Welcome to our Corktown Business Association board!
Alex Riley is a serial entrepreneur who has founded businesses in Human Resources, Training & Development, Facilities Management, and Real Estate. He and his companies have been featured in INC, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Crain's Detroit Business, DBusiness, and various other local and national publications.
Alex was included in the DBusiness "30 In Their 30s" list in 2020, INC's "30 Under 30" list in 2018, was awarded the Michigan "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2015, and was selected as a member of Crain’s “20 in their 20s” in 2013. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan holding both a B.S.E. in Industrial & Operations Engineering and a B.S. in Mathematics.
Currently, Alex is the Managing Partner for TK FUND, a Commercial Real Estate Development Company located in Corktown, Detroit.
Carolina Pluszczynski is the Chief Operating Officer, Michigan Central. Carolina has worked in a range of leadership roles at Ford - including Chief of Staff for the Mobility President. Her work has focused on delivering large scale technology programs to transform the business in manufacturing and product development, and company-wide programs to accelerate changes in corporate governance, implementing product driven teams, and progressing diversity and inclusion. She currently oversees strategy and execution for Michigan Central.
Dennis Fulton is a retired senior law enforcement executive with over 35 years of law enforcement experience. He retired as a Commander with the Detroit Police Department (DPD). Dennis holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Wayne State University and Northwestern University respectively.
Upon leaving the Detroit Police Department, Dennis and a partner opened his first restaurant in Corktown, the Mercury Burger, and Bar. He then ventured into Macomb County. There he partnered up and opened a second restaurant, Bobcat Bonnies in the Partridge Creek Mall.
Dennis is a founding member and past president of the Corktown Business Association. He also serves as the Treasurer of the Corktown Economic Development Corporation, a 501(c)3 organization.
Joe Mifsud is a developer and owner of Valletta LLC, J & B Development LLC, and First Development of Detroit LLC. He owns many properties in Corktown, the neighborhood he was born in, since his first investment in 1993. He hopes he can help in any small way to make Detroit and Corktown a better place for all to enjoy.
Matt Buskard owns Bobcat Bonnie's with three locations around the metro-Detroit area. His original location in Historic Corktown took over the O'Blivions space that ran for many years. The prior owner had always had a strong voice and commitment to the Corktown neighborhood which Matt excitedly stepped into. His passion for the community, and people have helped him continue to grow in this great neighborhood, his door is always open to new business owners looking to figure out whose who in the neighborhood.
Rohani Foulkes, Co-Founder & Co-Owner of Folk, is a native of Cairns, Australia, and began her career in food at a young age with a trade apprenticeship in culinary arts. She went on to work as a professional chef for over 10 years in restaurants, hotels and island resorts along the East Coast of Australia. Later, Rohani coupled her love of food with education, acquiring a Masters Degree in International Education at the University of Sydney and went on to work in community development and food empowerment with various non-profits in Australia and the United States.
Tysen McCarthy is the Vice President of Soave Real Estate Group and Project Manager of Elton Park, began his career in real estate 30 years ago. He participated in his first real estate development project in the City of Detroit in 2007. His most recent project is here in Corktown. Elton Park is a $50 million mixed-use project containing 151 residential units and 11,000 sqft of retail space.
Deveri Gifford is co-founder and co-owner of the Brooklyn Street Local. She grew up in the Ottawa Valley in rural Ontario. She has a BA in Psychology from York University in Toronto. Deveri began serving and bartending in university and has continued to work in the hospitality industry ever since. Her upbringing instilled the importance of community and environmentalism, Deveri has been a founding member of urban community gardens, has volunteered with organic farms and other humanitarian/ environmental projects internationally. With the values of community and environmentalism in mind and a love for the hospitality industry she wanted to open her own restaurant. Deveri was inspired by the welcoming, creative, D.I.Y. spirit of Detroit and moved from Toronto to Detroit in January 2012 to open the Brooklyn Street Local. Deveri has sat on the CBA board since 2016, serving as Vice President in 2017 and President in 2018. She looks forward to continuing to promote community and entrepreneurship in Corktown in 2022!
Donna Barnett has nearly 20 years of marketing and real estate experience with much of her experience being in the Real Estate and Finance sectors. Ms. Barnett is Commercial Real Estate Sales and Leasing Representative with Stokas Bieri Real Estate, one of the nation’s leading Retail Real Estate Tenant brokers.
