Mary Demery is a writer at heart. As the Development Director at Birth Detroit, she leads fundraising for the organization. She also co-directs the Build Birth Detroit campaign to open Detroit’s first birth center, guides foundation and donor relationships, and provides financial and economic development strategy for the organization. 

Mary was born in Detroit and grew up in the suburbs before attending the University of Michigan for an undergraduate degree in English. After graduation, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she worked in publishing and teaching. Ever curious about the world around her, she moved to Vietnam to teach English before moving home to Metro Detroit just before the pandemic hit. She started working with Birth Detroit in 2020 and has cherished the experience of learning from and leading with the Birth Detroit team. 

Under her leadership, Birth Detroit saw a 30% increase in grants and donations from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2022. Mary has secured millions of dollars in grant funding, managing the entire grant lifecycle from application to closeout. She is skilled in creating compelling proposals, building relationships with funders, and managing grant budgets and reporting requirements. Mary’s attention to detail, long-term vision, and a strong grasp of financial strategy have helped her work collaboratively with the Finance, Policy, and Clinical teams to develop and implement plans for Birth Detroit’s long-term growth and sustainability.

Mary is honored to be part of this historic project to open Detroit’s first birth center and Michigan’s first Black-led birth center. Long-term, she hopes to work with birth justice leaders nationwide to grow thriving birth centers and make community-based midwifery care available to any person who wants it. She is committed to securing resources to amplify the power of Black-led midwifery care and hopes to share the lessons she is learning from helping open a community-based birth center with other healthcare leaders across the country.

A results-driven, friendly business development leader, Mary is a strong writer, with an eye for the bigger picture and a knack for getting things done. To connect with her or learn more about her work, email her at mary@birthdetroit.com.