PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

ARCHITECTURE

HKS, Inc.

HKS is pleased to announce the promotion of Eric Messing, AIA, from Vice President to Principal at the global architecture rm. A proven leader recognized for his expertise in health care design and construction, Eric brings decades of experience in architecture and project management for large-scale health facilities. His work represents more than 2.9 billion dollars in construction value for renowned health clients across the globe.

ARCHITECTURE

HKS, Inc.

Global architecture rm HKS has promoted Jennifer Sutton, NCIDQ, LSSBB, to Interior Design Principal. is isn’t the only e ort to reduce violence. e city still operates Detroit Cease re, which aims to prevent gang violence.

Responsible for imaginative and engaging environments within sports and entertainment, her clients include but are not limited to the Cleveland Browns and Cavaliers, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions and Pistons. By taking into consideration athletes, fans, and communities alike, her expertise elevates the impact of design solutions at every scale.

When the city recorded 380 homicides and 1,300 nonfatal shootings in 2012, Detroit embarked on an mission to reduce those numbers. eir e orts resulted in numbers dropping to 260 homicides and 800 nonfatal shootings in 2018, Bettison said.

But a surge in violence during the coronavirus pandemic saw crime rise, leading the city to increase crime-prevention e orts, said Bettison, who was previously a Detroit assistant police chief. Last year, Detroit recorded 309 homicides and 959 non-fatal shootings in 2022. e money must be put back into the violence reduction program, though it doesn’t have to be spent that quarter, Bettison said. For the second year of the program, the formula has been tweaked to average gures from 2022 and 2023, so organizations aren’t victims of their own success. e city, in its request for proposals, said it won’t tolerate programs that simply move violence out of target areas into other parts of Detroit.

ShotStopper is precipitated on reducing the 2022 numbers.

Chosen organizations will be able to double their budgets each quarter if they show reductions in violence that are 20 percent or more than the city’s overall reduction for that same period. If their programs result in a 10 percent reduction in violence as compared to the city’s numbers each quarter, they can get an in ux of funding worth half as much as their quarterly budget.

Research shows that community-based organizations can be a useful tool to address gun violence, said Alaina DeBiasi, an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Wayne State University, in an email.

But DeBiasi, who is also associate director of Firearm Violence Research at Wayne State’s Center for Peace and Con icts Studies, said she thinks it will be “methodologically and statistically challenging” to untangle the e ects of these community organizations with other groups that are doing similar work in similar areas. For that reason, she said, it’s important to have other measures of success. She added that it may not be reasonable to expect an immediate e ect on rearm violence, even from existing programs. at’s also a concern of Jennifer Cobbina-Dungy, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She said neither the city nor the groups themselves should be evaluating the programs’ e orts. ere’s a con ict of interest otherwise, she said.

“To understand what works, unbiased evaluation of their e ectiveness is of vital importance,” she wrote.

“It has to be someone else. An independent evaluator with no skin in the game,” said Cobbina-Dungy, adding that two years might be too quick to see results.

However, she thinks the program as a whole can be bene cial.

She said a similar national e ort, called Advance Peace, began in Lansing late last year and is seeing strong success in other cities. Advance Peace enrolls at-risk people in a fellowship program and uses people with a history with gun violence to talk about alternatives to gun violence.

It makes sense to smart small, then expand the programs if they are successful, Cobbina-Dungy said. But she said the rollout will likely be slow.

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

BOARDS

Detroit Regional CEO Group

Mark Stewart, Chief Operating Of cer (COO) for Stellantis North America and a member of the company’s Top Executive Team, has become a member of the Detroit Regional CEO Group which is focused on systemic change to help drive regional prosperity. The CEO Group’s priorities include education, economic & workforce development, transit and public spaces & greenways. Stellantis is a leading global automaker and mobility provider that offers clean, connected, affordable and safe mobility solutions.

FINANCE

Renaissance Venture Capital Fund

Christina Drake has joined Renaissance Venture Capital Fund as a Principal, where she will manage the fund’s connection work among major Mich. corporations, venture funds across the U.S., and Mich.-based start-ups.

Christina previously served as a VP/investment advisor at FEG Investment Advisors, working with non-pro t institutions. She also worked at Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

Christina is helping to organize the May 9 DEI UnDemo Day, hosted by RVC.

INSURANCE

Globe Midwest Corporation

Globe Midwest Adjusters International is pleased to announce that Greg Wilenius has joined the rm as a General Adjuster. Prior to joining Globe, Greg worked at Cotton Commercial USA, a nationally renowned disaster recovery rm where he held the position of Project Coordinator. Greg’s extensive knowledge and expertise in disaster recovery give him a unique understanding of how to provide clients with a signi cant advantage throughout the property insurance claims process.