As a Detroit resident, Ms. Barnett is passionate about the city of Detroit and expanding retail offerings within the city. She has partnered with the DEGC to assist several Motor City Match winners in securing retail space. Additionally, she has been tapped as the Leasing Agent for several high-profile new development projects including: The Corner a multi-use project at the former site of Tiger Stadium, and Elton Park a multi-use development in the heart of Corktown.
She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing from Eastern Michigan University. Ms. Barnett was able to incorporate her vast sales and marketing knowledge into building a successful Real Estate Business and later became the Director of Marketing for one of the nation’s leading wholesale lenders.
In addition to her position with Stokas Bieri Real Estate, Ms. Barnett is the Founder and CEO of a successful corporate event planning company located in Downtown Detroit, as well as on the Board of Directors for two non-profit organizations serving those affected by domestic violence. In 2018 she was elected to the board of the Corktown Business Association.
Nicole Meunier is delighted to be a CBA Board Member and Detroit resident.
Currently, Nicole is the Development & Events Specialist at Mercy Education Project; a Corktown non-profit dedicated to empowering women and girls through education in Detroit.
Originally a Metro-Detroit Native and graduate of Oakland University, Nicole has been a professional fundraiser and event planner for 7 years in Chicago IL. There, she worked in organizations focused in Arts & Culture, Social Service and Cancer Research.
In addition to working within the not-for-profit sector, Nicole has served as a Board of Director for 4 organizations, has created 3 Young Professional Boards in Detroit and Chicago, and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – International and Metro-Detroit Chapters.
Nicole is happy to be back home and serving the Detroit community!
Alexis (Lex) Zavala Is the Program & Fund Development Director for the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation. He oversees DHDC’s fundraising efforts and manages all of the youth and adult programs, providing oversight and expertise to Program Managers and Directors. As someone from a strong line of influential, community leaders, Lex grew up in SW Detroit and has been involved in community services since the age of 17, and has worked at DHDC for the past 15 years in various capacities. He has an associate degree in Graphic Design and Video Production from Specs Howard and has extensive training in Youth Development, Housing Counseling, Entrepreneurship, Community Organizing, and Leadership Development. As a young person, he witnessed and experienced the many negative effects of gangs, violence, and drugs on his community. He became a self-taught media artist and began using hip-hop as a tool to empower his community, and now uses it to engage youth and create tomorrow’s community leaders while providing training and technical assistance to other non-profits around the world.
Monica DeJesus is the chief development officer for Detroit PAL, where she is responsible for managing all fundraising, development, marketing and communications goals and activities. With more than 25 years of nonprofit philanthropy experience, she is adept at securing significant donor gifts and forging ongoing relationships with diverse leaders in the corporate, public and nonprofit sectors.
Prior to joining Detroit PAL, DeJesus served as senior development officer for the SME Education Foundation, where she developed donor prospect strategies with the foundation’s board members and was instrumental in securing over $1M in grants and sponsorships. DeJesus has also served as senior vice president of development for The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and led corporate and foundation partnership activities for the American Red Cross, in both their North Central Division and Southeastern Michigan Regional Chapter.
DeJesus is a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and Inforum, and past board member of the American Lung Association’s Local Leadership Board. Past participant in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ mentorship program, graduate of the Michigan Nonprofit Association Emerging Leaders Class IX and the Professional Club Marketing Association.
Born and raised in Detroit, DeJesus enjoys spending her personal time cooking, reading and frequenting library books sales and consignment shops. A married mother of three and she currently resides in Van Buren Township, Mich.
Bob Roberts was born in 1969 and raised in Hartland, MI. He got a late start in the hospitality business in 1997 working for The Dahlman Campus Inn, downtown Ann Arbor. In 1998, Bob was part of the opening team for the Joe's Crab Shack in Ann Arbor. It is at Joe's were he met and started working with his current business partners Ryan and Sean McShane.
In 2001, Bob started working for Aubree's Saloon in Ypsilanti's. While at Aubree's he assisted with the re-branding of their entire concept from Aubree's Saloon, a beer and shot joint, to Aubree's Pizzeria and Tavern, a family friendly neighborhood pizzeria. Bob stayed with Aubree's for twelve years assisting with the creation of their uniform franchise offering and leading the opening of seven locations.
In 2012 after many years of dreaming, Bob and two of his best friends opened McShane's Irish Pub and Whiskey Bar in Corktown. Since then they have opened two additional locations in Ypsilanti and Belleville.
Bob’s guiding principle is “Work Hard-Party Hard-Sleep When You're Dead!”