MATTHEW SCHMITT

DIRECTOR OF RESOURCE NAVIGATION

Matthew Schmitt joined MCR as a Program Manager in January 2019 and has worked to support both applicants and grantees in rounds 4-6 of the Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit grant. He has also served as the Resource Navigator during the pilot of Co.act’s Activate Fund in 2020, which led to his current role as MCR’s Director of Resource Navigation. In 2021, Resource Navigation at MCR began expanding to include new partnerships with the Pontiac Funders Collaborative, Enterprise’s work with supporting Community Development Organizations in Detroit, and the Detroit Regional Chamber’s NeighborHUB program. Matthew loves working to design ways that intermediate nonprofit leaders can function to serve as ambassadors between organizations and their funders, while simultaneously stepping up as visionaries in demanding more equitable access and outcomes within the landscape of funding opportunities. Matthew is also a father, musician (mathyu djän), writer, activist, and co-founder of The Table Setters, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting vulnerable and transformative discussions across division. 

Immediately prior to joining the MCR team, Matthew was a Challenge Detroit Fellow serving at Teen H.Y.P.E. as the Manager of Mission Advancement. He grew up in the metropolitan area at 13 Mile and Southfield, and gained experiences in community activism, education, ministry, and the music business around the country before moving to Pingree Park on Detroit’s East Side with his family. Most significantly, he taught sixth grade in New Orleans through Teach For America, and led DOOR Los Angeles, a nonprofit that worked to intersect the traditional mission trip with social justice, anti-racism, and anti-classism exposure and education.  Matthew currently sits on the board of the Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan, his alma mater, and has been active on the Race Relations and Diversity Alliance in Birmingham, Michigan.

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