Youth Grantmakers Summer Leadership Conference 2025
Ashley Aidenbaum
Ashley (Ash) Marie Aidenbaum leads the Foundation’s Strategic Initiatives work, which includes the Skillman Youth Council and Skillman Visionary Awards. She joined the Foundation in 2014. Prior to her current role, Ashley held multiple roles at the Foundation including special projects manager, where she played a critical role in the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, and later as a program officer leading the Foundation’s college and career pathways work, where she partnered with schools, community-based organizations, and other foundations to increase equitable access to postsecondary pathways in the city. She also championed funding for Detroit Public Schools Community District’s Detroit Perspectives Project to support culturally responsive, anti-racist education in partnership with students, educators, and community. She has dedicated her career to placed-based efforts and initiatives.
King Bethel
King O. Bethel is a 19 year old philanthropist, mentor, community leader, public speaker, speech writer, poet, and vocal coach, whose almamater is Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in which he graduated salutatorian. Being a current student at Wayne State University, King studies Sociology to attain understand of people and policy in order to make change. - King led a march called the One Nation Under A Groove March and was the keynote speaker. - King Bethel was a panelist of the Mackinac Policy Conference in 2024. - King received state wide attention for his speech about the negative generation effects of redlining and he was one of 12 finalists. - Mentor and alumni for the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program. - Alumni of the Skillman Foundation’s President’s Youth Council.
Kady Robinson-Larsosa
Kady Robinson-Larsosa is a rising senior at The School at Marygrove. She is an artist and influencer with over a quarter million followers on her Instagram page @HersheKissis which she manages with her two sisters. Kady is a model, and performer committed to uplifting the beauty, brilliance, and voice of Black girls. She has been featured in national ad campaigns for Verizon Wireless and SHEIN, and served as a lead model in Detroit Public Schools Community District commercials and billboards. As one of the captains of her high school debate team, Kady leads with passion and purpose, advocating for policies that directly impact her community and Black people as a whole. She is a dedicated social justice advocate, community builder, and political organizer deeply involved in both local policy and neighborhood initiatives. Kady is also the co-owner of Page’s Bookstore, a community-centered space with a mission to bring back literature and unify Detroit through storytelling and culture. She was awarded funding to lead the Heart Beat bridge Media Project, a youth-led initiative focused on strengthening Black families through storytelling, digital content, and media partnerships including work with the Black Marriage Movement. She has worked with the City of Detroit as a dance performer and content creator, using her creativity to uplift and inspire.
Faith Coats
Faith Coats is a black 17-year old poet based in Detroit that will be attending Fisk University. She is a member of the 2025 Inside Out Youth Advisory Board, the winner of the 2025 CityWidePoets Scholarship award, a musician, a sister, a friend, and an artist. She goes by two poet names, which are Faithful for her more soft spoken works and F.M.C for her more hard hitting works. Her work centers around discussing the issues that young teens and adults face when discovering themselves. Faith opens up about the burnout that youth struggle with and the family issues that heavily influence their lives. She has discovered herself through this expression of art and hopes anyone who reads her work will do the same.
Charisma Holly
Charisma Holly is a seventeen year old spoken word artist based in Detroit. She has worked with InsideOut Literary Arts for four years as a member of their Citywide Poets Afterschool Program, Youth Performance Troupe and Youth Advisory Board. Charisma has had the honor of performing at the 2023 Uniroyal Promenade Grand Opening with Mayor Mike Duggan and at Detroit Homecoming in 2024. She has also had opportunities to perform alongside Michigan Poet Laureate Nandi Comer as well as in Lansing during both the 2024 and 2025 Afterschool Day at the Capitol. Charisma writes to share her voice, inspire others and make a difference in the world around her.
Jordyn Mousa-Sage
Jordyn Mousa-Sage (Jj) is a queer, Lebanese-Iraqi literary artist who works in English and Arabic. Born in Beirut, Jordyn and their family are immigrants to the land we know but do not despair of cultural divides. Jj began writing poetry in their sophomore year of high school after rereading some of their mother’s poetry. They later became a member of the 2024 InsideOut Youth Performance Troupe, publishing in the Michigan Reading Association’s Kaleidoscope Magazine that same year. Jordyn has performed their work in a variety of locations including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Next Chapter Books and Cranbrook Art Museum.
