A quiet shift is underway in Detroit, one led by residents pushing for change inside the places that have long excluded or marginalized Black people, people of color, and other vulnerable communities.

The Detroit Equity Action Lab, directed by Asandi Conner, is at the heart of this effort.

Conner trains and supports a network of fellows working in Detroit’s schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and arts organizations. Their mission is to bring equity into the institutions where it is often resisted.

For Conner, this is justice work. It is about shifting how organizations make decisions, whose voices get heard, and what accountability looks like. She says protests wield power and capture public attention, but lasting change often happens in the daily grind of strategy and persistence.

That approach feels especially urgent now, as political support for diversity, equity, and inclusion shrinks nationwide under the Trump administration. 

In a separate conversation, Conner’s colleague Angel McKissic spoke about restorative justice circles that repair harm and build trust at the community level. Together, their approaches speak to Detroit’s vast justice landscape. McKissic works to heal relationships between people, while Conner challenges inequity inside traditional systems of power.

Conner sat down with Robyn Vincent to discuss what it means to rebuild systems from within.

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