{"id":738,"date":"2013-10-28T10:12:47","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T16:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challenge.dev2.formbox.biz\/blog\/?p=738"},"modified":"2013-10-28T10:12:47","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T16:12:47","slug":"fellow-spotlight-alexandra-zisser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/fellow-spotlight-alexandra-zisser\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellow Spotlight | Alexandra Zisser"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this week’s Fellow Spotlight, Alexandra Zisser<\/a> fills us in on her move from LA to Detroit, what she enjoys most about living in the city, and her role as a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alexandra, growing up in Colorado, and attending college in Los Angeles, what have you enjoyed most about moving to Detroit?<\/b><\/p>\n

The immediate thing that comes to mind \"IMG_3355\"<\/a>is the people and the community here. My coworkers, apartment manager, and local business have been so kind since I moved to Detroit. I have never felt so welcome anywhere in my whole life. Everyone I\u2019ve come across has been so genuinely glad to hear I\u2019ve moved to the city and more than willing to lend a helping hand however they can. It\u2019s really created a sense of community that I\u2019ve never experienced anywhere else.<\/p>\n

What drew you to Detroit?<\/b><\/p>\n

Challenge Detroit was what initially drew me to the city, but the more I learned about Detroit and its history, the more I started to see what an interesting and unique place it is. Detroit is an American city that boomed with the automobile and has been trying to find its place ever since industry moved out of the country. I think in many ways, Detroit maps a path for the United States as a whole, and is going to be at the front of the next big changes that shape not only this city, but our country. That\u2019s something I absolutely wanted to be a part of.<\/p>\n

What are some of your favorite things to do in the City?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"AlexandraZisserRadio<\/a>On the weekends, I love going to Eastern Market to get my grocery shopping done. Spending the morning walking through the sheds and seeing all the fresh food is so much better than playing shopping cart bumper-cars at the supermarket. Plus, I almost always run into someone I know there, so it\u2019s never a dull moment. I\u2019ve also been having a great time exploring my \u00a0neighborhood. I live right next to \"AlexandraZisserIndianVillage\"<\/a>Indian Village, which is filled with these beautiful old mansions, and there are some new restaurants and coffee shops opening up that I\u2019ve been checking out. There are also tons of concerts, shows, and events that happen during the week. Last week I went to the live show of RadioLab, one of my favorite NPR programs, which was a pretty unique opportunity and so much fun!<\/p>\n

Tell us about your host-company and what you do?<\/b><\/p>\n

I work for the Michigan Economic Development <\/a>\"AlexandraZisserMEDC\"<\/a>Corporation, a semi-public organization that functions as the economic development agency for the state of Michigan. I specifically work for the Community Ventures program in Detroit, which is tackling Detroit\u2019s high unemployment rate by offering incentives to businesses to hire structurally unemployed Detroiters.<\/p>\n

What makes working for your company unique?<\/b><\/p>\n

Working for the MEDC has given me a broader perspective on many of the issues that are effecting not only Detroit, but the state of Michigan as a whole. Since I didn\u2019t grow up in Michigan, learning about the MEDC\u2019s projects in places like Flint, Saginaw, or Traverse City has helped me gain a better state-wide context for what is going on in Detroit. So much of what I do between work and Challenge Detroit is so Detroit-centric, and I\u2019m enjoying learning and seeing more of my new state, as well as my new city.<\/p>\n

What is an interesting project you are involved in in your role at your host company?<\/b><\/p>\n

My job within Community Ventures is really cool- I\u2019m working on our new Social Entrepreneurship program, which will help local entrepreneurs and micro-business owners connect with the resources they need to grow their business, hopefully to the point of being ready to hire more employees. It\u2019s a brand new program so I\u2019ve had a to do a lot of learning, but I\u2019m excited to spend the year working on it!<\/p>\n

What do you like about the Challenges?<\/b><\/p>\n

The best part of the challenges for me so far has been working with my fellow fellows. It is so energizing to spend my Fridays working with a group of really fun, talented, and dedicated individuals. We\u2019re only halfway through our first challenge at this point, but seeing the way all our different experiences and backgrounds have come together in really creative and unexpected ways has been so rewarding.<\/p>\n

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Check out Alexandra’s personal blog\u00a0here<\/a>, and her spotlight video<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this week’s Fellow Spotlight, Alexandra Zisser fills us in on her move from LA to Detroit, what she enjoys most about living in the city, and her role as a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Alexandra, growing up in Colorado, and attending college in Los Angeles, what have you enjoyed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fellow-spotlight","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}