TransformED 2026

Anna Balzer (she/her) is the Director of the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS), a network of educators, students, and community members that facilitates school-community partnerships to develop students as citizen-stewards of healthy ecological-social systems. In this role she supports a team of coaches and members to co-create, shape, and implement a collaborative vision for place-based, eco-justice education in the region. Anna has been connected with the SEMIS Coalition since 2014, first as an AmeriCorps Green School Coordinator with EcoWorks’ Youth Energy Squad (YES) and then throughout her 6 years as Program Manager and Co-Director. During her time at YES, she supported place based education and youth-led environmental justice projects in Detroit and the metro area, with a special focus on forging deeper connections between young people and local environmental justice priorities. More recently, Anna served as a Community Engagement Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Energy, strengthening relationships and resource sharing between the federal government and local clean energy initiatives.Anna holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Michigan. She has been a resident of the Great Lakes Watershed for most of her life and finds herself endlessly curious about the history, ecology, folklore, and personal stories of the region.