Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Detroit Redtail Inc

Rolling The Tuskegee Airmen Into the American Car Culture

Auburn Hills, MI   |  https://www.detroitredtail.org/

Mission

The MISSION of Detroit Redtail, Inc is to take the story of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to venues and events of which has not traditionally heard the story and introduce it to all of those that normally attend those venues and events. Detroit RedTail’s motto is “Rolling the Tuskegee Airmen Into the American Car Culture.” Considering that, Detroit RedTail, Inc uses a P-51 “Red Tail” custom wrapped Ford Mustang and participates in car shows, cruises and parades. Detroit RedTails outreach is mostly within 200-250 miles from the city of Detroit, Michigan. But, it also participates in national outreach.

Ruling year info

2017

President

Captain Eric Lynn Palmer

Main address

3906 Baldwin Road Box 210103

Auburn Hills, MI 48321 USA

Show more addresses

EIN

82-3243993

Cause area (NTEE code) info

Museum & Museum Activities (A50)

Cultural, Ethnic Awareness (A23)

Recreational, Pleasure, or Social Club (N50)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

The history and accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen is well know amongst people who study African American and military history. It can be learned through documentaries, movies and books as well as through interaction with actual Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTAs). Typically, an encounter with a DOTA, or anyone promoting the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, can be experienced at numerous places; schools, libraries, museums or at air shows. The diversity of the demographics of those that do so is limited to those that actually seek that encounter. Detroit Redtail Inc has recognized that it has not been common, at any level, to encounter someone promoting the history of the Tuskegee Airmen within the American Car Culture; Car Shows, Cruises and Parades. A culture that is more diverse in it's demographics because of American's general love of the "car" culture.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Tuskegee Airmen Outreach

Detroit RedTail participates in: - Indoor & Outdoor car shows - Car Cruises - Parades - Air Shows - Military/Veteran based Recognition events - History Education events at schools, libraries and museums

Population(s) Served
General/Unspecified
Students
Budget
$13,000

Where we work

Photos

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of entities served by expertise

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

General/Unspecified

Related Program

Tuskegee Airmen Outreach

Type of Metric

Other - describing something else

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Detroit RedTail Inc measures its success by the number of people our mobile educational resource is exposed to. The approximate numbers are for Face-to-Face & Non F2F contact.

Charting impact

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Five powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

What is the organization aiming to accomplish?

Detroit RedTail, Inc has taken a 2011 Ford Mustang (car) and custom wrapped it to emulate the "Red Tailed' P-51 Fighter Plane famously flown by the 332nd Fighter Group, commonly known as the "Tuskegee Airmen." The car is affectionately named "RedTail." They use this "mobile museum" to participate in the American Car Culture; Car Shows, Cruises and Parades. When the vehicle is set up in static display, it becomes a center attraction that draws a variety of interested enthusiast to it, which then opens the door to discuss the history and accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen. Our goal is to reach out to a wide demographic of people that love the automobile AND history.

Detroit RedTail, Inc participates in local and regional car shows, car cruises, parades and air shows. Detroit RedTail, Inc also schedules annual cross country "road trips" to take the message across the United States. Detroit RedTail Inc avails itself to any event that desires it's presence upon request. In 2018 Detroit RedTail, Inc road-tripped across Route 66. In 2019, we are planning a "civil rights" tour in which we visits civil rights museums in Memphis (TN), Birmingham (AL), Montgomery (AL) and Atlanta (GA).

RedTail, the custom wrapped 2011 Ford Mustang is NOT an everyday driver. But, it IS an "over-the-road" driver. Have vehicle, will travel.

Detroit RedTail, Inc will know if we are making progress to reach our goal through: - The general Level of Attention at the events and venues - The Increased Number of Request to participate in events and at venues - The Amount of Monetary Donations

Although Detroit RedTail, Inc did not formally organize as a non-profit until October 2017, the custom wrapped car, "RedTail" came into existence in June 2017. Since June 2017, RedTail has participated in over 60 car culture related events. Over the 2017 & 2018 seasons, It won nine (9) awards and trophies. RedTail has road-tripped outside of our typical region and ventured to Orlando (FL) in August 2017, Atlanta (GA) in October 2017, Carlisle (PA) in June 2018, across Route 66, from Chicago (IL) to Las Vegas (NV) in August 2018 and Washington (DC) in October 2018. Over the 2017 & 2018 seasons, RedTail was seen by an estimate of over 10,000 people with about a 20% face-to-face engagement with it's driver.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is the organization collecting feedback?

    We regularly collect feedback through: electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), suggestion box/email.

  • How is the organization using feedback?

    We use feedback to: to make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, to strengthen relationships with the people we serve.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    We share feedback with: our staff, our board.

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to: it is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, we don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, it is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time.

  • What significant change resulted from feedback

    In our initial full season of 2018, we carried a full complement of 2' x 4' storyboards with use that covered a wealth of background data on the Tuskegee Airmen. Based on feedback from those that we interacted with, we found that it was only necessary to carry 2 to 4 story boards for reference to tell the story.

Financials

Detroit Redtail Inc
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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Detroit Redtail Inc

Board of directors
as of 12/31/2019
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Captain Eric Palmer

Detroit RedTail, Inc

Term: 2017 -


Board co-chair

LtCol(Ret) Alexander Jefferson

Detroit RedTail, Inc

Term: 2017 -

Miguel Thornton

Tuskegee Airmen, Inc - Detroit Chapter

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 12/21/2019

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Black/African American/African
Gender identity
Male
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 12/21/2019

Policies and practices developed in partnership with Equity in the Center, a project that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems within the social sector to increase racial equity. Learn more

Data
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.

Keywords

Military History Education, Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails