New Position For Surlene
OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY
Surlene Grant with Meredith Williams, Director of CalEPA Department of Toxic Substances Control, at the Swearing-in Ceremony on June 26, 2023
In May 2023, Governor Newson announced the appointment of Surlene G. Grant, San Leandro, to Deputy Director of the Office of Environmental Equity at the Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Meet DTSC’s Office of Environmental Equity Deputy Director
Written by Steve Bunnell @DTSC
Published 6/16/2023
Surlene Grant is DTSC’s incoming Deputy Director of the Office of Environmental Equity. She has spent her career in the trenches of the struggle for equity, facing opposition and breaking barriers herself and advocating for others.
Long before she became the first non-white City Council member in San Leandro – when half the room walked out in protest upon her appointment – Surlene toiled to expand opportunities for underrepresented communities in the Bay Area. She worked for nonprofits like the YWCA and Urban League, as well as for the city of Oakland, where she involved underserved populations in public works and transportation matters affecting their lives and neighborhoods. Surlene has also played a key role in bringing equity to major infrastructure projects throughout the Bay Area.
Surlene’s ability to listen, collaborate, and build coalitions was evidenced by two reelections in San Leandro, each with nearly two-thirds of the vote, and by the city naming a new community meeting space in her honor.
Surlene honed her leadership skills early and under intense pressure, managing communications and public information during the response and recovery to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm.
Currently, Surlene is a Director of the Eden Township Health District, a community-created government entity that provides health education and prevention services in Alameda County. She earned a master’s degree in management from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California, and a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Surlene Grant’s first day at DTSC will be June 26.
Q: What excites you about joining DTSC? What are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to doing the work, actually. I’m a policy wonk, and it’s exciting to me to be part of a department that has statewide policy impact on the health and safety of California residents. I’m excited about working to take the successes DTSC has had in some communities and duplicate them in other communities. I’m looking forward to meeting people and learning more about what DTSC does. In preparing for this position, I have already learned a lot that impresses me.
Q: Is there anything in particular that drove you to DTSC?
Having been involved throughout my career in trying to bring people to the table to make their communities and quality of life better, this feels like the perfect time for me to be in this position at DTSC. My friends tell me, “You have worked your whole life to be in this position. This is so you!”
People have seen me in neighborhoods, in the trenches, at policy tables, and they know Equity and Inclusion is one of my passions. Now, this is an opportunity to do that on a statewide level. As someone said, I’m not starting from scratch; I’m starting from experience.
Q: What have you taken from previous job experience that has prepared you for this position?
There’s probably something from every job I’ve had that is a benefit to what this job is going to require. From communication skills to writing to policy skills and knowledge of bureaucracy, from working with community groups and identifying stakeholders to facilitating meetings and developing consensus, these are all things I’ve done and things I think will be required at DTSC. I feel like every step of my career has been a step toward this position.
Q: You have spent a career advocating for equity – in housing, infrastructure projects, and other EJ initiatives. How did your passion for equity begin?
Most of my life I have been the only one – either the only person of color or the only woman or one of the youngest people.
When I was going into preschool, there was still a lot of hesitancy about having white kids with Black kids. My mom had to call around to find a school that would allow it, so I wound up in the hills of Redwood City, the only Black kid in the preschool. I went to an elementary school where only about four of us were Black. The year I graduated high school, I was one of only four Black kids in the school.
My first job was as a multicultural program director in mostly white Palo Alto, where the few Black kids in the schools were having problems. When I worked for the City of Oakland in the male-dominated Public Works Department, one of my responsibilities was to make the department accessible for other people, especially community members.
My real introduction to environmental justice came after the Loma Prieta earthquake, when the people planning to rebuild the Cypress Freeway were not talking to the public, and my boss was one of them. People who were concerned literally came to my doorway to yell about how unfair it was just so he would overhear. He did, and he made sure the community’s concerns were taken into consideration.
I’ve watched people not be heard and not have access, and I’ve seen how much better it is when people do have access and we can collaborate. I’ve worked on projects where people were excluded but then we included them, and they walked away with job skills and were empowered to make their communities better. When you plan with people instead of around people, you achieve buy-in and people learn from each other.
Q: You have first-hand experience in the struggle for equity. How has that shaped you and what you will bring to DTSC’s OEE?
What I’m bringing are perseverance, dedication, and a spirit of inquiry.
When people are unhappy or complaining, I’m slow to react emotionally but analyze why. I peel back the onion to find out what’s really going on. And I talk to people with respect. If people get respect, they give respect. So sometimes I just need to show people the respect to let them tell me what they need to tell me.
If their "why" has to do with something we can correct, then I want to correct it. If it happened because of racism or people being afraid that they’re going to lose some power and we can correct that by showing up for people, then that’s what we do. If we can correct it with education, that’s what we do. If we can correct it by being transparent and authentic, then that’s what we do.
Q: How did your passion for the environment begin?
I have always had a passion for the environment. I am a Taurus. I absolutely have to touch the earth. I love rocks. I love dirt. I really do! I used to collect rocks as a child, not because they were wonderful or valuable but just because they were pretty. And even as an adult, I ask people to bring me rocks and sand from their exotic vacations. And they do and I label them! I love natural water environments too. The earth has to be sustainable.
"I’ve watched people not be heard and not have access, and I’ve seen how much better it is when people do have access and we can collaborate"
—Surlene Grant