Penny Bailer

Board Member, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy

Penny Bailer has served as Executive Director of City Year Detroit since 2001, responsible for Michigan's largest AmeriCorps program, through which over 550 young adult corps members have served full time for up to two school years each, providing tutoring, mentoring and after school program to thousands of school children. In addition, they lead countless physical clean up/beautification projects and civic engagement activities, inspiring over 1500 volunteers to join them each year.

Prior to joining City Year, Penny served for over 17 years as Executive Director of the Michigan Metro Girl Scout Council, which was named CRAIN's "Best Managed Non Profit" during her tenure. She was elected to the Detroit Board of Education 1990-94 and was named one of Detroit's "100 Most Influential Women" by CRAIN's Detroit Business in 1997.

Active as a Detroit champion and volunteer since arriving here in 1975, Penny currently serves as an officer or member of the governing boards of several Detroit nonprofits including The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, New Detroit, Communities in Schools, Detroit Urban League, ARISE Detroit, City Connect Detroit and the Detroit Community/Union Leaders Collaborative, among several others championing youth and Detroit's revitalization. Penny is a member of Detroit Rotary and chairs the Youth Citizen Service Scholarship Award Committee.

She earned an MBA in 1989 from the Advanced Management/Executive MBA Program at MSU. Her bachelor's degree, earned in the 60's, is a BFA in Music/Piano Performance from the University of Georgia, near her hometown of Atlanta.