Michigan Municipal League Foundation

What's the key to creating a thriving community? Focusing on the human experience in your town. Alpena is a great example of how small programs can have big results. Thank you so much?to Mayor Cindy Johnson, City Manager Rachel Smolinski, and DDA Executive?Director Anne Gentry for showing us around your beautiful city. #WeLoveWhereYouLive #Mayor #Manager #DDA #VisitAlpena #Downtown #Alpena #Placemaking #Community #Murals #Project #Development?

Our latest publication of The Review is here! The Fall issue covers a wide range of interesting topics including the Michigan Municipal League 2024 Impact Report, Convention 2024 highlights, and more! You can access the magazine here: https://hubs.la/Q02WSVmz0

?? Congratulations Linh! ?? We are so proud of MML Foundation Board Secretary Linh S. for this well deserved award and all the work she does every day for a better future!

You may already be aware that MI Funding Hub is an indispensable resource for Michigan municipalities. But did you know that the website is also award winning? We are pleased to announce that the MI Funding Hub website has won three separate Davey Awards We received the following: ??Website: Best Visual Appeal Aesthetic, Silver ??Website: Government, Silver ??Website: Best Home Page, Silver These international awards focus exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small teams/agencies from across the world. Thank you to the CRIMSON Agency for your thoughtful design on this project! Check out MI Funding Hub here: https://hubs.la/Q02Wj4810 #websitedesign #awards #funding

If you are a Michigan municipal leader, chances are that urgent need for #housing in your community is at the top of your mind. What if we told you that there are other solutions aside from solely utilizing new construction? The League started the Creating Better Futures Policy Brief series to give Michigan municipalities tools to tackle modern problems with unique solutions. In our latest publication, we break down adaptive reuse as a means to conquer the housing conundrum. Through this strategy, Michigan can address urgent demand for more housing while also contributing to statewide sustainability efforts and revitalizing existing structures. You can access our policy brief series here: https://hubs.la/Q02TD3sb0 For those who want to jump right in to our latest publication, you can find "Hacking Michigan's Housing Potential" here: https://hubs.la/Q02TC-dv0

We want to share information about a grant opportunity with a quickly approaching deadline. GreenLatinos, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, is offering the "Trees in Your Community Grant" as part of the 2024-2027 Inflation Reduction Act Urban & Community Forestry Funding. This initiative is designed to support community-based organizations in their efforts to enhance urban forestry, particularly in low-income, historically disadvantaged communities. Grants are available up to $1.5 Million. The deadline is October 18, 2024! More information:

This week, Foundation Program Officer Grace Carey joined League colleagues Margaret Mooney & Taylor Pine at the Evergreen Conference hosted in Toronto, ON. They learned about incredible examples of community-driven placemaking, sustainability, and the future of cities from our Canadian neighbors. They look forward to staying connected with all the wonderful folks they met during the conference! #MMLeague #MMLFoundation #Placemaking

What an amazing finish to 2024 Convention! Day 3 was truly incredible. We are so honored to educate, inspire, and advocate for our members. Pictured: ? View of the Grand Hotel on the morning of Convention, Day 3, with the MML logo ? Closing General Session speaker, Teri Takai, discussing The State of AI in Government: Exploring the Future ?The 2024 winners of the Community Excellence Award from Houghton, Michigan ?#BreakoutSession — Waste Not, Want Not: Eliminating Food Waste and Alleviating Hunger ?Breakout Session — Fund a Better Way with MI Funding Hub What did you think of the event? Be sure to share your thoughts and any of your Convention photos with us by using the hashtag #MMLConv ?? #WeLoveWhereYouLive #Placemaking #Networking #MichiganLeaders

Arts and culture are central to community wealth with many even considering art to be a critical part of their community's identity. From events like art crawls and exhibitions to community installations like decorative bike racks and semi-permanent chalk art, 15 Bridge Builders projects drew from this community wealth building pillar and engaged their community through various creative means. Check out our Bridge Builders Celebration Book online: https://buff.ly/3L90fpl Project featured: Downtown Iron Mountain Public Art Sky Installation

It's time to #MeetOurDirectors! Steve Habusta serves as a City Commissioner for Sault Ste. Marie and Executive Director for the Chippewa County Community Foundation. Steve joined the MML Foundation board December of 2023 and joined our work with grace and passion. We are very excited to have Steve and look forward to witnessing his impact on the Foundation. Steve's favorite part about living in Michigan? The diversity of the state! "From great cities like Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids to historic places like Fayette and Sault Ste. Marie. From our great park systems to our 12 federally recognized Tribal communities. From our waterways and beaches to our downtowns and shopping districts, Our state has so much to offer to so many people from any walk of life. " Thank you for being a part of the MML Foundation family Steve! #MMLFoundation #MMLeague