People
Fellowships and mentorship
We back individuals early — with capital, coaching, and a network of people who answer the phone. Fellows keep their independence; we carry the overhead.
Detroit-rooted philanthropy platform
Philanthropy,
put to work.
Kotcher invests in people, ideas, and places. Your gift becomes a fellowship, a classroom, a research grant, a rebuilt block — work you can point at.
People
Fellows funded for a full year
Ideas
Grants decided in weeks
Places
Neighborhood-led projects
Our work
Giving becomes opportunity — in three directions.
Ideas
Research and new ventures
Small, fast grants for work that is too early for institutions and too serious to lose. We fund the prototype, the pilot, the first year of proof.
Places
Civic and community projects
Detroit-rooted, neighborhood-scale investment: schools, blocks, gardens, libraries, trades. Local stewards decide what gets built.
Programs
Where your gift lands.
Open
The Kotcher Fellowship
A funded year for people building something of consequence. Stipend, mentorship, and a cohort that stays in touch long after.
Rolling
Ideas Fund
Rapid grants for research, tools, and experiments — decisions in weeks, not quarters.
By nomination
Neighborhood Works
Capital and labor for community-led projects, matched with volunteers who bring real trade skills.
In build
Education Initiative
Scholarships, tutoring, and apprenticeship pathways for students in the city and the counties around it.
Education Initiative
A current apprentice in action.
Dr. Allan Hubbard, PhD, MBA, MA, is a Kotcher apprentice putting education to work in Detroit. A researcher published on emotional intelligence and economics, he is a certified candidate for the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education — a nonpartisan office — turning classroom and research experience into governance that serves students, families, and educators.
Detroit Public Schools Community District · Board of Education candidate, November 3 election.
Get involved
Capital is one contribution. So is a Saturday.
Volunteer
Show up for a build day, a workshop, or a semester of tutoring. Hours where they compound.
VolunteerMentor
Give a fellow your expertise — an hour a month changes what a year can produce.
Mentor a fellowEthos
Inspired by a life of service. Built for what comes next.
Kotcher takes its name and its temperament from the continuing life and service of Charles Kotcher. This is not a memorial. It is a working platform that borrows an ethos — service, discipline, responsibility, relationships, stewardship, and human flourishing — and applies it to people and ideas that deserve a first serious investment.
Service
The work is measured by who it helps, not who it flatters.
Discipline
Small commitments, kept for years.
Stewardship
Other people's money, handled like a trust.
Flourishing
People, not programs, are the outcome.
One action
Put your giving to work today.
Give once or give monthly. It takes about a minute, and it starts working immediately.