Making Race Heard with Surabhi Pandit

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“I think I always have felt like I’m good at learning about the workings of an institution, and figuring out my role in using whatever privilege or power I have (student government) to organize and advance social justice causes. I felt like my positioning with the social work grad program was in fact this…to support a movement and force change.”

“My mom always says that whatever you are, whatever your lane is, what are you doing for other people? Do something for someone else?”
–Surabhi Pandit

In this episode of Social Justice Origin Stories, Relando sits down with Surabhi Pandit, Macro Social Worker, equity advocate, and personal friend, to discuss the powerful role leveraging her networks in student government to organize dialogues on race and equity at The University of Michigan School of Social Work had on her journey. They reflect on their shared experiences in grad school, including the catalytic moments that led to the creation of the ‘Making Race Heard’ Monthly series and the culminating summit at the University of Michigan School of Social Work in 2011.

“Making Race Heard is a student-driven initiative at the University of Michigan School of Social Work that aims to bring race to the forefront of our experiences as professionals and future social workers. Despite primarily serving Detroit and surrounding areas, there was a general lack of acknowledgement around how race affects our work and so this monthly series was developed.

It was our hope to foster an environment that would allow students, faculty, staff, and community members to come together and discuss how issues of race and other social identities impact our personal and professional lives. We belong to a University culture that prides itself on the diversity of our community, yet the topic of race (its implications on our daily interactions, experiences in the classroom, and larger policies that shape our lives) is one that is constantly circumvented.

Too often race is discussed as a ‘problem’ of the past, and more often this ‘problem’ does not receive the attention it deserves. We hope that through our events and culminating summit, participants are challenged to examine their own biases and recognize their own privileges. We aim to use dialogue as a tool to work to identify concrete ways in which we can collaboratively move from theory to social justice action.” –Making Race Heard Summit Description

Surabhi also shares her insights on inside/outside strategy for working in and organizing within institutions, equity work within philanthropy, being a person of color and navigating various roles in the philanthropic sector in philanthropy, emphasizing the importance of recognizing systemic issues, leveraging privilege, and the critical role of rest and self-care on the path to systemic change.

Meet Surabhi

Surabhi S. Pandit is the director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community Engagement at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

She manages the DEI strategy development and implementation across internal and external activities of the foundation and serves on the Foundation’s senior leadership team. Previously, Surabhi served in various roles at the Community Foundation, most recently as director of Human Services Initiatives.

Throughout her ten years with the organization, Surabhi has focused on developing special initiatives and convening funders to think critically about social issues impacting southeast Michigan communities. She designed and managed the Southeast Michigan Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative, a pooled fund of local and national funders created to address the needs of immigrants and refugees in the region.

She also oversaw The HOPE Fund, which strengthens organizations and projects that support LGBTQ+ individuals and families. She also co-led the launch of the Michigan Justice Fund, a funders’ collaborative that seeks to help stem the flow of individuals into the criminal legal system and advance effective and equitable justice policy.

Surabhi has served as the William C. Richardson Fellow in Government Affairs & Philanthropy at the Council of Michigan Foundations. She was a 2015 fellow with Professionals Learning About Community, Equity and Smart Growth (PLACES) through The Funders Network, and later served as vice chair of the PLACES advisory board. She also served on the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) Michigan Steering Committee for several years as a member and later as co-chair.

Surabhi was named one of Crain’s Detroit Business’ Notable Leaders in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2023 and one of the “Twenty in their 20s” award recipients in 2017. Surabhi is currently an instructor for The Grantmaking School at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University and serves as Vice Chair on the board of directors of The Funders Network.

Surabhi was a 2022 Marshall Memorial Fellow (MMF). MMF is the flagship leadership development program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a non-partisan policy organization committed to the idea that the United States and Europe are stronger together.

MMF is an immersive leadership experience that prepares leaders from both sides of the Atlantic for transatlantic relations. Surabhi is a graduate of the University of Michigan, with a Master of Social Work degree focused on social policy and evaluation in community and social systems and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and South Asian Studies.

Connect with Surabhi on LinkedIn

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones