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.

