7 business and nonprofit leaders in Michigan stepping down in 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, our region is seeing some influential business and nonprofit leaders — who have impacted our community in important ways for years — decide it is time to move on.
To some extent, it’s part of the silver tsunami rolling across the land as baby boomers are reaching retirement age.
It’s not unusual to have a few high-profile leaders exit at the end of a year but the list this month is long as Terry Rhadigan, vice president of corporate giving at GM; Faye Nelson, Michigan director of W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan; Lynette Dowler, DTE vice president of public affairs and chair of DTE Energy Foundation; Sandy Pierce, senior executive at Huntington; Midtown Detroit Inc. CEO Sue Mosey, and YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit CEO Helene Weir are leaving their jobs.
I asked each a few questions. Answers are edited for space and clarity.
Terry Rhadigan
Rhadigan is winding down a 36-year career at General Motors. He started in marketing/sales at Chevy, worked in communications and is retiring as vice president of corporate giving.
Question: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career?
Answer: Serving as lead communications executive for Mary Barra and Mark Reuss from 2011-2014 during a critical time. In 2017, they asked me to lead corporate giving, in addition to my communications responsibilities.
Q: What’s next?
A: I will take some time off to rest and reflect. Whatever the next chapter is, it will be in southeast Michigan. (Rhadigan is keeping his role as chair of the Detroit Sports Organizing Corp., which is part of Visit Detroit, but giving up other roles, including being on the board of United Way For Southeastern Michigan.)
Faye Nelson
Nelson is retiring after six years as chair of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Before that, she ran the DTE Energy Foundation and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. She has been involved with boards including the United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
Nelson and Rhadigan were honored at their final United Way meeting last week: “We are extremely grateful for their leadership and dedication as they have been instrumental in advancing our mission to improve lives and empower communities,” Darienne Hudson, president and CEO of the organization, said.
Q: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career?
A: My efforts to empower individuals to better their lives ... making a more equitable space for the disenfranchised ... supporting women in their career development.
Q: How do you feel about Detroit?
A: With many important developments underway, it is not difficult to be bullish about Detroit. However, for Detroit to truly become a great city, there needs to be continued focus on our neighborhoods, as well as prioritizing health care disparities, need for affordable housing, closing the literacy gap and access to living wage jobs.
David Lorenz
Lorenz is retiring as vice president of Travel Michigan. He’s been pitching our region and state the past 21 years.
Q: How did the award-winning “Pure Michigan” campaign come about?
A: We knew we had to turn around the perception of the state, which was thought of as a rust belt whose best times had passed it by. We talked to many people to get their input and then Travel Michigan, the Travel Commission and our ad agency (McCann Erickson, now called McCann) came up with it.
Q: What’s next?
A: I’m taking some time off, spending more time with family (he’s a new grandfather) and eventually I’ll do some branding and destination consulting.
Lynette Dowler
Dowler spent 40 years at DTE and the past six as head of the DTE Foundation.
Q: What’s the thing you are most proud of in your career?
A: Mentoring employees. Watching them soar and cheering them on has been the greatest gift.
Q: What’s next?
A: I’m looking forward to traveling the world with my husband. We’ll also have the opportunity to spend more time with our family and friends.
Sandy Pierce
Pierce has been in banking since 1978, starting as a teller at NBD and, 45 years later, is wrapping up her banking career this month as a Huntington senior executive — though she certainly is not done.
Q: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career?
A: Not allowing a recruiter for a branch manager training program to stop me from pursuing my aspirations. She refused to hire me in the program, saying, "You will never make it in bank management, you are too nice."
Q: What's next?
A: I’m taking time to breathe. And then we will see. I had a great 45-year career in banking but am done with it. (She’s still busy as a trustee at Michigan State University, serves on three public boards, is chair of the Henry Ford Health System Foundation and also the Detroit Economic Club).
Sue Mosey
Mosey is executive director of Midtown Detroit Inc., where she’s been for 36 years.
Q: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career?
A: Preserving many historic properties and sites in the district.
Q: What’s next?
A: Spending time with my grandkids and doing consulting to move forward the first phase of our Cultural Center master plan.
Helene Weir
Weir has worked for YMCA for 40 years and been CEO of YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit the past five.
Q: What are you most proud of in your career?
A: Working for one of the world’s longest serving nonprofit organizations, which works in 120 countries.
Q: What’s next?
A: I‘ll be doing volunteer work, catching up with family and friends and engaging in board opportunities.
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Contact Carol Cain: 248-355-7126 or clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of “Michigan Matters,” which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and noon Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD. It can also be found on those stations’ listings on FUBO, Pluto TV, Youtube.com.. It is also streamed 8 p.m. weeknights on CBSdetroit.com and the CBSdetroit app. See Denise Ilitch, Detroit Councilman Coleman Young II and Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett on this Sunday’s show.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 7 business and nonprofit leaders in Michigan stepping down in 2023
