By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
Three members of the Oxford community made the Oakland County 40 Under 40 list for their achievements in Oxford and around the state.
Kelly Westbrook, Ashley Ross and Kyle Hagan were recognized for their efforts with the Oxford Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the Michigan Humanities Council and the Orion Township Fire Department, respectively.
“It feels good,” Westbrook, Oxford DDA executive director, said. “It is actually something that I have wanted to achieve since I started my career at the Detroit Pistons when I was 22.”
Westbrook, 33, joined the DDA in 2021 after working with the Pistons and Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina and was drawn to the role for its community involvement factor.
“Government is not something that I ever saw myself in, but only because I think I knew a lot about town or city jobs coming out of college,” Westbrook said. “I always wanted to make more of an impact in the community, but that was not a fulfillment I received at either the Detroit Pistons or Charlotte Motor Speedway.”
2021 was a packed year for Westbrook. A big part of the year focused on organizing events during and after the M-24 construction — some of the most attended events the DDA has ever had — along with getting social districts implemented and the week-to-week writing of grants for local businesses. 2022 is continuing that trend with the Oxford DDA’s partnership with its Lake Orion counterpart and the implementation of the trolley. The trolley can now be tracked on the app GPS Trackit using the username “ddatrolley” and password “oxford,” and the trolley will run at least until June thanks to a donation from lawyer Gregory Yatooma.
Ross, 33, is honored for her role as Director of Programs for the Michigan Humanities Council.
“Michigan Humanities [Council] is one of 56 federally mandated organizations,” Ross said. “Each state and every U.S. territory has a humanities council that represents them. We are the funding arm for the National Endowment for the Humanities throughout the entire state of Michigan. As Director of Programs, I oversee programs happening statewide.”
The council grants funding to educational centers around the state and crafts its own programing, the most central to Ross being the Great Michigan Read.
“[The Great Michigan Read] selects a Michigan-themed book on a biannual basis and provides books, teacher’s guides, reader’s guides [and] all sorts of materials to nonprofits,” Ross said. “A lot of libraries, museums, governmental agencies, correctional facilities, middle schools, high schools [and] colleges … It really runs the gambit of who can participate in this and brings everyone together with one common book over the course of a year and provides all the materials at cost.”
This year’s book is “The Women of the Copper Country” by Mary Doria Russell.
While her role with the Humanities Council is what she is on the list for, Oxford community members will know Ross from many other places in the community. She serves on the Village of Oxford Council alongside 2020 40 under 40 member Village President Kelsey Cooke, is an Oxford DDA board member, sits on the Village Zoning Board of Appeals and the Oxford Township Planning Commission.
“I love the village but also being able to serve the township and just more residents as a whole,” Ross said.
Kyle Hagan, 31, is a lieutenant with the Orion Township Fire Department. Hagan has been with the OTFD for about 12 years and was named “Firefighter of the Year” by the North Oakland VFW Post 334 in 2015. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 2019.