As a writer and full-time public school English teacher in Detroit, I don’t have the capital to fund Project GYNS on my own. Thanks to the generous support of the Skillman Foundation, I was able to launch this first issue on a very tight budget — and that experience showed me what’s possible.

Now, I can only imagine what I could accomplish with a larger-scale budget — more time to write, more opportunities to collaborate with talented illustrators, and the chance to expand this Afrofuturistic world that honors Detroit’s past and reimagines its future.

There’s so much in this world that I’ve only begun to uncover.

The factions, the different types of genius, the original Seven who rebuilt Detroit after the Civil War of 2041 — their stories are waiting to be told. Even the hackers who tried to erase the city’s memories have their own secrets, and their actions spark the very thing that fuels the genius within.

Project GYNS began as a dream — what if Detroit became the first city to treat learning as sacred? What if every child’s genius was discovered, nurtured, and honored?

But dreams need space — and support — to grow.

This campaign is about giving Project GYNS that space: to expand the world, deepen the characters, and continue working with illustrators who can bring this Afrofuturistic Detroit to life with the depth, beauty, and detail it deserves.

Your support helps me build something that celebrates Black brilliance, Detroit resilience, and the power of imagination to rewrite our future.

To everyone contributing to this campaign: thank you.

And if you can’t give financially, a share means just as much — you never know who might see it and believe in this dream too.

Thank you to Skillman for investing in Detroit’s genius,

to everyone who continues to support my work in the city,

and to Octavia Butler, whose legacy makes it possible for me to imagine stories like this and to dream without limits.

With gratitude,

Torie J. Anderson-Lloyd M.A.Ed, M.Ed

Creator & Writer, Project GYNS