Sophy Yem (she/her/hers) serves as Senior Program Officer, Philanthropy at the Surdna Foundation.  

In this role, she leads Surdna’s grantmaking, engagement, and relationships to support the capacity, infrastructure, and equitable practices of nonprofit- and philanthropy-serving organizations, donor collaboratives, and other funders, especially family foundations. She also oversees the Andrus Family Philanthropy Program (AFPP), helping to engage and involve the 500+ Andrus family members, particularly its younger generations, in philanthropy and public service. Sophy believes that trust-based philanthropy, racial equity, and social justice are essential to effective grantmaking and develops opportunities for peers to connect, learn, and collaborate on these topics. 

Sophy joined Surdna in 2017 as Grants Manager, was appointed Program Officer, Philanthropy in 2019, and then promoted to Senior Program Officer, Philanthropy in 2022. Prior to joining Surdna, she worked as a Manager, Corporate Responsibility at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. There she advised a portfolio of corporate clients, such as LinkedIn, Yahoo and StubHub, on philanthropic strategies, employee engagement, and grantmaking programs. She previously worked at the NYC Department of Health as the Outreach Manager for the Heal 22 Program that encouraged behavioral health providers to adopt electronic health records. She was also a Program Officer at Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the corporate citizenship arm of Honeywell, Inc. 

Sophy received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political Science from Brandeis University and Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is currently working on an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Startegy from UPenn.She is a Council on Foundations 2022 Career Pathways fellow, a Boston sports fanatic, plant lover, and travel and food enthusiast. She sits on the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund advisory board and volunteers with animal rescue groups in her free time. While she misses Brooklyn, Sophy recently moved back to Boston with her husband, two boys, and rescue pup, Tofu. 

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