As a kid she fought with her mom for a safe Downriver. Now she's leading develpment there.

Jazmine Danci has had an understanding of community organizations and local government since she was 4 years old.

While her dad put in long hours at American Axle's headquarters in Detroit, instilling a deep sense of work ethic in his daughter, Danci's stay-at-home mom spent her free time involved in a community group that was hard at work fighting the installation of an injection well that would have been used to dispose of hazardous wastes into the ground in their home city of Romulus.

Danci, 36, spent her childhood and teen years boots-on-the-ground with her mom, going to city council meetings, public hearings, EPA hearings and protests — even going door-to-door to get neighbors to sign petitions. After years of fighting, well opponents lost the battle but Danci carried the lessons she learned with her into adulthood.

Danci's civic involvement led to a lifelong commitment to her community, juggling competing needs and millions of dollars in funds to rebuild and redevelop local municipalities, making her the 2024 Dave Bing Young Leader Award honoree. The award is part of the annual Shining Light Awards, presented by the Detroit Free Press and the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, to recognize individuals who have a regional impact in metro Detroit.

Getting her start in government

Thinking she wanted to devote her life to the environmental sustainability effort, Danci got her bachelor's degree in environmental policy at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and her master's degree in natural resources and sustainability from the University of Michigan. After college, she interned for the city of Romulus, where she started working in communications and community outreach for Romulus' Downtown Development Authority.

Tim Keyes, the previous director of economic development for Romulus, said it didn't take long to recognize Danci's intelligence and drive.

"When she was given a task, not only did she complete the task, but she surprised us on how well she did it," he said. "When she's doing a job, that's what her focus is on: To do it, do it right and actually do it beyond what is hoped for."

Over nine years, Danci worked her way up to the position of director of marketing and community outreach for the city of Romulus in 2019. In 2020, when she was pregnant with her daughter, she decided to take an extended maternity leave for what became more than two years.

During those two years, she worked part-time for the Greater Romulus Chamber of Commerce. In late 2022, Keyes called Danci, asking whether she was ready to come back to work for the city, with an opportunity to utilize her talents in a new role.

BUY TICKETS TO THE CEREMONY: Jazmine Danci will be honored during a luncheon on Oct. 15 at Ford Field

Back on the job

The Downriver Community Conference, a quasi-governmental agency that works with 20 communities in the Downriver area — as far north as Dearborn Heights, as far south as Rockwood and as far west as Romulus — in developing their human, social and economic assets, had just received a $1.6 million grant from the University of Michigan Economic Growth Institute to create an economic development office and department that would focus on revitalizing that region's Detroit Riverfront — and it was in need of a leader.

Keyes recommended Danci for the job.

"Her excitement for the job, her intelligence, her leadership skills are second to none," said Jim Perry, Downriver Community Conference's executive director

After the closure of two DTE Energy coal-fired power plants in River Rouge and Trenton in 2021 and 2022 respectively, the region lost the tax dollars it had received from DTE, Danci said.

Many of the Downriver Community Conference's projects, from fixing up the Jefferson Avenue corridor with greenways, bike lanes, lighting and signage to redeveloping brownfield land across the region, were on Downriver cities' to-do list, but could never be completed due to a lack of funds, Danci said. Other projects were simply too large-scale for a single city to tackle alone, like repairing 12 miles of roadway that crosses through multiple cities, she said.

As the group's economic development administrator, Danci works to acquire the millions of dollars needed for new programs, infrastructure and development.

"She speaks very comfortably with all of the stakeholders in the community, from residents all the way up to our legislators and our federal representatives," said Carmen Wells Quigg, senior project manager at the Economic Growth Institute who works closely with Danci. "There's nothing that I don't think Jazmine couldn't manage."

Danci said she is excited the most about "being able to actually shine a light on Downriver because I'd say Downriver has felt in the shadow of Detroit forever."

"Here we are right outside the border and it's like we feel forgotten," she said. "So, to be able to work together and come together as a region and be able to leverage that and bring in more funds and more resources, that's been the (best)."

Setting an example

Outside of work, she tries trying to give back as president of her local Rotary Club. She and those who know her said she takes every chance she gets to express pride in her city and share the Downriver story — and stay true to her environmental roots.

A vegan, Danci's favorite day of the year is Earth Day — she dresses up like Mother Earth in a green gown and garland to give presentations to libraries and local school programs — and she even brings her own Pyrex containers to restaurants for leftovers.

But above all, she hopes to inspire her daughter, Joelle.

Now that her daughter is approaching 4 years old, the same age she was when her mother got her started in community work, she has been thinking a lot about how her daughter might continue her mission. Joelle will matter-of-factly tell Danci that she has a meeting to go to or that she's on a business call, and she proudly takes the stage at her mother's feet as she reads announcements to the Rotary Club.

"My mom was such a strong role model for me. ... You know that quote, 'Be who you needed when you were younger?' I really am trying to embrace that now that I have a daughter," said Danci. "I guess we'll see what she wants to do and I'll love to encourage her in whatever she does, but it'll be cool, too, for her to know that these governments and these people are out there for the community's benefit."

Contact Kylie Martin: kmartin@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Downriver development leader Jazmine Danci to get Shining Light award