Making cities less dangerous and more livable for women actually makes them better for everyone.

By Kate Abbey-Lambertz, Reprinted from Huffpost Women

At first glance, a gathering of 60 or so women in Detroit earlier this month looked like a typical networking event — a few speeches, lots of mingling, plenty of wine. But instead of making contacts to boost their careers, the women discussed how to use their collective power to improve the city.

“The grassroots, networking aspect of what is going on right now in the city is just extremely powerful,” Wendy Lewis Jackson, interim co-managing director for the Kresge Foundation’s Detroit Program, told The Huffington Post. She was also a speaker at the Sister City event, which the Detroit Women’s Leadership Network held at the Urban Consulate, a new space that hosts conversations about city life.

“It is shaping decisions and conversations about improving the quality of life in the…