Rachel Sumekh - THE TRUE HEART OF ADVOCACY

Rachel Sumekh was in college when she noticed the problem: her peers are hungry. Then she spotted the solution and moved instantly into action. No flinching here. (You can see why we’re friends.) 

It didn’t take long for the administration to see her impact before they tried to shut it down. While they moved to block progress, the Obama White House named her organization a “Champion for Change.”

What one authority called rebellion, another named Revolution. 

Same coin, different sides. One truth.

In this conversation, Rachel speaks openly about the influence her Iranian-Jewish background has on her experience as a human in service to other humans.

You’ll hear us talk about our duty, as people, to help end each other’s suffering.

Let’s let that one hang.

That’s OUR duty: end each other's suffering. 

We also explore the chapter-close of her decade-long role as the Founder of Swipe Out Hunger—a national nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger, which is something that went largely overlooked before her eyes and heart took notice—proving once again that it just takes One of us (to start).

To date, the team at Swipe Out has proudly served over 4.8 million nourishing meals across more than 450 campuses. 

“This is a baton pass,” Rachel says mid-interview about leaving Swipe Out in the hands of new leadership. “These problems are so big. I’d need to be the whitest of white men to believe that I need to stay there and solve this problem.”

And with THAT truth, the episode is yours. Let’s go. 

WORKS:
- Founder of Swipe Out Hunger—a national nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger. From its beginnings as a grassroots movement at UCLA in 2010, Swipe Out Hunger has since served 4.8 million nourishing meals across more than 450 campuses in all 50 states and Canada.
- Board member for her LA based Jewish community, IKAR
- Owner, TypicalPersianGirl.com

 

RESOURCES:
If you or someone you know is experiencing hunger on a college campus, visit swipehunger.org to learn about resources

TOOLS:
- How to align your skill set with an issue you care about
- Tools to recover from lone-wolf syndrome
- Reminders that help us conceptualize away time from working
- Incredible awarenesses around the true path to creating change
- How to face the challenges of being idealistic as an adult
- Reminders to find safe people who you can open up to
- Stories that remind us HOW normal and common food insecurity really is 

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media