The Detroit Documenters program trains and pays Detroiters to attend local public meetings and monitor elected officials, in collaboration with local journalists. Hundreds of residents are active in the program, bringing more transparency to local government through their meeting notes, live tweets and civic participation.
This month, we’re featuring multidisciplinary social scientist and researcher David Palmer.
You may recognize David Palmer from his picture on the Documenters.org website . He has been a Detroit Documenter since mid-2019, when the program was just starting. David had been following City Bureau on social media and watched as the nonprofit formed the first Documenters program in Chicago. He noted with interest as WDET and CitizenDetroit worked to bring the concept to Detroit.
At that time, he sought to learn the art of journalistic writing, as opposed to the long-form social science research he was used to in his daily work.
David, who has lived in Detroit since 2016, is a multidisciplinary strategist and Realtor. His research focuses on how “workforce, real estate, economic development and nonprofits intersect to lift up normal humans with improved policy and program outcomes for our communities.”
Recently, David published a guide to help first-time homebuyers in Detroit “stack” down payment assistance programs . The City of Detroit’s program , which offers up to $25,000 to qualified homebuyers, is expected to reopen this year. David said the right real estate agent could work with a homebuyer in Detroit to combine up to $50,000 in down payment assistance funds from multiple programs.
David doesn’t often take Documenters assignments these days, but he occasionally applies for a live-tweeting assignment if it’s related to his research. He’s developed relationships with other Documenters. They bounce ideas off each other about the different things they’re researching, and he’ll help new live-tweeters if they have questions. David said he tries to be a resource for the community and good neighbor in the network.
He said if there are “500 humans interested enough to take a class, and some subset of those have done assignments, then I think there’s a really valuable brain trust there that can be leveraged to do the sunlight work that Documenters exists to support.”
Scroll down to learn more about David and how you can connect with him.
Location: Detroit
What I do: I run a “think-visualize-do” tank in Detroit. My team supports nonprofits, philanthropy and small businesses with matters pertaining to economic and workforce development, real estate, grant writing and convening. We are community-minded data geeks who can translate government, nonprofit, community and business speak.
What I love about it: We got one shot at doing life well, work on big things and expect big outcomes!
One thing I want to get from the Documenters community: I want to meet, grow and maintain relationships with a community of decent humans seeking good data, transparency and even a hint of decency in public policy.
One thing I can give to the Documenters community: I come to Documenters with the audacity to dream big and a track record of making big ideas become reality. I offer consulting services, a large network of doers, research, grant writing and policy expertise.
Something people might not know about you: I was a prolific poetry writer when I was younger and self-published a book of poetry when I was 19. Now, I try to go to at least three live music performances a month and have a well-developed estate sale habit that complements my work in residential real estate.
How you can reach me: On X .
Meet David Palmer, this month’s Featured Documenter · Outlier Media
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