12 | APRIL 22 • 2021
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
J
odee Fishman Raines has a
passion for bringing people
together. In 2006, she helped
organize the Tri-Synagogue Women’s
Night at the Oak Park JCC. Women
from Orthodox, Conservative and
Reform congregations came together
to socialize, have dinner and share
ideas.
“We’re all Jewish, but with the
different streams of Judaism, some-
times differences might tend to
pull us apart,” Raines said at the
time. “A Reform woman growing
up in Huntington Woods might not
even typically get to know a young
Orthodox woman from Oak Park.
We’re one people; there’s really a
need for this.”
That passion for bringing people
together and the issues of inclusion,
equity and fairness in Detroit has
led Raines to a new position after 25
years in philanthropy; joining New
Detroit Inc., a racial justice coalition,
as the organization’s first COO.
Raines’ journey to the new role
includes leading significant organiza-
tional growth and transformation as
a professional and volunteer at some
of Detroit’s most prominent insti-
tutions, making lasting connections
and holding her values close along
the way.
RAINES’ JOURNEY
Growing up in West Bloomfield,
Jodee Raines didn’t have a plan for
a career in philanthropy. She gradu-
ated with a history degree from the
University of Michigan but found
out it wasn’t the most employable
field.
Out of college, she got her start
in philanthropy at the Skillman
Foundation — in an unconventional
way.
“I didn’t know what philanthropy
was. I didn’t know what a private
foundation was, and I found the job
in the help wanted ads in the Detroit
News,
” Raines said.
Skillman was brand new, and
Raines was its first-ever program
associate.
“I learned about philanthropy and
the nonprofit world from the leader-
ship there.”
Raines then went to law school at
Wayne State and practiced for a few
years at Bodman PLC, a corporate
law firm in Detroit.
“
A lot of what I did there was work
with nonprofits and foundations,”
Raines said. “That helped build my
legal understanding.”
Raines decided she wanted to go
A Passion
A Passion
A Passion
for Healing
for Healing
for Healing
Detroit
Detroit
Detroit
for Healing
Detroit
for Healing
for Healing
for Healing
Detroit
for Healing
Detroit
for Healing
Detroit
for Healing
for Healing
for Healing
Detroit
for Healing
Meet Jodee Raines, New Detroit Inc.’s
new Jewish ally.
OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER
JERRY ZOLYMSKY
Jodee Raines
Is New Detroit’s
first COO.