Alex Carlson
Alex Carlson is a 20-year-old student at Northwood University studying Management and Finance with a minor in Economics. He is a third-year member of the Michigan Community Foundation Youth Project, but originally started his non-profit journey in 7th grade. He advanced as an officer on the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation's Youth Advisory Committee and as a member of the community foundation’s board of directors. Alex now interns at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, working in fundraising and development and continues to work closely with his local youth advisory committee.
Brandon Hofmeister
Brandon Hofmeister is a dedicated youth philanthropist and advocate for youth-driven community engagement. He is a third-year member of the Michigan Community Foundation Youth Project (MCFYP) Committee and previously served for seven years on the Bay Area Community Foundation Youth Advisory Committee. During Brandon's time on YAC, he served as the first ever youth trustee with full voting privileges on the Bay Area Community Foundation Board of Trustees. In 2024, Brandon was awarded with the Michigan Governor Youth Changemaker Award, honoring his over 400 hours of community service. Brandon is currently studying Business with an intended minor in Public Policy at the University of Michigan. At UM, he serves as the Director of Philanthropy and Project Manager for the largest university-based consultancy, where he leads consulting efforts for global nonprofits, including work on financial sustainability, operational efficiency, marketing, partnership strategy, and donor engagement. He is also actively involved in an impact investing group, a youth kindness nonprofit, and a community scholars organization. As of this summer, Brandon is serving as the Strategic Growth Intern at the Bay Area Community Foundation, where he continues to emphasize the importance of community-centered change, local impact, and active youth voices in philanthropy.
T'Emi Oshin
T’Emi Oshin is a rising sophomore at Wayne State University, double majoring in Neuroscience and Public Health as part of the MedDirect BS/MD program. Growing up in Midland, Michigan, she developed a passion for youth philanthropy early on, beginning with her work on the Midland Youth Action Council. In 2023, she joined the Michigan Community Foundation’s Youth Project, where she continues to advocate for youth empowerment on a larger scale. Beyond MCFYP, T’Emi is deeply committed to social justice. As a high school junior, she founded Dow High’s first-ever Black Student Alliance and launched Black Youth of Midland, a community organization dedicated to creating spaces of empowerment and belonging for Black students — efforts that earned her the 2024 Princeton Prize in Race Relations. At Wayne State, she continues this commitment to these causes, serving as a founding board member and Chair of Community Engagement for the Wayne Chapter of the National Society of Black Women in Medicine and working with the Wayne State School of Medicine on an initiative to improve health accessibility and reduce language barriers in Detroit. Looking ahead, T’Emi hopes to become a physician and use her skills to advance healthcare access for the most vulnerable populations.
Jeremiah Steen
Jeremiah Steen is a Detroit-based philanthropic strategist, youth advocate, and social impact entrepreneur. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Steen Foundation, a youth-led philanthropic organization dedicated to amplifying youth voices and driving systemic change in education, workforce development, environmental stewardship, arts, and civic engagement. Jeremiah led the Foundation’s partnership with TradesForce to connect over 1,600 young people to union-backed green economy jobs—an initiative aimed at closing workforce gaps and building economic mobility in underinvested communities. In 2025, he also acquired Pages Bookshop, transforming it into a literacy and leadership hub that hosts Detroit’s first Free Green Mobile Book Fair, youth grantmaking labs, and civic programming rooted in equity and cultural representation. He holds a degree in Communications from the University of Detroit Mercy and a certificate in Corporate Board Governance from the Wharton School. Jeremiah made history as the first youth trustee of the Skillman Foundation and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, among other civic leadership roles. Jeremiah’s contributions have earned him several prestigious honors, including the Governor’s Service Award, the Sparky Anderson Youth in Philanthropy Award, and the Michele Corey Rising Star Award. Through his work, he is reshaping philanthropy into a vehicle for youth power, intergenerational leadership, and measurable community transformation.