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 toward deeper alignment and solidarity, 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 has also served as a coach with Building Movement Project's SolidarityIs, an initiative supporting frontline organizations in expanding solidarity practices, narratives, and partnerships across movements for justice and equity.
Jess Solomon's expertise and experience span social impact, cultural organizing, and curatorial practice. 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.
Jess weaves storytelling and memory work into collective expression. She has devised and produced long-form theater with The Saartjie Project, directed Story District's concert performance, Crank & Groove: A Go-Go Love Story, and curated the University of Maryland's Next NOW Fest (2016) and the Locally Grown Festival at Baltimore Center Stage (2024). Her exhibition, Meridians Lab, at Transformer Gallery in Washington, D.C., was a highly interactive ephemeral archive of D.C. nightlife from 1997 - 2017 and a timecapsule for 2037. Jess's work in creative placekeeping includes The Future of (Your) Street - a toolkit for community dinners, and hosting Imaginings with the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. She founded the Mabley Comedy Club, a community of practice named in honor of Jackie "Moms" Mabley—the genre-defying performer and first successful female comedian—where creatives develop their comedic voices. Her cultural work has had a lasting impact on creative ecosystems, often serving as both an origin story and a source of inspiration.
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. She 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 build and the systems we transform.
