3 U-M Dearborn students advance the dreams of local girls through unique nonprofit

Detroiter Brianna Bryant tells a story about possessing a quiet confidence when she graduated from high school in 2019.

In a soft but proud tone, Bryant describes her high school self as the captain of an all-girls FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics team, the Mercy Midnight Storm, sponsored by the Mercy Education Project. At the same time, the National Honor Society member was passionate about art, photography and “community cultivating.”

But despite everything that Bryant brought to the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus as a freshman, she says her introduction to college life was a gut punch to her spirit.

“Going into the University of Michigan-Dearborn not fully understanding what a PWI (Predominantly White Institute) is, totally threw off my experience going in, and I felt unprepared and very unmotivated,” Bryant stated. “I went to Detroit Edison Public School Academy for high school in the Eastern Market area, a very small school, so I was used to a very small community with everyone already knowing everyone. In high school, I just put my head down and participated in very niche activities like robotics and art, and I thought that was the only path to follow. But when I went into college, I did not feel confident whatsoever about navigating spaces that I felt were not created for me.”

To be clear, when Bryant spoke about the beginning of her journey at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, she did not cite any targeted actions that caused harm to her, or any actions that overtly prevented her from fully engaging in any student activities. However, as she tells it, not being on anyone’s radar to be “seen or heard” was proving to be a bigger problem for Bryant as she attempted to find her way in her earliest college days. That would all change later during her freshman year through a series of weekly on-campus programs for first-year University of Michigan-Dearborn students called “Cruise To Success,” where she met fellow freshmen Ivett Facundo and Miryim Hanek. Given an opportunity to discuss their struggles on campus, the students first “vented” about challenges like navigating the financial aid process, working effectively with academic advisers and becoming comfortable with campus life in general. But as they began getting answers to their questions, their mindsets changed.

“We wanted to be the person that we needed when we started college,” said Hanek, who came to the University of Michigan-Dearborn from nearby Fordson High School, where she graduated in 2019.

The sentiment expressed by Hanek later brought the three first-generation college students to The Resolution Project, which mentors and funds young people with innovative ideas to improve their communities. Ultimately, The Resolution Project got behind the student’s proposal for a nonprofit called A Girl’s Dream aimed at getting young women of color in the Detroit and Dearborn areas interested in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) fields.

“I wanted to be a part of something that gave girls the resources to feel more prepared when going to college, whether they’re the first person in their family to go or not,” said Facundo, who was the valedictorian of the first high school graduating class at Hope of Detroit Academy Middle/High School in 2019.

Facundo, Hanek and Bryant are nearing a goal to give out 50 STEAM kits created by their nonprofit to area girls this summer. Each kit has a “groovy” colorful exterior and on the inside are activities connected to each area of STEAM. And if that is not enough, Hanek strongly recommends that kit recipients get cozy with a journal, which also is included.

“The journaling part is something I really love and something I feel very passionate about,” Hanek said. “What good are our actions or anything we choose to do without reflecting on it and learning from whatever it is that we did, and acknowledging if we did it right or if we did it wrong and how we can change that? So the purpose of the journal is to write what you learned, write how you feel and write what you’re headed toward.”

While the co-founders delight in conveying how they are individually moved by the unique free opportunities provided by their nonprofit, they each make a point to explain that everything performed by A Girl’s Dream is a team effort, and that the team extends far beyond three people. For example, credit is given to grant funders that have allowed the nonprofit to create quality STEAM kits that cost the student recipients nothing, while providing challenging learning experiences, such as the opportunity to build a miniature electric engine and catapult. A high level of respect also can be heard through the co-founders’ voices when they describe the volunteer support they have received, including from fellow University of Michigan-Dearborn students who have packed STEAM kits and even have written encouraging letters from their hearts that recipients get with each kit. And the co-founders heap on extra praise when they talk about special mentors like Jessica Arnold and Ray Lozano.

Arnold, who leads culture and employee engagement for Deloitte Global, demonstrated that she is equally passionate about The Resolution Project and A Girl’s Dream, as she provided the direction Bryant, Facundo and Hanek needed to keep the nonprofit (created in 2019) going strong despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Later this month, (Aug. 22-25) the trio will have an opportunity to come together as a group, in person, with Arnold for the first time when they make a highly anticipated road trip to Chicago, where Arnold works.

Unlike Arnold, Lozano, the executive director of Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, gets to work in person with the leaders of A Girl’s Dream far more frequently. And he made it clear that he would not have it any other way.

“I grew up in this neighborhood before the expressway came through; I retired (from DTE Energy); and I should be on a beach somewhere, but I’m running this nonprofit and having fun with it,” said Lozano, whose history with Bryant goes back to her high school days when his nonprofit hosted her art exhibits. “Whatever Brianna and the girls want, I am glad to help, because this is a community center and we’re available for them in whatever way they come up with because it’s time for women to run things.”

Lozano would no doubt have been impressed by the leadership shown by the founders of A Girl’s Dream (now seniors at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and each 21 years old) after they left his building early Wednesday evening. A vehicle packed with STEAM kits, books, clothes and the nonprofit’s leadership team driven by Facundo crisscrossed the city through rush-hour traffic, covering more than 25 miles to reach the homes of three students. The polished presentations in front of each home in 85-degree heat: Bryant generally taking the lead to introduce the group to the recipient before presenting a STEAM kit; Facundo stepping forward next with enthusiastic descriptions of the books (titles including “Reaching for the Moon,” “Women And GIS,” “The Future of Science Is Female,” and “Girls Garage”); and, Hanek displaying clothing items from the group’s “Dress For Success” collection with the utmost care, were all received graciously at each stop and triggered extended two-way conversations.

However, even before Wednesday’s deliveries were made, proof of the nonprofit’s recent impact was on display when Dolores Delgado and her daughter Lily Rodriguez walked through the doors of the Mexicantown Economic Development Corporation. On July 23, Rodriguez was among a group of girls to receive free STEAM kits and other empowering items from A Girls Dream at the very same location where they were standing. But on Wednesday, daughter and mother had something of their own to give in the form of a heartfelt "Thank you."

“It was a great opportunity,” said Delgado, who came across an announcement for the July 23 event on Facebook, days after it had been posted, and initially feared that it was too late to get “her baby” involved. “Just seeing the young ladies themselves, they were an inspiration to me, so I knew they would be an inspiration to her.”

And if a broad, dimpled smile is a sign of inspiration, then the 11-year-old Rodriguez, who will be entering the sixth grade this school year, definitely looked inspired on Wednesday as she revealed her future plans.

“I want to work at NASA or make my own spacecraft,” she said, without a hint of doubt in her voice.

A nonprofit created by students for students 

What: A Girl’s Dream

Mission: Founded by three current undergraduates at the University of Michigan-Dearborn that are first-generation college students, A Girl’s Dream is a nonprofit organization committed to “creating free unconventional opportunities and resources for Detroit’s female and gender minority youth to pursue their dreams in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math).”

Leadership: Co-founders – Brianna Bryant, Ivett Facundo and Miryim Hanek 

For more information: Email–agirlsdream313@gmail.com; Instagram–@agirlsdream_official

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 U-M Dearborn students start nonprofit to encourage girls to dream