City of Detroit
Anthony Zander, director of the Department of Civil Rights, Inclusion & Opportunity.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan appointed a new director of the Department of Civil Rights, Inclusion & Opportunity (CRIO).
Anthony Zander will be in charge of the city’s efforts to promote equity, inclusion, and business opportunities in Detroit. That includes overseeing the community benefits ordinances and mediating civil rights complaints.
Zander also will oversee the city’s new recreational marijuana ordinance through the CRIO’s Office of Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship, as well as the department’s Office of Disability Affairs.
The city’s Human Rights Commission unanimously voted to accept Zander for the new role.
Zander replaces Kimberly Rustem, who recently accepted a new opportunity.
Zander was previously a member of Duggan’s Lean Continuous Improvement team in which he worked on internal processes.
“Processes don’t mean much if they aren’t efficient and working for the people they are meant to help,” Duggan said in a statement. “That’s why having Anthony lead CRIO is so important right now. With his proven experience in improving the delivery of important services, I have complete confidence that he will make sure our department of civil rights, inclusion and opportunity is operating effectively on behalf of all Detroiters.”
Before joining the city, Zander worked at various jobs focused on humanitarian policy in Washington, D.C., Lansing, and Detroit. He also led a nonprofit’s statewide Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs department, which was tasked with mitigating non-conformances, proper reporting to regulatory agencies, and leading improvement efforts throughout departments.
A native of Detroit, Zander studied political science at Michigan State University and is a political science graduate student with disciplines in public administration and urban politics.
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