We welcome Monica Lewis-Patrick, Debra A. Taylor and Cecily McClellan of We The People of Detroit.
We the People of Detroit is dedicated to community coalition building and to the provision of resources that inform, train and mobilize the citizens of Detroit and beyond to improve their quality of life. As a community-based grassroots organization, WPD aims to inform, educate, and empower Detroit residents on imperative issues surrounding civil rights, land, water, education, and the democratic process.
Monica Lewis-Patrick, President, and CEO and Co-founder of We the People of Detroit. Lewis-Patrick was appointed after having served as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement since 2009. She is a member of the U.S. Human Rights Network, inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), DEAL (Detroit Equity Action Lab), and was named to the World Water Justice Council in October 2015. As a former Lead Legislative Policy Analyst for former Detroit City Council Member Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson, Monica has authored legislation, conducted research, and delivered constituency services to tens of thousands of city residents. Lewis-Patrick attended Bennett College and graduated from East Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts of Liberal Studies with a concentration in Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Public Management. She is a Ron McNair Scholar and was named in 2016 one of seven people as a KIND PEOPLE Awardee by the KIND Snack Food Foundation. Monica is a member of the leadership team for PolicyLink/ WERC, the Governor’s Board for Healing Our Waters, All About Water Coalition, Michigan Water Table, a member of the International Joint Commission/ Great Lakes- Water Quality Board, Co-chair & Advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality- Water Affordability, Co- Chair of the Water Committee for the Michigan Advisory Council- Environmental Justice( Gov. Whitmer appointee), University of Michigan / M-LEEaD – National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Core Center. In 2022, Monica was nominated to be a Jarislowsky Fellow on Water Justice at the University of Waterloo, Canada.
Debra A. Taylor, Chief Financial Officer and Co-Founder of We the People of Detroit, Debra was named the 2015 National Lawyers Guild Unsung Hero for her service to the community and the work done managing relations between the non-profit, public officials and community leaders. She is a fellow of the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) and Wayne State University Law School Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. Taylor is a trained facilitator in youth development, in undoing racism, and served on strategic planning boards for non-profits. She is a member of the Midwest Environmental Justice Network’s Leadership Team, a regranting entity aimed at capacity building for grass root organizations in the Midwest. She earned a degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor in Telecommunications from Michigan State University.
Cecily McClellan, Director of Water Work/Relief and Co-founder for We the People of Detroit McClellan is a native Detroiter who has had a heart for activism since childhood. McClellan attend Detroit Public Schools and was part of the Association of Black Students at the former Eastern High School where the group was instrumental in changing not only the name of the high school to Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High but also curriculum and administration. Cecily graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Management and from Central Michigan University with a Master of Science in Administration Health and Human Services. After retirement from her career with the City of Detroit, Cecily continued to oppose the privatization of City of Detroit assets believing that public control serves the greater good while providing jobs, contracts, and public access. It is this belief that led her to assist in organizing the Free Detroit-No Consent campaign to fight PA4 and PA436, emergency management law. McClellan serves as the We the People of Detroit Water Hotline Coordinator. She is also the Vice President of the Woodward Village Neighborhood Association and a Board member of the Storehouse of Hope, a nonprofit association serving Detroit’s North End community. Co-Chair of Water PEEPs (Policy Engagement & Education Project).