4 metro Detroit leaders honored with 2024 Shining Light Awards
Four changemakers were recognized Tuesday for their work to improve communities and make a difference in lives across the region.
More than 200 people gathered at Ford Field to celebrate their achievements during the 17th Shining Light Awards, presented by the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition and the Detroit Free Press, which honors individuals doing their part to build regional cooperation, progress and understanding in southeast Michigan.
The awards are named after Neal Shine, the longtime editor and publisher of the Free Press , who died in 2007. Shine started at the Free Press as a copy boy and moved up the ranks during his four decades at the paper as reporter, columnist, senior managing editor and publisher. Shine was well-known for his love of Detroit and his mission to bridge divides in the region.
The awards are presented to leaders who exemplify the qualities of their namesakes: Dave Bing Young Leader Award, for the former Detroit mayor and NBA star; the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award, for the late co-founder of Focus: HOPE, and the Neal Shine Award for Exemplary Regional Leadership.
Jazmine Danci , administrator for economic development at the Downriver Community Conference; Andrea Cole, president and CEO of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation; Ashley Lowe , CEO of Lakeshore Legal Aid; and Huel Perk i ns , retired anchor at WJBK-TV (Channel 2) were honored during a luncheon hosted by Carol Cain, Free Press columnist and senior producer and host of "Michigan Matters," which airs on CBS 62, and Roop Raj, evening anchor on Channel 2.
Jazmine Danci
For her work to help revitalize Downriver, Jazmine Danci received the 2024 Dave Bing Young Leader Award.
Danci is helping to improve the riverfront across Downriver through her work as adminstrator for economic development at the Downrvier Community Conference, or DCC.
She has coalesced the needs and goals of several communities up and down the Jefferson Avenue corridor and has helped raise money for projects, greenways, bike lanes, lighting and signage, and grants for small businesses.
Those grants have helped more than a dozen small businesses with essentials like marketing materials and website development to drive more customers into their Downriver locations and online.
Danci's goal is to spotlight and further strengthen Downriver, which, she said, can be overlooked.
"I accept this award not just for myself but as a testament to the tenacity and the resurgence of the Downriver region," said Danci, a Romulus native. "It symbolizes the power of what we can achieve when we break down barriers and work together, something that the DCC has been doing for the last 40 years.
Andrea Cole
For her vision and work to improve and expand mental health care access statewide , Andrea Cole is a co-recipient of the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero honor.
Cole is CEO and president of the Detroit-based James and Ethel Flinn Foundation, where she has directed the philantropy's grantmaking to establish large-scale collaborations among governments, universities, foundations and nonprofits.
She advoacates for mental health concerns to be treated as expediently and effectively as physical health care, and through the relationships she builds and the program the foundation funds, she is chipping away at the stigma that holds people back from seeking help.
Cole is board chair of TRAILS, a $50 million state-funded program that trains school staff in mental health strategies so they are prepared to help students.
The Flinn Foundation has partnered with Wayne State University's Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, local judges and criminal justice officials to offer alternatives to jail time in Wayne County, such as mental support for people charged with nonviolent misdemeanors.
Speaking on Tuesday as she received her award, Cole said the recognition inspires her to work even harder to do her part.
"Our health affects every aspect of our lives and our ability to thrive," Cole said.
She stressed the importance of collaborations, including one between the Detroit Police Department and the community mental health provider Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, to enact systemic changes to connect people to the supports they need, so they don't fall into crises.
"Whether we're looking at challenges like education, health, transportation — God, I hope we solve that — safety, housing or whether it's economic prosperity, we really do need to work together in our region if we want to grow and be a great place for young people and families," Cole said.
Ashley Lowe
Under Ashley Lowe's leadership, Lakeshore Legal Aid helped prevent 2,300 evictions in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when Michiganders dealt with job and housing instability .
For her commitment to serving and advocating for Michigan's most vulnerable, Lowe is a co-recipient of the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero honor. Lowe began her role as CEO of Lakeshore Legal Aid in 2019 and has since ramped up the nonprofit's budget, staff size and reach . Legal aid is a sorely underfunded resource in Michigan.
Lowe didn't start out in legal aid. She began her career as a corporate lawyer but, she said, she knew it wasn't the work she was meant to do. She eventually took a job in legal aid, representing survivors of domestic violence. Within six weeks of her first day, Lowe found herself representing a woman divorcing an abusive husband. The woman wanted to move out of state with her kids in her custody. Lowe knew the woman needed a lawyer. She spoke to her about her rights.
"We were successful. She took her kids and she kept them safe. And it was at that time that I realized, this is my calling. This is the thing I was meant to do ... lift up the voices for people whose voices have been silenced and to open the doors to justice for people who have been oppressed," Lowe said.
As Lowe spoke Tuesday, she invoked activist and co-founder of Focus: HOPE Josaitis, for whom the Unsung Hero award, is named: "Recognize the dignity and beauty of every person and take practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice."
"Those words inspire us all the time at Lakeshore," Lowe said. "Treating our clients with dignity and respect is part of our mission, and is in every single person's job description. But what Eleanor's words also tell us is to find the beauty — recognize the beauty of clients, in ourselves and each other, and recognize the beauty in the world. And that's what inspires us to get up every day and fight for justice and to fight against oppression," Lowe said.
Huel Perkins
Huel Perkins, retired anchor for Fox 2, didn't grow up in metro Detroit, though after 32 years on the air here, his name is synonymous with the region.
Perkins grew up in segregated Baton Rouge, Louisiana, among signs that said "whites only." Raj, a co-host of the Shining Light ceremony, noted that throughout his life Perkins was often told "no."
"This is a man who exemplifies the power of community leadership, humility and the power of 'yes' when you're told 'no,' " Raj said, recalling when he invited Perkins to appear on his cable access show, the first encounter in what would become a career-spanning mentorship and friendship.
Perkins' good works include raising money and awareness for the Salvation Army, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, the Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Association, the Judson Center, WDET, the Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Accounting Aid Society, of which his wife, Priscilla Perkins, is the CEO.
But those are just some of Perkins' contributions. Others are more personal.
Shopping at a Meijer store in 1990, Perkins encountered a worker in the meat department who said he had lived in Baton Rouge before dropping out of Southern University and remembered watching Perkins on the news there. Perkins and the worker, Kevin Fite, talked more on subsequent visits to the store. Perkins encouraged Fite to go back to school and Fite did just that. With occasional financial assistance from Perkins, he graduated from Southern University, became a teacher and also founded the Detroit City Chess Club, whose youth members have competed around the world.
Perkins said during the ceremoney: "Above all, I thank my incredible parents who built a life of abundance and optimism despite the obstacles they faced. The gift they gave me is that I try in some small measure to give back to the people who need it most — young students who may not have the money to complete their education, who may not have the confidence to move to the next level, to move beyond where they start.
"Success is never guaranteed but everybody at least deserves a chance to try. That's why I'm here."
Know a 2025 Shining Light?
Do you know a potential Shining Light nominee? Send your suggestion to the selection committee by emailing Jewel Gopwani Myers at , and we'll reach out to let you know when nominations open for the 2025 awards.
