Two longtime Flint community leaders were announced as part of Gov.-Elect Jocelyn Benson’s transition team on November 4.
Former Congressman Dan Kildee, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013-2025, will serve as one of four chairs of Benson’s Leadership Council, along with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, Huntington Bank chair Gary Torgow, and Strategic Staffing Solutions CEO Cindy Pasky.
The Leadership Council is meant to bring together insight from public and private sector industries including education, healthcare, public service, philanthropy, labor, business, and law to provide guidance as the incoming administration prepares to implement Benson’s platform from her campaign, which focused on lowering costs of fuel, food, and other necessities, raising wages, and making government more responsive.
Part of that responsiveness includes an announcement Benson made on November 4 that she will the Michigan Governor’s Office subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The governor’s office has been exempt from FOIAs since 1976 through a state law.
Kildee is currently the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and he was the founder of the Genesee County Land Bank, Michigan’s first land bank, and the Center for Community Progress.
Benson also named former Michigan Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, who is currently the CEO of the Greater Flint Health Coalition, as one of three co-chairs for her transition team. President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Nicole Sherard-Freeman and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan Jeff Donofrio are the other co-chairs. They will provide strategic direction as the incoming administration takes over.
“I am bringing together some of the most experienced and respected leaders in our state to help us prepare for the work ahead,” Benson said in a news release. “Michiganders expect a government that works for them, and that starts with making sure we’re ready to deliver from Day One. I’m grateful these leaders are stepping up to help us build an administration focused on lowering costs, growing our economy, and making government work better for families across Michigan.”
Other members of the council named by Benson are Rosalynn Bliss, the assistant dean and chief external relations officer at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; Laura Dickerson, vice president of the UAW International Executive Board; Fadwa Hammoud, managing member of Miller Johnson’s Detroit office, Austin Lowes, the elected chairperson of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and president of the United Tribes of Michigan; Chandra Madafferi is president of the Michigan Education Association (MEA); Terrence Martin, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Michigan; Marcus Muhammad, mayor of Benton Harbor; Brent Pilarski, business manager of the Michigan Laborers’ District Council (MLDC), Mary Sheffield, Mayor of the city of Detroit; Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who was elected to the Senate in 2024; and Linh Song, co-founder and chair of The Song Foundation.
Benson, who served as Michigan Secretary of State since 2019, defeated Congressman John James on November 3 in the election to replace term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to catch up on all of our headlines every Wednesday.
