Surabhi Dabir

Surabhi Dabir is vice president of Tribal Nations and Rural Communities at Enterprise Community Partners. She will lead the team’s work in building local capacity, championing effective government policies, and investing capital and grants to Tribal and rural organizations.

Surabhi brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in affordable housing, rural development, community revitalization, and federal policy, with a career dedicated to expanding economic opportunity and strengthening underserved rural, Tribal, and persistent poverty communities.

Prior to joining Enterprise, Surabhi served as agriculture and rural development policy advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives, supporting appropriations, Farm Bill, and other policy efforts related to rural housing, infrastructure, healthcare, and economic development. She also served as senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service, where she advised agency leadership on rural housing and community development policy, strategic initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and partnerships.

Previously, Surabhi served as senior director of Enterprise’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, where she directed a national technical assistance initiative supporting nonprofit organizations and state and local governments responding to the foreclosure crisis in urban and rural communities. She also served as director of technical assistance and training at the Housing Assistance Council, where she led national training and capacity-building initiatives serving rural and Tribal organizations, and local partners across the country.

Throughout her career, Surabhi has led national initiatives that combine policy innovation, capacity building, and cross-sector collaboration to expand access to housing, capital, and essential services. Her work has included developing targeted initiatives in the border colonias, Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, and Tribal and farmworker communities; helping design a Community Facilities re-lending initiative for community development financial institutions; launching programs supporting rural multifamily housing preservation and rural hospital sustainability; and advancing strategies to expand access to affordable homeownership in rural and Tribal communities.

In addition, Surabhi has worked extensively with philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, and local leaders to advance equitable, community-driven development strategies. She received a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from University of Bombay.