Source: College of Engineering
Jhawan Davis
Jhawan Davis
Jhawan Davis remembers the day his middle school teacher changed his life.
“They kind of sat me down and said, ‘Hey, you’re smart, but you don’t take things seriously. I think if you actually applied yourself, you could be really successful.’”
From that day on, Davis saw the world differently. He worked hard and got into Cass Tech, one of Detroit’s premier high schools. Next, he parlayed his math and science chops into a degree in industrial and operations engineering from University of Michigan Engineering. Today, he’s a continuous improvement specialist at Michigan Medicine, using engineering principles to help doctor’s offices run more smoothly and provide better access for patients.
Davis never forgot his middle school sit-down, and he has made creating those moments for others an enduring goal. In high school, he started tutoring other students in math, continuing it through college. When a series of engineering jobs in the manufacturing industry took him around the country, he worked with local National Society of Black Engineers chapters to organize volunteer tutors.
In 2022, the job with Michigan Medicine brought him back home, and Davis decided it was time to do more. He realized that he could apply the engineering principles from his industrial and operations engineering degree to education.
“I remember being at work, and I thought ‘Why hasn’t anyone taken this idea of continuous improvement to education?’ It’s an industry where there are people, processes and outcomes that are somewhat predictable, where people could benefit from this type of thinking.”
The idea led him to form the Detroit Educational Takeover (DET), a non-profit organization whose network of volunteers provides tutoring and other educational resources to Detroit Public Schools students. Since its inception in 2022, Davis estimates that the organization has provided free tutoring to around 600 students. It has also partnered with another Detroit non-profit, Focus Hope, to deliver meals to hundreds of families in need.
