Keynotes and workshops
Detroit is a complicated city that has a rich and diverse history and it has many lessons to share with the world.
Jeanette knows Detroit and has been telling its story for 18 years throughout the numerous changes and unprecedented international attention. If you need someone to give your group an overview of what’s going on in Detroit today, a deep dive historical context on where Detroit has come from, or an analysis of the lessons learned from the challenges Detroit has faced or anything in between, Jeanette Pierce is the one to do it.
Jeanette also knows and loves cities and has worked with dozens of them around the world. She can help your city or community learn how to tell their stories in order to attract and retain talent, engage and inspire residents, promote small businesses, and build thriving and equitable communities.
Bottom line: Jeanette helps people love where they live. She’s done it for Detroit, Akron, Las Vegas, Chicago and many others and she’d loved to help your city too.
An energetic storyteller who is a big on facts and data, Jeanette’s presentations and workshops are entertaining, informative and engaging.
Jeanette has spoken at more than 200 events across North America including:
Atlantic Magazine's CityLab Conference
Oregon Main Street Conference
Full Frame Initiative Summit - Charlotte
Las Vegas Downtown Alliance Annual Meeting
Baltimore Metropolitan Council's Chesapeake Connect Event
Michigan Governor's Economic Summit
Ontario Small Business Conference
“Jeanette inspired loads of people at our conference. Our work will absolutely be influenced by her information and infectious enthusiasm.”
Popular topics include:
Detroit in Context: Assets, History and Challenges
What’s Love Got to Do With It? Building Equitable & Thriving Cities
Sought-After City Workshop
Lessons Learned from Detroit
Bridging Divides in Changing Cities
About Jeanette Pierce
Founder and CEO of City Institute
Jeanette Pierce is a social entrepreneur and lifelong city resident who grew up in the Morningside neighborhood of Detroit.
In 2006, she founded a grassroots nonprofit that used tours and experiences to take people beyond the headlines and educate them about Detroit’s history, culture and community. Today that organization has evolved into the Detroit Experience Factory which engages people in Detroit’s stories - helping them understand its complex history and connecting them to Detroit’s people, places and projects. Over 130,000 people have taken a tour since 2006 to learn about Detroit’s assets, small businesses, historic neighborhoods, city planning & development policies and innovative solutions to the challenges the city faces.
In 2006, she founded a grassroots nonprofit that used tours and experiences to take people beyond the headlines and educate them about Detroit’s history, culture and community. Today that organization has evolved into the Detroit Experience Factory which engages people in Detroit’s stories - helping them understand its complex history and connecting them to Detroit’s people, places and projects. Over 130,000 people have taken a tour since 2006 to learn about Detroit’s assets, small businesses, historic neighborhoods, city planning & development policies and innovative solutions to the challenges the city faces.
As clients approached her seeking even more in-depth learning and the opportunity to leverage the knowledge and expertise built since she began this work she saw a need for a new project that would share lessons learned from Detroit to inspire individuals, organizations and cities to innovate for a better future for all. So in 2018, Jeanette launched The City Institute to do just that. The City Institute offers learning journeys, city experience consulting, speaking engagements, and workshops to leaders locally and around the world. Past clients include Harvard Loeb Institute, State of Oregon, City of Akron, City of Graz and Salesforce Leadership.
She has presented at more than 100 events including Atlantic Magazine’s CityLab Conference, Governor’s Economic Summit, Downtown Las Vegas Annual Meeting and the Oregon Heritage Conference. She was honored by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the Top Forty under 40, by DBusiness Magazine as a Thirty in their 30’s, was awarded the Shining Light Future Leader Award from the Detroit Free Press as well as receiving many other recognitions and awards.
She serves on the Boards of the Michigan Municipal League Foundation and Detroit Historical Society. She has a bachelor’s of arts degree in communication from Aquinas College, and is the mother of triplets.