Crain’s Detroit has named Alize Asberry Payne as a Notable Leader in DEI. She serves as Washtenaw County’s Racial Equity Officer, the first in the role since the 2018 establishment of Washtenaw’s Racial Equity Office (REO). Asberry Payne develops and oversees the County’s equity-related policies and programs, and leads the ARPA strategic team responsible for equitably distributing and managing $71M in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Her leadership resulted in an equity strategy for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, supplies, and KN95 masks, resulting in a quantifiable impact on Covid-19 mortality. She continues to align the county with national best practices related to poverty elimination, fine and fee justice reform and community building.
A “Crafting Demographic Futures” fellow at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan, she previously served on Governor Whitmer’s Covid-19 Racial Disparities Taskforce.
