A model
for change
We are a connection model that takes powerful resources in a city – what’s already there, what we’re proud of – and deploys them in a new and brilliant way.
Our proven model is community-first, transferable and scalable:
1 LISTEN
We take the time and care to elevate community voices because local wisdom is essential. We are invited into neighborhoods by leaders, families, and associations – and we continue to listen to them.
2 PARTNER
We connect, curate, and coordinate existing family-centered programs and services – everything from literacy tutoring, mental health support groups, physical fitness, parenting classes, and more. When working with partners, we take the approach of a “Radical Yes” believing everyone can play a part.
3 BUILD
Together, we infuse a space in the heart of a neighborhood with the resources needed to transform it into a Brilliant Hub – a space for connection and growth.
4 SCALE
We continuously strive to improve our model, building on insights and evidence from each community, so that more neighborhoods can thrive.
Our Approach
We start with an invitation from local leaders in a particular neighborhood, aligning our goals through community listening sessions.
We identify, purchase, and repurpose a house in the neighborhood, transforming it into an early childhood hub in the middle of a community. Each hub feels safe and organic, and our practice of hiring from the community enhances this feeling.
We partner with organizations and individuals to offer research-based programs for both children and caregivers improving literacy, health, and family support.
Our programs work together to support families throughout early childhood, particularly targeting where other individual programs fall short.
In each neighborhood, we engage a local Advisory Team and conduct regular listening sessions to ensure our programs reflect community needs and foster continuous learning.
We foster community bonds through programming and local hiring. This approach builds trust, encourages mutual growth, and creates relationships across diverse neighborhoods.
Our programs are designed to help children reach key developmental milestones such as healthy development over the first 1,000 days of life, kindergarten readiness, and third grade reading proficiency.
As families reach their goals in neighborhoods throughout the city, we envision improving population-level early childhood statistics.
TOGETHER, WE MAKE brilliant things HAPPEN
TOGETHER, WE MAKE brilliant things HAPPEN
TOGETHER, WE MAKE brilliant things HAPPEN
TOGETHER, WE MAKE brilliant things HAPPEN
Connect with City Teams
Are you interested in bringing our model to your city? Whether you’re a resident, a potential funder, a program provider, or simply someone who cares about Kid Success, let us know – and we’ll reach out to get the conversation started!
Frequently Asked Questions
We created our model with the intention of focusing solely on Detroit. However, as we grew, we began to connect with people outside of Detroit who thought our model would work well in their communities too. Our work is based on listening and so we listened, exploring the possibilities of replication until it made sense to build and launch Brilliant Cities.
Our hubs are typically made from repurposed, vacant houses, which ensures they are accessible within neighborhoods and have a warm and familial feel. That said, a Brilliant Hub could be a former church building, corner store with above apartments, or any other space with potential. Here are the important components:
Location-corner lots or otherwise easily visible and located near an elementary school and/or early childhood center, as well as a park.
Interior: central gathering space, rooms are needed for workshops, childcare (ideally two different childcare rooms), kitchen space, physical fitness, private breastfeeding, and an office for staff.
Short answer; no. Nobody sleeps in our buildings. The hours of each Brilliant Hub are dependent on the needs of participating families, and we always have at least two members of staff on site.
Brilliant Cities coordinate the research-based programs of a wide array of partner organizations, all focused on young children and their families. These programs exist in the areas of education, health, family support, and community-building. Offerings include, for example, high-dosage literacy tutoring, early childhood vocabulary development, nutrition, physical fitness, mental health support groups, community meals, and more. These programs are generally facilitated by partners, although some are facilitated by Brilliant Cities staff with training from partners. Additionally, Brilliant Cities staff provide translation services for partners where needed.
We work with a wide range of organizations and associations to ensure Kid Success. These include Program Partners, who offer research-based programs to participating families at our hubs; Community Partners, which invite us into neighborhoods, collaborate on outreach, and/or act as advisors in a neighborhood; Stewardship Partners, which organize volunteers or funding support; and Admin Partners, who provide thought partnership and networking connections. No matter how big or small the group, we have a “radical yes” mentality when it comes to partnering!
Yes! For example, 33% of Brilliant Detroit’s staff are from the neighborhoods in which we operate and nearly all of the rest come from Detroit or the Metro Detroit area. This is true for other cities as well. The Brilliant Cities staff is based across the country but the people who run each individual city are local to that city.
We work with individual donors to large foundations to ensure at least 50% unrestricted funding so we can better respond to community needs. Our funding is focused on the hubs themselves and our staff. Program partners tend to bring their own funding and families do not pay anything to participate.
We prioritize listening in an ongoing way. After we are invited into a neighborhood and conduct listening sessions to ensure wide swaths of the neighborhood want us in their community, we create a local Advisory Team of participants and community leaders and continue to organize focus groups. These ongoing practices ensure that there are multiple ways by which communities can provide their feedback. When we receive advice and feedback, we make sure to “close the loop” and demonstrate action as a result.
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