Devon Buskin is the Director of Workforce Development at Greening of Detroit. Since 2012, The Greening’s Workforce Development Department has grown significantly. Under Devon’s leadership, The Greenings’ Adult Workforce Training Program is now a certified apprentice program through the state of Michigan and US Department of Labor. The workforce program has now expanded into The Detroit Conservation Corps. This expansion of workforce training will train and employee 2,500 Detroit residents in green collar jobs. These jobs will allow Detroiters to work on projects in their own neighborhoods and be a part of the city’s revitalization. This program has given local low-income and underemployed citizens a second chance to be successful and have a sustainable future.
At The Greening, Devon also runs the Green Corps Youth Employment Program, which employs over 200 students each summer. The Green Corps Program educates students in the field of green jobs, urban planning, civil and environmental engineering, landscape architecture, and other disciplines. This program offers students ACT/SAT training, resume/interviewing training, financial literacy, college visits, college fairs, and hands on environmental education. During his tenure with the State of Michigan (Cities of Promise initiative) under Governor Granholm’s Administration, Devon successfully grew a Detroit-Metro region program into a state-wide and federal program. Devon Buskin is passionate about offering young people opportunities with employment, training, mentoring, and educational opportunities.
Devon Buskin was groomed into leadership by his grandfather, who served as the Deputy Mayor for Detroit under Mayor Coleman A. Young’s administration. Devon was blessed to have a support system of his grandparents, aunts, and his parents, who supported him through the good and the bad. He is an experienced administrator, department director, and program developer whose imprint can be found on multiple local, state, and federal agencies. He is a proven, seasoned leader, and a visionary for workforce development. He has overseen many youth programs and departments in the public and private sectors, utilizing such skills such as leadership, strategic planning, implementation, recruitment, building workforce development systems, and job placement.
Devon is a proud husband and father. He enjoys spending time with his family, mentoring and coaching youth, playing sports, and being involved in his community. He is a proud graduate and product of the Detroit Public Schools System, and continued his education at Western Michigan University. In January of 2017, Devon was selected along with 21 other business leaders in the city to be apart of the Aspen Institute’s Detroit Workforce System Leadership Academy. This Fellowship is supported by JPMorgan Chase & Co., The Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW), and the Aspen Institute. They have been charged to develop innovative and practical solutions that will connect Detroiters to jobs and to rebuild the local economy. Devon received a National Leadership Award from the US Department of Labor in 2015, a leadership award for Parsons Brinkerhoff in 2009 and 2010, and was recently awarded the 2017 Excellence Under 40 leadership award.
Devon Buskin is a member of the Detroit Workforce System Leadership Development Academy Class of 2017, one of several Workforce Leadership Academies in localities across North America.
The Workforce Leadership Academies are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.