Univ of Detroit Mercy Magis Medal Winners

Patricia Selby (U. of Detroit Mercy ’06)

Patricia Selby serves as the DNA project attorney for the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO). She is responsible for investigating and acting on potential wrongful conviction cases associated with Detroit’s backlog of sexual assault kits. Ms. Selby practiced in the areas of voting rights and inmate civil rights before joining SADO, a provider of high-quality, holistic, and client-centered appellate counsel. Along with four other attorneys, Ms. Selby was recognized by the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM) for advocacy on the issue of juvenile life without parole. CDAM honored Ms. Selby for taking on a defendant who "had been buried alive in the system and whom the Michigan courts had treated with brutal disregard." Patricia Selby is a trustee and the secretary of the Grosse Ile Township Schools Board of Education

Elizabeth Grabowski (U. of Detroit Mercy ’11)

As a Challenge Detroit Fellow, Elizabeth Grabowski works at Mosher Dolan, a metro Detroit construction management firm. Challenge Detroit is an urban revitalization, leadership, and professional development program. The Fellows partner with local Detroit non-profits and work on specific challenges which can range from marketing development to idea generation to design-build projects.  She has worked on projects for Recovery Park (created jobs for people with barriers to employment), Vehicles for Change (empowered families with financial challenges to achieve independence through car ownership and technical training), Detroit Food Academy (designed and built a mobile kitchen cart), Detroit Collaborative Design Center (designed graphics used to prevent dumping and littering after a neighborhood cleanup), and Challenge Detroit Health Disparities Coalition (presented ideas for implementing socially responsive practice techniques into curricula for young medical professionals from across the nation).  As Ms. Grabowski describes, Challenge Detroit has taught her that the greater effort of many people can not only change spaces, perspectives, and ideas but can also make great things happen.