Mayor nominates Alexa Bush to be Detroit’s new Planning Director

• Bush brings years of experience in City’s Planning Department, having led early planning for Strategic Neighborhood Fund efforts
• Most recently served on Kresge Foundation's Detroit initiatives 
• City Council has 30 days to confirm nomination under City Charter 

Mayor Mike Duggan has nominated former Planning Department and Kresge Foundation official, Alexa Bush, to be the city’s new Planning Director. Bush replaces Antoine Bryant, who announced last week he has accepted a new private sector post after leading the Planning Department for the past three years. Bush will begin her new position on January 6th.  Under City Charter, Bush’s appointment goes into effect after City Council approval or 30 after her nomination whichever comes first.  

Bush worked in the Planning and Development Department for six years, helping to build the department in 2015 as it restructured after the city emerged from bankruptcy. She served as the Urban Design Director-East Region in the city’s Planning and Development Department, where she was responsible for developing inclusive economic recovery efforts in partnership with residents.  

Bush oversaw neighborhood planning for five of the city’s ten Strategic Neighborhood Fund areas, helping create the four-pillar framework in partnership with Invest Detroit and other neighborhood stakeholders through the city’s Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative in the Fitzgerald neighborhood in northwest Detroit, and implementing key projects like Ella Fitzgerald Park and the Livernois Streetscape improvements. 

“Alexa was critical to the early rebuilding of the Planning Department and some of its most important neighborhood initiatives. She also has tremendous respect within city government and in the community,” said Mayor Duggan. “She was a fantastic partner during her time at the Kresge Foundation and we are extremely fortunate to have her now leading our citywide planning efforts.”  

Most recently Bush worked as a program officer with The Kresge Foundation’s Detroit Program. She was with the Foundation for three years, working to transform public spaces in the City of Detroit that promote inclusion and advance the interconnections between sustainable urban development and economic equity.  

Her major projects have included developing strategies to consider how economic development and neighborhood investments support the city’s children and families, growing the capacity within the city to respond to flooding, poor air quality, and extreme heat through a multi-sector climate resilience pilot on the east side, and centering community in the implementation of infrastructure improvements, particularly in Southwest Detroit. 

Bush also has experience working nationally with SmithGroup and San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). She comes from three generations of Detroiters, beginning with her great-grandfather who moved from Alabama to Detroit’s Old West Side. 

“I am honored to have the opportunity to join the talented and hardworking team at the city and continue to strengthen the Planning and Development Department’s role in providing a platform for resident engagement about the city’s future,” Bush said. “This is an incredibly exciting and important time to continue the city’s positive economic trajectory and to expand opportunities and improve quality of life in neighborhoods across the city.”