• On Tuesday, Bridge Michigan moderated a discussion about potential solutions to the state’s population struggles
• Reporter Ron French led this discussion with community leaders about the findings of a five-part report series from Altarum and Citizens Research Council
• Watch a recording of the event below

On Tuesday, Bridge Michigan’s Ron French moderated a panel discussion on the policy implications of a five-part report series on Michigan population and demographic trends from health nonprofit Altarum and the Citizens Research Council.

The event came as political leaders focus on what can be done to restore the state’s population. Michigan now ranks 49th in the country for growth since 1990, behind only West Virginia.

Panelists included Imani Foster, communications and research director of education nonprofit 482Forward, Dan Gilmartin, executive director and CEO of Michigan Municipal League, Alaina Jackson, managing director of immigration nonprofit Global Detroit and Angela G. Reyes, executive director and founder of Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation.

Related:

• Can Michigan defuse its population time bomb? See how far we fall short 
• Indiana is beating Michigan by attracting people, not just companies 
• Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula towns empty out, look to Wisconsin for lessons 

The event also included a welcome and introduction from Dave Egner of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, a personal testimonial regarding population loss among young Michiganders from Javon Dobbs of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and a summary of the Altarum/Citizens Research Council report series findings from researchers representing each organization.

Bridge has spent the year documenting how population loss affects everything from the economy and health care, to education and quality of life. Capitol reporters Lauren Gibbons and Jonathan Oosting recently hosted a podcast about the Citizens Research Council and Altarum series.

Watch a recording of the discussion below:

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Watch: Bridge discussion on ways to solve Michigan’s population woes

by Amber DeLind, Bridge Michigan
November 15, 2023

<h1>Watch: Bridge discussion on ways to solve Michigan’s population woes</h1> <p class="byline">by Amber DeLind, Bridge Michigan <br />November 15, 2023</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>On Tuesday, Bridge Michigan moderated a discussion about potential solutions to the state’s population struggles</strong></li> <li><strong>Reporter Ron French led this discussion with community leaders about the findings of a <a href="https://crcmich.org/publications/prosperous-future">five-part report series </a>from Altarum and Citizens Research Council</strong></li> <li><strong>Watch a recording of the event below</strong></li> </ul> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>On Tuesday, Bridge Michigan’s Ron French moderated a panel discussion on the policy implications of a <a href="https://crcmich.org/publications/prosperous-future"><b>five-part report series</b></a><b> </b>on Michigan population and demographic trends from health nonprofit Altarum and the Citizens Research Council.</p> <p>The event came as political leaders focus on what can be done to restore the state’s population. Michigan now ranks 49th in the country for growth since 1990, behind only West Virginia.</p> <p>Panelists included Imani Foster, communications and research director of education nonprofit <a href="https://482forward.org/#">482Forward</a>, Dan Gilmartin, executive director and CEO of <a href="https://mml.org/">Michigan Municipal League</a>, Alaina Jackson, managing director of immigration nonprofit <a href="https://globaldetroitmi.org/our-story/">Global Detroit </a>and Angela G. Reyes, executive director and founder of <a href="https://www.dhdc1.org/">Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation</a>.</p> <p><strong>Related:</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong><a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/can-michigan-defuse-its-population-time-bomb-see-how-far-we-fall-short">Can Michigan defuse its population time bomb? See how far we fall short</a> </strong></li> <li><strong><a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/indiana-beating-michigan-attracting-people-not-just-companies">Indiana is beating Michigan by attracting people, not just companies</a> </strong></li> <li><strong><a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/western-upper-peninsula-towns-empty-out-look-wisconsin-lessons">Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula towns empty out, look to Wisconsin for lessons</a> </strong></li> </ul> <p>The event also included a welcome and introduction from Dave Egner of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, a personal testimonial regarding population loss among young Michiganders from Javon Dobbs of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and a summary of the Altarum/Citizens Research Council report series findings from researchers representing each organization.</p> <p>Bridge has spent the year <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/can-michigan-defuse-its-population-time-bomb-see-how-far-we-fall-short">documenting</a> how population loss affects everything from the economy and health care, to education and <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/western-upper-peninsula-towns-empty-out-look-wisconsin-lessons">quality of life. </a>Capitol reporters Lauren Gibbons and Jonathan Oosting recently hosted a <a href="https://crcmich.org/podcast">podcast</a> about the Citizens Research Council and Altarum series.</p> <p><b>Watch a recording of the discussion below:</b></p></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/center-michigan/watch-bridge-discussion-ways-solve-michigans-population-woes/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com&quot;&gt;Bridge Michigan&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cropped-android-chrome-192x192-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=2156&amp;amp;ga4=G-1E2G9MSHX5&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://bridgemi.com/center-michigan/watch-bridge-discussion-ways-solve-michigans-population-woes/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bridgemi.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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