‘In Focus’ – An Interview with Surabhi Jain
Surabhi Jain (she/her) is a social impact leader with over 20 years of experience in the adult education and skills development sector.
She is the Executive Director of Toronto’s Workforce Funder Collaborative. She has led the workforce development team at UnidosUS, the largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the US for nearly 15 years. Surabhi has a Bachelor’s in Economics and a Master’s in International Development. In her free time, Surabhi loves to travel, engage in photography, and do quilling.
Surabhi Jain | Social Impact Leader
“We need to be confident that we can bring everyone together with us and move forward. We need to move away from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.”
Tell us about yourself and your work.
I'm a curly-haired (and sometimes straightened-haired) South Asian woman who has only recently realized that she speaks White in a brown body. This means I am on a path to unlearning, decolonizing my mindset, and re-learning.
I am a leader in the social impact sector with nearly 20 years of experience in designing human development programs, working closely with corporations to help them change racially biased hiring practices, and building the capacity of the non-profit sector to change systems.
I have also founded Women In Power, a leadership training program that brings White and racialized women together to share their lived experiences around race, gender, and the patriarchy to discuss how these inequitable systems affect each of us.
My lived experiences have afforded me a unique perspective on creating transformative changes in our systems. I bring into my work a host of experiences from the workplace, from my travels, and from my childhood. These experiences have shaped my understanding of community, leadership, and human development.
I am far more aware of my privilege now than I was a few years ago. I am actively channeling my privilege to strengthen my allyship leadership model, as I study the intersection of power and privilege and the infinite possibilities it brings for equity and belonging.
What are some of the challenges or barriers you have faced, and continue to face in your industry as a racialized woman of colour?
Unfortunately, like many women, I have faced my fair share of systemic inequities like patriarchy, discrimination, judgment, prove-it-again bias, etc. It’s only recently I have realized that discrimination can be subtle and not always in-your-face.
I remember a time from one of my previous jobs when my boss told me that she wanted me to be part of the leadership team. However, since I didn’t have experience being in leadership teams, this meant that I would be “groomed” for the position. By “grooming” she meant that I would be sent off to leadership programs (paid by the company) and have access to an executive coach. The sound of all of this as a 30-something-year-old got me very excited. And I readily accepted the need to be “groomed”.
A few months went by but my grooming never began. I started asking my colleagues if they started their professional development opportunities and found out that they had. In fact, they had already been part of these fellowship and leadership programs for a few months.
“My lived experiences have afforded me a unique perspective on creating transformative changes in our systems. I bring into my work a host of experiences from the workplace, from my travels, and my childhood. These experiences have shaped my understanding of community, leadership, and human development.”
I then reached back out to my boss to find out when my program would begin - assuming there was a different timeline for me. I was subtly told that since I was not a Latina, I would never move in a leadership position in that organization so it didn’t seem worth it for them to invest in me. At the moment, I agreed with her because as a Latino organization, it made sense for a Latino to be in a leadership position, but much later realized that it was discrimination.
I think prove-it-again bias is something I have faced quite often as I change jobs. I have usually couched it under establishing my credibility in a new job, city, place, etc. but have again, recently realized that it’s not re-establishing my credibility. Instead, it’s all about proving myself, expertise, and experience to other people.
What are some tools, resources, strategies, and approaches you use to cope with these challenges?
I am a big fan of inner work. It helps me address the need for external validation. It also helps me reflect on how I could have tackled a situation differently. Ultimately, it leads to growth in my leadership.
I am also a fan of hearing divergent perspectives that challenge my status quo understanding of an issue. It gives me an opportunity to think critically and make better sense of other people’s lived experiences.
What advice would you give to younger women of colour in your industry?
Be loud, be bold, and make yourself heard.
Be well-read, know which battles to fight, and pick the right hill to die on.
Essentially, make noise for the right reasons.
How do you see the future of workplaces for women of colour?
I certainly think that things are changing for racialized women, but slowly. For larger systemic changes, women need to band together and support each other. It doesn’t help if we are constantly pitted against each other or if we are worrying about which one of us will get a “seat at the table”. We need to be confident that we can bring everyone together with us and move forward. We need to move away from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.