Carol A. Goss to speak at commencement

The ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the university’s Fieldhouse and will honor all graduates of the campus—College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, College of Business, College of Engineering and Computer Science and School of Education.

Additional speakers will include UM-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little; Kate Davy, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UM-Dearborn; State Representative Lesia Liss (B.A. ’07); Jonathan Smith, William E. Stirton professor in English; and student Gabrielle Boyer, who will graduate with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

Involved in philanthropy for 25 years, Goss joined The Skillman Foundation in March 1998 as a senior program officer. She was named president & CEO of the Foundation, whose mission is to improve the lives of children in metropolitan Detroit by strengthening their schools and neighborhoods, in 2004. She has worked as a program officer at the Stuart Foundation in San Francisco and as program director at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek.

In 2011, Goss won City Year Detroit's Idealist in Action award, as well as Olivet College's Leadership in Individual and Social Responsibility award. The Detroit News named Goss a 2010 Michiganian of the Year.

In 2008, Goss was selected as the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero, as part of the Shining Light Awards, created by the Detroit Free Press and Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, to honor individuals who are making important contributions to regional cooperation, progress and understanding in metropolitan Detroit.

Goss was named the 2007 James A. Joseph Lecturer by the Association of Black Foundation Executives. Crain’s Detroit Business cited her as one of Southeast Michigan’s Most Influential Women, an honor that the publication bestows every five years to the region’s most dynamic and powerful women.

Goss' professional career includes nearly 20 years' experience in child welfare, family services and youth development. A native Detroiter, Goss has a B.A. in sociology and an M.S.W. from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.