Keynote Presentation

Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur is a scholar-practitioner, an activist-educator, a skilled facilitator, and a mom. With nearly 20 years in the field of higher education, Sumi's work and research focuses on helping campuses, non-profits, and other organizations build capacity for social justice and racial equity by empowering individuals at all levels to be transformational agents of change in their spheres of influence. Most recently, Sumi was the Chief Learning Officer at the USC Race and Equity Center, dedicated to advancing racial justice in higher education and other sectors. Prior to that position, Sumi held roles as the Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Harvey Mudd College, serving on the President’s Cabinet and directing the Office of Institutional Diversity, and as the Director for USC Asian Pacific American Student Services. Pendakur is a graduate of Northwestern University with a double major in Women’s Studies and History and a Minor in Spanish. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan. She received her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education. Sumi also serves on the Board of Directors for NADOHE, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. In 2019, she was named one of the top 35 women in higher education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine.

“What Matters to Me and Why” represents a creative solution to an important and often unrecognized problem in the university setting: the separation of intellectual life from personal and spiritual issue. The people who shape USC, who teach students the ways of their particular disciplines, and who help them develop marketable skills also have a great deal to pass on in terms of worldly wisdom, moral guidance, and sources of spiritual strength. Dr. Sumun Pendakur, Ed.D., is the Chief Learning Officer and Director of the Equity Institutes at the USC Race and Equity Center. Sumi leads three of the Center's signature activities, all of which focus on advancing racial justice in higher education and other sectors. She is a scholar-practitioner, whose research interests include Critical Race Theory, Asian American and Pacific Islander students, change agents, and institutional transformation. Previously Pendakur is a graduate of Northwestern University with a double major in Women's Studies and History and a Minor in Spanish. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan. She received her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education. Sumi served for the last 5 years as the Assistant Vice-President for Diversity and Inclusion at Harvey Mudd College.

eConvening presented by Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur (USC Race and Equity Center Chief Learning Officer), Jade Agua (USC Equity Institutes Director), and Dr. Jonathan Wang (USC Asian Pacific American Student Services Director).

Dr. Sumun Pendakur (Sumi), Chief Learning Officer at the USC Race and Equity Center, navigates us through the actions we can take everyday to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement and be conscious allies in equity and justice. For a list of all the speakers and links to all their resources, please visit https://www.productofculture.org/blog Check these out as well: Mapping Our Social Change Roles in Times of Crisis: https://medium.com/@dviyer/mapping-our-social-change-roles-in-times-of-crisis-8bbe71a8ab01 Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PrAq4iBNb4nVIcTsLcNlW8zjaQXBLkWayL8EaPlh0bc/mobilebasic Bail Funds/Legal Help by City: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X4-YS3vFn5CLL9QtJSU0xqmTh_h8XilXgOqGAjZISBI/mobilebasic Dr. Suman Pendakur can be found here: Twitter: @SumunLPendakur Instagram: @dr_sumi Facebook: Sumi Pendakur More on Dr. Pendakur: Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur (Sumi) believes that we have infinite capability to imagine and enact a more just, equitable, and compassionate world. The body of her work focuses on helping campuses, non-profits, and other organizations build capacity for social justice and racial equity by empowering students, faculty, staff, and administrators to be transformational agents of change in their spheres of influence. She serves as the Chief Learning Officer and Director of the USC Equity Institutes at the USC Race and Equity Center, dedicated to advancing racial justice in higher education and other sectors. Prior to this position, Sumi held roles as the Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at Harvey Mudd College and as the Director for USC Asian Pacific American Student Services. Sumi is a scholar-practitioner, whose research interests and publications focus on Critical Race Theory, Asian American and Pacific Islander students, change agents, and institutional transformation. She has held leadership positions in the professional associations for her field and presented her original research at NASPA, ACPA, NADOHE, NCORE, and ASHE. Sumi is serving her second term on the Board of Directors for NADOHE, the national chief diversity officers' organization. She has served as Faculty Coach for the AAC&U’s TIDES (Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM) Institute. She is also the co-editor, with Dr. Shaun Harper and Dr. Stephen Quaye, of Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations (3rd edition) (2020). Pendakur is a graduate of Northwestern University with a double major in Women’s Studies and History and a Minor in Spanish. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan. She received her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education. In 2019, she was named one of the top 35 women in higher education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. Sumi is the multilingual daughter of immigrants, was raised in the Midwest, and currently calls Los Angeles, CA, home. She is the wife of actor Sunil Malhotra, and proud mommy to Shashi Veer and Shama Shakti. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you to South Asians in Entertainment & South Asian Women in Entertainment, with the help of Product of Culture, for initializing this series and to Bhavani Rao for facilitating conversation with each speaker. The 'South Asians for Black Lives Town Hall' was done as a partnership between: @southasiansent, @sawientertainment, @_productofculture_, @facialrecognitioncomedy, @rukusavenueradio, @adhrucia, @wearekalakars, @browngirls_brunch, @southasianafshow, @queeringdesi, @shakticollaborative, @southasianhappyhour, @southasianproductions Thank you to @radicaldesi for allowing the use of her South Asians for Black lives poster and for creating a poster for the Town Hall.