Detroit Financial Well-Being Challenge

The Detroit Financial Well-Being Innovation Challenge (FWBIC), led by the United Way of Southeastern Michigan, will provide seed funding and technical assistance to refine, test, pilot and scale big ideas to improve the financial lives of Detroiters. The challenge goal is to help organizations, and coalitions of organizations, drive big changes that will make it easier for Detroiters to thrive financially. The Innovation Challenge will occur in four stages over the next several years. The Challenge is designed to support applicants through the process of developing their ideas from concept all the way to fully-operational program or initiative. The United Way will provide grant funding to Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan for technical assistance services to support applicant and grantee organizations throughout the stages in the area of strategic planning and evaluation. Summary: Poverty Solutions (PS) will provide technical assistance to applicant and grantee organizations in the areas of evaluation design and planning. PS will also serve as an external evaluator for pilot and scale projects. PS will also continue to support UWSEM in overall design and implementation of FWBIC grant challenge, including attending weekly Core team meetings and reviewing/providing feedback on project documents; supporting UWSEM team in securing a strong pool of applicants and community reviewers; serving on grant review committee; and other functions as needed.