March 19, 2021
DETROIT – At its recent meeting, the MotorCities National Heritage Area Partnership welcomed three new members to its Board of Directors, who will each serve a two-year term.
Sabin Blake of Ferndale, is Manager of Business Planning & Heritage for General Motors Communications. Blake has been in the automotive industry for over 23 years with 20 of those spent at General Motors. His career at GM has offered him broad experiences serving in various roles in sales and marketing including stints as District Sales Manager, Field Operations Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Regional Dealer Support Manager, Regional Dealer Organizational Manager, Marketing Manager for the Cadillac ELR and ATS Sedans and Coupe, Corporate Giving and most recently Communications where he leads Business and Heritage Operations for GM. He also spent 3 years in Stuttgart, Germany working in Corporate Communications for Mercedes Benz.
Blake is passionate about community service and giving back. He serves on the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan LGBTQ-focused HOPE Fund Advisory Committee. He also volunteers with other community-based organizations focusing on hunger, community development and education. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Ruth Ellis Center and as a board member of GMPLUS, the GM LGBTQ Employee Resource Group where he serves as the Community Outreach Chair. He has been able to extend his passion for philanthropy to his career by creating GM's community involvement group -- teamGM Cares -- where he's working to engage employees in community involvement and help make it easier to get employees active in their local communities. In his current role he leads a team of corporate archivists who are charged with preserving GM’s rich heritage.
Blake received a Master’s in Business Administration Degree from the Broad School of Business at Michigan State University. He also studied Management with a concentration in Marketing earning a Bachelor of Science Degree from Kettering University (formerly GMI Engineering & Management Institute) in Flint, MI.
Dr. Carolyn Carter of Detroit is Chief Development Officer of Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD). Her journey has taken her from WCCCD student to educator and leader. In her position, she ensures the development and success of the District by focusing on core duties such as cultivating revenue streams, coordinating fundraising efforts and student scholarships. Dr. Carter is also the Program Director of the Federal Work-study and a member of the Scholarship Committee. She is an Adjunct Instructor teaching genealogy in a course she created for the past 9 years. Dr. Carter is community-minded and loves research, history and genealogy. She is a professional genealogist and President of the City of Detroit’s Historic Designation Advisory Board, as well as the Civil Rights Designation Committee. Dr. Carter is also a member of the American History Teachers Association, American Educational Research Association and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Dr. Carter is also very active in her community as a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Alpha Rho Omega Detroit Chapter. She is an alumna of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Detroit Chapter. Other organizations and memberships include the Association for the Study of Higher Education, American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, Executive Women International (EWI) member, American Historical Association, Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeast Michigan, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is an experienced Underground Railroad researcher and historian. She has held membership with the Fred Hart Williams, Caswell County, NC, Haywood County, TN, New Clermont, Ohio, New England, and Oakland County Genealogical Societies.
Dr. Carter has a Bachelor of Arts in Instructional Design, a Master of Arts in History, and a Doctorate Degree from the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership Program at Kansas State University.
Jay Follis of Allegan is Curator of the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. Appointed Museum Curator in early 2020, he previously served 17 years as Marketing Director. He also served 15 of those years as the museum’s lead researcher, writer and artifact Collections Registrar, and was instrumental in developing a Model T Ford driving experience that has taught over 2,000 new drivers how to operate these historic vehicles.
In addition, Follis has given hundreds of presentations throughout the United States from the engaging history of the RMS Titanic to pioneering early motorcars to the unique history of the Tucker automobile. He has also written extensively on automotive history and served nearly 20 years in leadership roles within the Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc., concluding his third term as its president in 2012. He also established the Tucker Automobile Historical Collection and Library (the Tucker archives) in 1999 and served as its director until 2014. He rescued thousands of original Tucker Corporation documents, photos, and an estimated 40,000 original Tucker blueprints from potentially being lost to a landfill. Jay then secured the blueprints for the Dave Cammack Collection, which today makes up the bulk of the Tucker Archives held by the AACA Museum in Hershey, PA.
Follis has served as a consultant to automotive restorers, journalists and television productions including PBS, NPR, The Discovery Network, History Channel and National Geographic Channel. He has been contracted to perform exhaustive historic research for car owners as well as the renowned RM Sotheby’s Auctions. In 2015 he was the recipient of the prestigious Michigan State History Award for his automotive piece in Michigan History Magazine.