Shaped By Jesuits

D’Marco Ansari listened to his grandmother when she told him that a Jesuit education was the best. He had applied to, and been accepted to, a number of competitive public high schools in Detroit, but per his beloved Grandma Dolores Ansari, one road would lead to a better end.

Though D’Marco began at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, he transferred and found his fit at Loyola High School in Detroit. Three of D’Marco’s brothers also attended Loyola, and post-graduation, D’Marco matriculated to yet another Jesuit school, University of Detroit Mercy. There, he earned both a BS and MS in urban planning. While D’Marco is grateful for the many Jesuits he connected with, he gives special credit for his personal formation to Br. James Boynton, SJ, and Fr. Raphael Shen, SJ. Brother Boynton, his chemistry teacher, saw gifts in D’Marco that he did not see in himself. Brother Boynton told D’Marco he was smart, and that he got it. “He pushed me always to do just a little bit more,” D’Marco says. He also says that Fr. Shen, his collegiate mentor, lived his life just like St. Ignatius “being amongst the people.”

Never forgetting that he was raised to become a man for others, D’Marco began his career in the City of Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department, working for the public/private partnership team. His mission was to transform neglected neighborhoods, bringing together resources through public and private funding.

To that end, he is most proud of the East Davison Village project, where his team created the Meade Cut-Thru, a park pathway connecting two disparate sides of the community and increasing walkability and access to cycling. After moving on from the city, D’Marco joined Greatwater Opportunity Capital, a real estate development company focused on workforce housing. Today he is enthusiastic about his current project in northeast Detroit, bringing to fruition the Benjamin O’Davis Veterans Village.

Ever the learner, D’Marco will be traveling to Paris in March, and in preparation for his trip he has been studying French. He cycles in fundraising races and has most recently begun baroudeur cycling. Father Shen, who died in 2022, and Br. Boynton, who is the current president of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, would be proud!