Black History Month: Giving Back To The Motor City

DETROIT (WWJ) --  Leslie G. Andrews is the Director of Community Relations and Corporate Partnerships for Rock Ventures, LLC and the Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans family of companies which have pumped over 1.5 billion dollars into real estate and other initiatives in downtown Detroit.

"Somebody pointed out to me that I am the neighborhood ambassador -- the ambassador of downtown -- like you need a passport come downtown," Andrews said. "I got what they were saying because I post everything about Detroit."

Andrews left the UNCF to take the position at Rock Ventures and is thrilled to play a part in Detroit's comeback.

"I didn't know it at the time, but I was really changing the trajectory of their lives and I was just doing my job," Andrews said. "But, I was doing it from a space that I once occupied because I was that student who was running out of money."

"The world-class city that we decide we are going to be is really a task or a mission for the truly courageous because you fight differently for what you love and I'm courageous enough to do it," Andrews said.

[WWJ Newsradio 950 celebrates Black History Month by recognizing our local young African-American professionals and their heroes – you can hear these reports throughout the day: 6:20 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 3:40 p.m., 7:40 p.m.]