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Week 5 - Megan Fong

7/11/2022

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On my first day at TechTown, I was immediately overwhelmed with the sense that the organization was like a big family—a group of connected people who shared common interests and values and supported each other's growth. As I have expressed in many of my other blog posts, I firmly believe that TechTown’s team members are guided by a desire to impact the Detroit community positively and more broadly, positively impact the world.   
  
Through the interviews I conducted throughout the company, I found out that TechTown is largely fueled by the support of donors— financial support from donors in the form of federal grants, foundation grants, corporate grants, flagship sponsorships, and also individuals who support the organization. Thus, TechTown’s success is largely reliant upon others believing in their mission and acknowledging the immense impact that TechTown’s work has had upon Detroit’s economic development. In this way, TechTown’s growth over the past couple of years is a demonstration of faith from other individuals in the work that TechTown conducts. Due to the generosity of people with the desire to help bolster Detroit’s economic development through innovation, TechTown has been able to generate so much change within Detroit’s startup landscape. 
  
Beyond the company’s mission itself, TechTown boasts a very lively environment for its workers and clients alike. Every Monday at 1pm, TechTown has a town hall where all departments share what they have been up to or any piece of exciting news that they want to share. After being present at a few town halls, I eagerly anticipate these town halls— from monthly gratitude shoutouts to jokes cracked by the CEO it is evident that TechTown maintains an extremely robust company culture of good-heartedness.  
  
Moreover, the company’s attention to the well-being of their employees is evident through their monthly mental health days (and more when employees voice concerns of needing help to maintain a work-life balance) and hybrid work style. It is evident that the team members of TechTown love what they do— a product of both the healthy culture cultivated by the company in addition to a genuine desire to help the community of Detroit. In this sense, working at TechTown is such a heart-warming experience— what an honor it is to be able to work in a collaborative environment for a company with their sights set on the magnitude of their impact rather than how large their numbers or profits are. ​
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