Suneela Jain, NLA Board Member
Suneela Jain always knew she was committed to working for social change, but when she was younger, she did not have a clear line of sight regarding where or how that may be. As an undergrad at UCLA, she spent her college days focused on international issues and politics. Her main interests were civil society participation, the environment and economic justice, all of which coincided in experiences studying and working in Washington DC and Ghana.
Having identified the professional areas in which she wanted to grow, she then set her sights on law school. She gained skills and knowledge, but the experience also changed her in a deeper sense. “Before I went to Yale, I didn’t know any lawyers or people who went to Yale,” she recalled. “All of a sudden I was in this community of people who were phenomenally accomplished and very driven to have an impact in the world; who were very smart and focused. When I was in the midst of it, I felt a little overwhelmed, and a need to study harder and ‘understand’ everything that I thought everyone around me already knew. What I realized by the time I graduated was that my most significant ‘gap’ wasn’t necessarily the knowledge or the ability to learn. It was that many of my classmates had the confidence and belief that they could already do what they wanted to do. They were willing to put stakes in the ground and claim it. They believed in themselves, pursued what they cared about, and could see the ultimate reality of their career paths. And I was still proving myself, trying to prepare and to get all the tools I thought I needed to appear worthy and to be worthy of my cause.”
As a newly credentialed attorney, her primary focus was corporate governance. In addition to working with corporate partners on these issues, she was able to spend time on micro and small business legal support, and working on novel structures and partnerships between non and for profit companies. Her first two positions were as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and then Gunderson Dettmer, both in New York.
While working at the latter firm, the political and social landscape of the United States underwent a seismic change that left her ready for another career transition.
“In 2016, I had my first son, and Trump was elected. Everything shifted for me in terms of feeling like I needed to prove myself. What was I waiting for? That’s when I decided to figure out what a career shift would look like,” she said.
She joined Tides in 2017, eventually working her way up to her current position as Chief Legal & Compliance Officer and Chief of Staff. An organization with a mission to shift power and resources to historically marginalized communities, Tides is where she has been able to engage in a way that has helped her to develop her own sense of inherent value and contribution; of an ability to contribute by showing up, being willing to engage, being curious, being accountable to values and commitments, and being authentic.
“It’s only been in the last couple of years that I realized I have a voice and contributions that I'm entitled to have, simply because they are mine. I’m always asking myself, how do I approach my work and my life in a way that allows others to feel that sense of worth and right of participation and removes the superficial barriers that are put in its way?”
Knocking down those superficial barriers is what feeds her passion for multi-entity work and led her to join the board of New Left Accelerator. “There are layers upon layers of rules that make a strategic approach to nonprofit work incredibly difficult to access. The difference between grassroots and corporate leaders is not an ability to navigate these laws and regulations; it’s access to the resources—time, money, advisors—that allow successful navigation to happen. The system is not set up for justice. It’s not set up for equity. It’s certainly not set up for racial justice or equity. One way we can address that is to create better and more accessible paths to strategic tools for change,” she said.
To that end, Suneela understands how the highly technical services and training that NLA provides is essential to helping others recognize their own power to create change: “It’s incredibly inspiring to work among people who have solutions that target some of our most challenging issues—health justice, environmental justice, economic justice. There is so much opportunity out there to improve outcomes—not just in quantitative metrics but in qualitative approach and advancement of an inclusive, joyful, healthier society. I'm interested in a fundamental shift in how we think. I recognize that that shift requires tools. And I believe that working towards that shift is part of the task of living in this country and being an advocate for equity and justice.”
Suneela has a Doctorate of Law (J.D.) from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Policy from UCLA. She lives in Northern California.
