Arab Americans in Michigan
 
Michigan is fortunate to be a state that has wonderful diversity in many different ways and areas throughout the state. 
 

Leadership efforts in the Hispanic community.
 

By Tim Bartik

Are you ready to dance?
 
In efforts to increase diversity, groups or individuals are at risk to develop a compliance mentality that focuses on numbers only. The numbers game becomes so important that little thought is given to what happens after that. Diversity ought to be pursued because it empowers groups to be better at what they do. Research shows that diverse teams outperform homogenous teams.     
     

A first-ever Latino summit, sponsored by AT&T Michigan,  was held on December 9, 2011 at the MSU Kellogg Center. The Michigan Alianza para Mejoramiento y Avance (MI-ALMA- Michigan Alliance of Latinos Moving Towards Advancement) convened over 100 Michigan Hispanic leaders and professionals for this important event.   The focus was specifically on education and civic engagement, two important areas that can have tremendous impact on the trajectory of the lives of young children. 
 

Enhancing cross-cultural communication
 
As collaboratives and coalitions increase the diverse background of their membership, communication will become more complex. Communication becomes foremost when diverse members in a group work to develop common goals and objectives which call for them to work cooperatively and collaboratively. 
 

Diverse groups and systems building work.

Children "at risk' become children of "high return" when we invest in young children.

The title question is asked in a video presented by Sarah Salguera, Program Director at the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance when hosting a migrant camp visit in Ottawa County.  This two minute and forty five seconds video, “What Happens”, is about a Michigan community that encountered the need to increase acceptance of people from diverse backgrounds.  A second video presented, “Stop Stereotypes Campaign” which is three and a half minutes long, asks, “What do we assume?”
 

In recent days I have been pondering this question. I am person with strong passions and at times opinions and am discovering this requires a level of awareness and care for how I effectively communicate.  It occurs to me that this is one of the same questions local governance bodies (such as the Great Start Collaboratives) who are working hard to be successful in including parent perspectives also think about.
 
These are some ideas that have been offered to me by one of my partners that I deeply respect.