The Housing Summit's inaugural Detroit Economic Mobility Breakfast has reached capacity, signaling strong interest in addressing housing affordability as a catalyst for economic mobility. The November 18, 2025 event at the Shinola Hotel's San Morello Private Room will convene 25 senior leaders from policy, community development, philanthropy, finance, and technology sectors to develop Detroit-specific solutions for housing challenges.
This Detroit edition builds on previous Housing Summit gatherings in Hong Kong and New York City, continuing an international dialogue on housing affordability, innovation, and economic opportunity. The Hong Kong event in May 2025, hosted by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Asia Ltd., focused on affordability, innovation, design, AI applications in housing, and modular construction techniques. The September 2025 New York City gathering brought together developers, policy leaders, housing advocates, family offices, and investors to explore affordable housing as both meaningful social impact and investment opportunity.
Amy Hovey, CEO and Executive Director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), emphasized the summit's collaborative nature, stating it brings together state and local partners to align tools, capital, and community leadership for advancing equitable housing opportunities across Detroit.
The moderated roundtable working session will focus on three core themes with practical implications for Detroit residents and the broader housing industry. Economic mobility strategies will examine how targeted housing approaches can improve income stability, build credit, and increase neighborhood spending through measurable outcomes and follow-through mechanisms. Community-led delivery models will explore how community land trusts and adaptive reuse can preserve affordability, activate key corridors, and create durable wealth pathways with lasting governance structures.
Partnerships, capital, and technology discussions will address critical issues facing the housing sector. Public-private-philanthropic partnerships will focus on aligning land, policy tools, subsidies, and flexible capital to move projects from planning to implementation. The session will also examine challenges facing Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including recent uncertainty around federal funding and staffing that affects capital flows to mission lenders, while identifying local, state, philanthropic, and private responses to maintain community finance pipelines.
Artificial intelligence's role in equitable housing represents another significant focus area, exploring how AI is reshaping homeownership access, housing finance, and policymaking while addressing concerns about bias and ensuring fairness, particularly in historically excluded communities. Karen L. Gamba, Founder of The Housing Summit, emphasized the practical nature of the gathering, noting that participants should leave with at least one actionable solution and follow-up conversation already in motion.
The event's curated attendance includes policy and civic leaders, developers, impact investors, community land trust practitioners, philanthropic and financial partners including CDFIs, data and AI experts, and cross-industry executives committed to equitable economic mobility. Rooted in Detroit's innovation with adaptive reuse, community ownership, and targeted investment, the summit focuses on implementation strategies that can be replicated in other cities facing similar housing challenges.
Andrea Benson, Senior Program Manager at the Gilbert Family Foundation, highlighted how stable, affordable housing empowers Detroit families to face uncertainty with confidence and how long-term homeownership tools can build a stronger, more resilient city. Although the Detroit breakfast is at capacity, interested stakeholders can join the waitlist by emailing globalhousingsummit@gmail.com or learn more about future events by visiting https://www.thehousingsummit.com and subscribing to updates at https://thehousingsummit.substack.com.
Following the Detroit event, The Housing Summit plans to expand to additional cities, with Los Angeles identified as the next location for continuing the conversation about housing as foundational economic infrastructure that drives meaningful community outcomes.
