Anika Goss-Foster is the Executive Director of the Detroit Future City and leads a dynamic team of experts to implement the DFC Strategic Framework, the guide to decision-making and investment in Detroit. She also directs all partnerships, project initiatives, investments, and funding opportunities for DFC. Anika joined DFC after nearly 20 years of leadership in national and local roles in community development and non-profit management. Anika worked at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) for 15 years. In her most recent post as Vice President of the Midwest Region, Anika provided strategic and technical support for seven LISC offices in cities across the Midwest. Prior to LISC, Anika also worked with the City of Detroit as its Director of Philanthropic Affairs and Executive Director of Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative, leading an effort to transform six Detroit neighborhoods by improving city services and incorporating redevelopment strategies through public-private partnerships.
Anika has a Master of Social Work in Community Organizing degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Sociology and African American Studies degree from Purdue University. She also has had her research featured in Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Older Industrial Ares and in a feature in Monocole Magazine titled To Mend a City – Detroit.