Team

Lou Glazer, President

lou@michiganfuture.org

Mr. Glazer is President and co-founder of Michigan Future, Inc., a non-partisan, non-profit organization. Michigan Future’s mission is to be a source of new ideas on how Michigan can succeed as a world class community in a knowledge-driven economy. Its work is funded by Michigan foundations.

His latest report is: A new economic development strategy for Michigan. To see all blog posts by Lou, click here.

Mr. Glazer currently is heading efforts to implement a new agenda designed to raise household income for all. Prior to joining MFI, Mr. Glazer served as Deputy Director of the Michigan Department of Commerce during the Blanchard Administration. He received Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Michigan. To download a high resolution photo of Lou Glazer, click here.

Patrick Cooney, Vice President

patrick@michiganfuture.org

Patrick Cooney rejoined the Michigan Future Inc. team in January of 2023 after having served as assistant director of policy impact at Poverty Solutions since 2018, overseeing the Partnership on Economic Mobility between the University of Michigan and the City of Detroit. Prior to joining Poverty Solutions, Cooney worked as a policy associate at Michigan Future, Inc. (MFI), where he contributed research, policy analysis, and writing to MFI projects focused on influencing state economic and education policies. At MFI, Patrick also managed the college success program for the Michigan Future Schools initiative, which funded and supported new college-prep high schools in Detroit. Cooney also taught middle school math at Uncommon Schools in Brooklyn, New York; was a Teach for America corps member in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas; and was an Education Pioneers fellow at Chicago Public Schools. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Boston College and a master’s in public policy from the University of Michigan. To see all blog posts by Patrick, click here.

Donna Lasinski headshot.

Donna Lasinski, Vice President

donna@michiganfuture.org

Donna Lasinski is a Vice President at Michigan Future Inc. Lasinski joined the Michigan Future team after having served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2017 through 2023. Leading her caucus as House Democratic Leader, Lasinski partnered with the Whitmer administration to advance generational changes in economic and education policy.

Prior to her time in the Michigan legislature, Lasinski served on the Ann Arbor school board and founded ThinkStretch, a national education company focused on reducing summer learning loss, particularly in Title I schools.

Ms. Lasinski is focused on advancing new ideas in policy across our state to create success for all communities in a knowledge-driven economy. Ms. Lasinski received a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a masters degree from Northwestern University.

Don Grimes, Research Specialist

Donald R. Grimes is a research area specialist lead at the University of Michigan’s Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics.  His primary research interests are in labor economics and economic forecasting.  For the past two decades, he has worked on forecasting labor market activity in the metropolitan areas of Michigan.  He has worked for many years with the Michigan departments of Commerce and Treasury and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on policy analysis and evaluating economic strategies.  He has also participated in economic studies designed to assist firms in their location and expansion decisions.  He is co-director of a project to generate long-term economic and demographic projections for all of the counties of Michigan.

He works as a consultant with Michigan Future where he does all of its economic analysis and co-authors with Lou Glazer the annual progress report on Michigan’s Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy.

Contact Information

Michigan Future, Inc.
734-747-8120
PO Box 130416
Ann Arbor, MI. 48113
Twitter: @MichiganFuture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michiganfuture