Ali Elatrache, a Program Associate for the New Economy Initiative, is an urban planner by training with deep roots in southeast Michigan, whose work sits at the intersection of community development and nonprofit fundraising.

He holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan and has spent three years at the Michigan Theater Foundation as Development Manager administering grants and managing the organization’s major giving society. He has also worked on economic development and Tax Increment Financing policy with the City of Dearborn. His commitment to the region traces back to his time in the Semester in Detroit program as an undergraduate.

Outside of work, you’ll find him on a volleyball court going for a block he’s too short to reach or in the kitchen honing his culinary skills.