About
JESS SOLOMON, MSOD (SHE/HER) IS A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FACILITATOR, CULTURAL WORKER, AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONER GUIDING CHANGEMAKERS IN THE ARTS, PHILANTHROPY, AND SOCIAL IMPACT TOWARDS DEEPER ALIGNMENT, NEW GENERATIVE PRACTICES, AND STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS THAT REFLECT THE FUTURE WE WANT. SHE SUPPORTS GROUPS IN APPROACHING THEIR DEEP STRATEGIC WORK WITH THE CREATIVITY AND CARE THAT INCREASES CONNECTION AND IMPACT.
As Principal at Art in Praxis, Jess has collaborated with groups such as Threewalls, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Common Future, Borealis Philanthropy, Afro Charities, Emergent Fund, National Arts Strategies, and Rap Research Lab. Between 2021 and 2024, she powered two national philanthropic projects that in total awarded $1.7 million in unrestricted, general operating support: the Community Infrastructure Fund for Mutual Aid (CIFMA) at Omidyar Network, supporting 24 high-impact mutual aid infrastructure projects across the U.S., and the Bay Area Cultural Funders for Equity (BACFE), a national funding collaborative and community of practice that awarded support to 30 historically underfunded and underacknowledged cultural workers, cultural organizers, and arts organizations in the Bay Area.
Jess Solomon’s expertise and experience span arts advocacy, curatorial practice, and social impact. She has held prominent roles such as Board President of Alternate ROOTS, Chief Weaver of Social Fabric at the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, and Vice President of the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, where she expanded and diversified the Arts, Culture & Social Justice portfolio. As Co-Chair of Mayor Brandon Scott’s 2020 Baltimore Arts and Culture Transition Committee, Jess led a citywide campaign in her hometown to gather insights from Baltimore residents, shaping the Committee’s recommendations for the Mayor’s first term, which continue to influence policy initiatives in his second term. She has also served on grants panels for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), MAP Fund, the Diverse City Fund, and the Maryland State Arts Council, directing resources to bold cultural projects. Additionally, Jess has held fellowships with National Arts Strategies, the Salzburg Global Forum, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and was a part of Leadership Baltimore’s class of 2024.
As a cultural worker, Jess Solomon creates and curates spaces that inspire curiosity, community building, and expression. Her cultural work spans a wide range of projects, with highlights including The Saartjie Project, Future of (Your) Street, The Match, Crank & Groove: A Go-Go Love Story, UMD’s Next Now Fest, and the Locally Grown Festival. Currently, she stewards the Mabley Comedy Club, a community of practice named in honor of the activist, genre-defying performer, and the first successful female comedian, Moms Mabley, where creatives refine and develop their comedic voices.
Jess earned a B.A. in Communication Studies and African American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an M.S. in Organization Development from American University. She has trained with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Highlander Center for Research & Education and Urban Bush Women in cultural organizing, devising, and storytelling. She serves on the board of the Valerie J. Maynard Foundation and is a founding member of Lalibela Baltimore, a site for Black imagination and the production of cinema, technology, art, and healing. She is also a Blooming Willow certified healing-centered coach (IFC) and a contributor to Aesthetic Perspectives, a dynamic, nationally recognized evaluation framework for socially engaged art used by public funders, curators, artists, and educators. Jess is visiting faculty in the Curatorial Practice graduate program at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
While deeply committed to creating meaningful change, she approaches the work with curiosity and joy. Jess believes that part of this experiment is engaging with others with the same sensitivity, accountability, and collaborative spirit that we aspire to embody in the communities we are building and the systems we are transforming.
Impact
“Your presence and facilitation was critical in ensuring our virtual team’s annual in person retreat was a success. You led the way with conviction, humor and a realness that grounded our team. You had to take in the context & complexity of our organization and the objectives that our Co-CEO’s wanted to achieve and you did it with what looked like such ease. Even in the midst of tension and discomfort, you navigated us through and brought to the surface what needed to be heard.”
- Steph Hsu, Director of Strategic Operations, Common Future
“Jess helped us zoom out to expand our visions and zoom into the nitty gritty necessary to implement those visions. She brought a sense of joy and ease to complex and sometimes difficult questions, and as a result, we were able to untangle the knots and strengthen new muscles together.”
— Ill Weaver, Co-Founder, Detroit Narrative Agency
“Incredible facilitation and thought leadership! Jessica and Art in Praxis are developing emerging projects that are shifting the philanthropic landscape.”
— Alicia Gill, Executive Director, Emergent Fund
“Jess Solomon’s facilitation of our leadership retreat was transformative for Baltimore Public Media. Her guidance helped us gain crucial clarity and alignment as we plan for the future. The exercises revealed important areas where we can grow and improve as a team. Her thoughtful recommendations have already given us a clear path forward, and her impact on our leadership team was deeply appreciated.”
— Craig N. Swagler, President & General Manager Baltimore Public Media
“Just wow. Our collective was blown away by how in such a short period of time, our understanding of each other deepened and our shared histories and vision became super clear. Using music, storytelling, visioning, and inquiry, Jess led us into a new scope of big and scary work together, without leaving us feeling overwhelmed or uncertain. Jess brought tools, frameworks, love, and joy that was just unmatched.”
— Blair Franklin, Rooted Collective
