About PROXY
We all deserve good design. Proxy represents mission-based organizations and small businesses that want to improve their physical environments in order to uplift their people and their purpose. We partner with clients to ensure a holistic approach to their spaces at every stage: forming the initial idea and the strategic thought partnership needed to develop it; acquiring the financial resources to realize the space; finding and managing design and construction professionals to build it; and developing strategies for long-term space management and sustainability.
OUR SERVICES
Proxy represents its clients as they realize beautiful, meaningful and uplifting spaces at every stage:
Conceptualizing the Project: why do we need a better, different or new space?
Strategic Planning / Thought Partnership: how will this project affect our mission and vision, or how might we need to evolve in our work?
Finding the Resources: how do we approach funding, how much should we plan to spend, do we need partners, and how do we achieve a return on the investment?
Hiring Architects & Designers: who should design our space, and what kind of design process is right for us?
Finding & Managing Contractors: do we need a general contractor and how do we find the right one for us, how do we manage the people who will build the project for us?
Outfitting the Space: what kinds of furniture, fixtures and equipment do we need and where do we find them?
Managing the Space: now that we have an improved space, how do we manage it and sustain it for the long term?
CONTACT US
Graig Donnelly, President
Phone: 313.485.4100
Email: graig@proxybydesign.com
Proxy’s Founder + President
Graig Donnelly is president of Proxy, an owner’s representative for mission-based organizations and small businesses that want to improve their physical environments in order to uplift their people and their purpose. He is a Detroit native whose career has spanned design, construction, fundraising, nonprofit management and leadership development in southeastern Michigan and New York City. Graig served from 2016-19 as Assistant Vice President for Economic Development for Wayne State University and Chief Strategy Officer for TechTown, Detroit’s most established business incubator and accelerator. In these roles, he guided university placemaking initiatives, led efforts to leverage TechTown as a catalyst for entrepreneurial and neighborhood development, and oversaw strategies to integrate the work of the two organizations. Prior to that, Graig was director of the Detroit Revitalization Fellows, a talent retention and leadership program that he grew into a national model. He serves on the boards of several local Detroit nonprofits including Eastside Community Network, Jefferson East, Inc. and Young Nation / Inside Southwest Detroit. Graig believes that his role is to design meaningful relationships and opportunities that result in sustainable futures for people and place.