Meet Sommer

Sommer Foster is the executive director of Michigan Voices (MV), a statewide civic engagement collaborative that supports grassroots organizations in achieving their civic access and civic representation goals. As a nonprofit 501(c3), MV serves as a progressive advocacy table and convener for Michigan with over 137 partners who rely on MV for leadership and strategy that builds collective power. 

In 2022, Sommer became a nationally recognized reproductive justice advocate after successfully leading (as one of three co-chairs) the Reproductive Freedom for All Constitutional amendment in Michigan— the first citizen-initiated YES vote to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom in a state constitution in America.

She was an NAACP Leadership 500 and Emerge Michigan Fellow. Recognized for her leadership skills by multiple organizations, Sommer has received the Gamechanger Award by Black Advocates Action Fund, the Alice Leigh Peoples Groundbreaker Award from Jack and Jill, a Woman of Achievement Award from both Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and Black Woman’s Roundtable, and a Sexual and Reproductive Health Champion award from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. She has also received official recognitions of her work by State Representative Ranjeev Puri, on behalf of the State of Michigan, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, and Wayne County Commissioner Melissa Daub. Recently, Sommer was inducted into the Canton Township Hall of Fame.

Sommer has close to two decades of professional experience in community organizing, social justice advocacy, public policy, political campaigns, and philanthropy. Her deep well of experience includes professional work with the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign, leading several campaigns for State Representative, working with 20+ municipalities and three counties to pass local non-discrimination ordinances, serving as the Political Advocacy director for the state-wide LGBTQ+ organization Equality Michigan, working for the US House of Representatives, and as the Political Director at For our Future - Michigan. She serves on the board of Engage Michigan and is the current board chair of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. She is the first African American elected as a Township Trustee in Canton, Michigan, the 9th largest municipality in the state. 

 As a Trustee, she has worked hard to open up Canton's government to all residents and work towards the goal of being a welcoming community. She worked with the Canton Public Safety Department to help bring a social worker into the department, to help create the juvenile diversion program, and create the subcommittee on Police, transparency, and guidance. She was the board representative on the Roads Task Force, and separate from her role as an elected trustee, she helped lead the campaign to educate Canton voters on the 2018 Roads Improvement Plan. With the help of trustee Steven Sneideman, she helped create the interview and application process for all boards and commissions to help diversify the boards, and to help people get more involved with their community government. She currently works with Supervisor Anne Marie Graham Hudak and Trustee Kate Borninski to conduct all interviews for the township boards and commissions. She is also on the Planning Commission, the Master Plan Advisory Committee, the Roads Advisory Committee, the Police-Clinician Ad-Hoc Committee, and the DDA Ford Rd Blvd Subcommittee

Sommer’s personal philosophy is embodied in the African proverb: "Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible." This outlook is reflected in her passionate advocacy on behalf of those who are disenfranchised, systemically marginalized, and too often unheard or ignored.