Group Executive - Economic Development

In his role, Hassan Beydoun will focus on establishing Detroit as a magnet for innovators and other start-up entrepreneurs.
Beydoun, who previously served as Senior Advisor and Counsel to the Mayor, will lead the Jobs and Economy Team’s efforts to grow Detroit’s economy. Beydoun previously served as Senior Advisor and Counsel to the Mayor.

In addition to continuing the City's recent success attracting major employers in his new role, Beydoun will focus heavily on making Detroit the most friendly city in the country for innovators and start-up entrepreneurs.  That will include helping streamline the city's complex web of regulations and permitting and approval processes to remove barriers to innovation.
Born in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood and raised in the Aviation Subdivision, Beydoun has served as Mayor Duggan’s legal counsel and senior advisor. Since his appointment in 2021, he has driven and advised on major initiatives ranging from the Transportation Innovation Zone around Michigan Central to the Joe Louis Greenway and Blight to Beauty. He has also been the lead advocate for the city’s interests and legislative agenda in Lansing.

Prior to joining the Duggan Administration, Beydoun served as the General Counsel to the Michigan House of Representatives. In that role Beydoun was instrumental in the passage of auto no-fault reform legislation, as well as in eliminating driver responsibility fees, accelerating mobility innovation, and expanding expungement laws. He was also involved in the legislative components of Detroit’s Grand Bargain and Financial Review Commission that set the stage for the city’s exit from bankruptcy and state oversight. Beydoun has also served as chief counsel for the Legislature’s regulatory oversight bodies and in several investigations, including the Flint water crisis.

Beydoun earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Wayne State University before graduating with special honors and distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law.