Join MI State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks and her guests, Ashley Kuykendoll and State Senator Sarah Anthony, for a special edition of the podcast to acknowledge the second anniversary of the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” (CROWN) Act legislation. The CROWN Act expanded the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and banned race-based hair discrimination in the state of Michigan.

Sharing her own insight on the CROWN Act is Ashley Kuykendoll, People & Culture Division director for Treasury’s Operational Excellence Bureau.

AND at MINUTE 13:49, Senator Anthony gives listeners the backstory on what it took to get the bill she sponsored signed into legislation, and why she didn't give up on the CROWN Act.

Senator Anthony has made history multiple times throughout her 20-year career in public service. She served as mid-Michigan’s first African American woman to be elected to the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate, and is the first Black woman to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

RESOURCES

Governor Whitmer Signs Bipartisan CROWN Act to End Hair Discrimination

The CROWN Act: A jewel for combating racial discrimination in the workplace and classroom

Sen. Anthony Recognized for Championing CROWN Act by Michigan Civil Rights Commission

The Person Beneath the Hair: Hair Discrimination, Health, and Well-Being

Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act

Crown 2023 Workplace Research Study (Dove & LinkedIn)

State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks and her guest, Delsa Chapman discuss a groundbreaking financial education program for Michigan's teens. Delsa is the deputy superintendent for the Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Support at the Michigan Department of Education.

Michigan is the 14th state in the U.S. to guarantee that its students have access to a personal finance education course before high school graduation. A bipartisan bill, passed by the state Legislature in 2022 and approved by Gov. Whitmer, mandates that personal finance classes be offered to all Michigan students starting with ninth graders in the fall 2025 academic year.

RESOURCES

• MI Money Matters
• Michigan Dept. of Education (MDE)

State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks and her guest, Flora Boles discuss Treasury’s Fostering Futures Scholarship Trust Fund and how the scholarship helps Michigan's foster youth succeed in college. Flora is a departmental specialist with the Michigan Education Trust (or MET), and facilitates programs that support first generation college students.

"The numbers are sobering. Nationally, seventy percent of teens who emancipate from foster care report that they want to attend college, but fewer than ten percent who graduate from high school enroll in college, and of those three to 11 percent graduate from college. In Michigan, there are approximately 9,500 children are in the foster care system at any given time. As they reach adult age, having adequate resources to attain their dream of a college education is critical to having a successful future." -- Fostering Futures

RESOURCES

• Fostering Futures Scholarship (how to apply)
• Support the Fostering Futures Scholarship (event tickets/donations)
• Fostering Futures Scholarship Facebook
• Michigan Education Trust (MET)