, Anthony served in many leadership positions, including serving as Chair and Vice Chair of the board. She was a fearless leader for health care access, social justice, services for senior citizens and working families. In 2010, Anthony began a near decade tenure as the Deputy & Interim Executive Director with the Michigan College Access Network. There, she worked with school districts, community foundations, business leaders and nonprofit organizations to provide funding and support for students. Her experience built her unique understanding of the barriers to higher education and economic opportunity facing Michiganders today, as well as the compounding effect on the skills gap facing Michigan employers. As state Representative, Anthony has partnered with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Governor’s administration to make real headway on the talent pipeline and pathway to economic success.   

For her work in the Capitol, she has been recognized nationally in such publications as the New York Times, Essence, The New Yorker, and Politico. She has been named “Legislator of the Year” from business, nonprofit, education and social justice groups. 

Senator Anthony was born and raised in Lansing’s south side. She has a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and earned a master’s degree from Western Michigan University.

Senator Erika Geiss is not afraid to fight for Michigan families and underrepresented communities. She is a fervent supporter of policies promoting social change, especially when it comes to uplifting communities of color and low-income families. She is the Assistant President Pro Tempore of the Michigan Senate, where she is also serving her second term.

Senator Geiss previously served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives and then as the Democratic Caucus Chair in her first term in the Senate. Her major legislative accomplishments include improving the standards of care for pregnant and nursing prisoners at the state’s only facility for female inmates, improving communication with the Federal Railroad Administration to decrease blocked crossings in her community, and developing the standards of implicit bias training for health care professionals across the state as part of a broader strategy to reduce racial disparities in health outcomes.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Brandeis University and her master’s degree in art and architectural history from Tufts University. She is the granddaughter of Panamanian immigrants and has spent most of her adult life in Michigan.

She and her husband, Doug, live in Taylor and have two children.

Depart for Metro Detroit

Get ready for evening reception

Reception for NACCIMA

Address:
Kola Restaurant and Lounge
5801 Southfield Fwy, Detroit, MI 48228