As educators in the city of Detroit, Lexis Zeidan (MA ’17) and Dayna Peoples recognize the role of young people in the fight for racial justice. In an effort to empower and support Detroit youth, Zeidan and Peoples founded Detroit Kids Matter. It partners with and sponsors local nonprofits and organizations that motivate and inspire youth to be their personal best through every opportunity and challenge.
Zeidan and Peoples sponsor youth organizations through sales of their clothing brand. They plan to expand their scope to feature Detroit youth inspired products on their blog page, offer tutoring services, and provide consulting services for Detroit youth who want to start their own business.
An important aspect of their mission is to continue building meaningful partnerships with businesses and organizations in the Detroit area that support and advance Detroit youth. Detroit Kids Matter operates as an online business with occasional pop-ups.
Zeidan is a certified educator/administrator, serving as an intervention coordinator for a charter school district in Detroit. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Michigan State University. After teaching for a few years, she went on to complete her master’s at U-M School of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy. She’s a student at the Ross School of Business working to receive her Master’s in Business Administration.
Peoples is a certified educator in the city of Detroit, serving as an administrator at a charter school in southwest Detroit. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education, with a concentration in Mathematics, from Wayne State University in 2011. After completing her graduate program in the College of Education, she received her Master’s of Education in Reading, Language and Literature in 2016.