Janet Rodriguez, Founder & CEO

Janet Rodriguez, SoHarlem Inc, Founder and CEO, has more than twenty years of experience in policy and grantmaking positions in public, private, and corporate philanthropy. That, along with a personal understanding of the critical role the arts play in child and community development, led her to serve on boards, manage institutions, initiate change, and become a social entrepreneur.

She established SoHarlem to ensure creative and local people participate in the economic development in the Manhattanville Factory District. SoHarlem is dedicated to forging partnerships that contribute to transforming Manhattanville’s creative spirit, cultural economy, and public spaces through mentoring, training and educational programs.

Prior to establishing SoHarlem, she served as Vice President of the JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy Group and was responsible for providing leadership and support to the National Community Relations team charged with developing and implementing philanthropic strategies in their local communities.

She was also the proprietor of Straight Out of Harlem, Inc. (SOH) in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. As the sole creative outlet among retail stores and bodegas in Sugar Hill, the SOH storefront was an integral part of the community, addressing its broader needs by producing public programs, exhibitions, and salons that explored contemporary cultural issues, and by promoting and selling the work of more than 250 local and global artists who created functional and wearable art.

From 2001 through 2009, Rodriguez served as Vice President of the JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy Group. While at the foundation, she was responsible for providing leadership and support to the National Community Relations team charged with developing and implementing philanthropic strategies in their local communities.

Other professional experiences include: Program Officer with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Managing Director of the Aaron Davis Hall; Consultant to the New York Philharmonic’s Music Assistance Fund and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Program Director for the Kentucky Arts Council; and Co-Founder of Latin American Music in Alternative Spaces.

Rodriguez is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, MFA in Arts Administration; Columbia University’s Teachers College, MA in Art Education; and New York University, BS, Art Education. She has served on many boards, among them the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the World Media Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Grantmakers in the Arts.

Emmily De Los Santos, Board Member

Emmily is a native New York working in the field of community development. Currently, as an Assistant Project Manager within the development group at the NHP Foundation, responsible for supporting the financing and development of multifamily housing.

Emmily completed her graduate degree while working at the Corporation For Supportive Housing (CSH) as a Housing Finance and Policy Graduate Intern. In this role, she worked on the origination of acquisition and predevelopment loans by conducting risk assessment, financial underwriting, market analysis, and other required due diligence processes.

Emmily also worked at Community Solutions International, Inc. for six years as a Project Manager, she managed the development of a $6.8 million dollar project in Brownsville, Brooklyn. She also worked on projects in Hartford, CT and developed inclusive community engagement strategies.

Emmily earned a B.A. from Skidmore College and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service with a specialization in Economic and Housing Development. She is an active member of the American Planning Association’s Diversity Committee, the Women in Housing and Finance, and the NY Housing Conference Rising Leaders Network.

Jessica Tomb, Board Member

Jessica is the recently retired, Director of Finance and Administration at the Tinker Foundation since 2008. She was formerly the owner of Business Needs Company which she established in 1983. Her clients represented a range of industries in the public and private sectors. For more than 20 years she was a business consultant, providing services in accounting and application training, while working closely with her client’s accounting firms. She is a registered Microsoft Partner who is certified to install and support Microsoft Business Solutions software. Other professional experiences include: Great Scott Advertising, Vice President, Operation & Personnel; Cultural Council Foundation, Director for Program Services; New York Council for the Humanities, Controller; New York State Council on the Arts, Director of Service Organizations, and Saratoga Arts Workshop, Executive Director.

She graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Not-for-Profit Management; and a Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts from Skidmore College. Her accounting knowledge and strong communication skills have been a crucial combination for successfully addressing the needs of organizations and clients. In addition, she enjoys ballroom dancing and has performed as a standup comedian in a number of venues in New York City.

Robin Verges, Board Member

I have been privileged to work for the ABSOLUTE DEAN of public relations, Howard Rubenstein, since 1995 when I joined the company with extensive public affairs, issue-oriented, development, corporate communications and special event public relations experience. Now privileged to work for the equally astute SON OF THE DEAN, Steven Rubenstein.

Born, raised and educated in Harlem, I began my public speaking career as valedictorian of my kindergarten class at The Modern School, and subsequently my writing career as editor of my third grade class newspaper at New Lincoln School.

Fast forward, now among my clients are Teachers College:Columbia University, L’Oréal USA, Toshiba America and The Jewish Community Relations Council's Center for Community Leadership.

At Rubenstein, I have designed innovative publicity campaigns and events for AT&T, developers Silverstein Properties (7 World Trade Center) and Rudin Management Company (New York Information Technology Center @55 Broad Street and Reuters Headquarters @3 Times Square); and for large, public events such as The Nation’s Parade (Veteran’s Day and the United States’ Official Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II), the Harlem Jazz and Music Festival; HARLEM WEEK, The New York City Host Committee for the 39th Annual GRAMMY® Awards; and The Essence Awards sponsors.

My 'creative story-pitching' has landed numerous major daily newspaper, television, radio, magazine and online features including a Wall Street Journal front page item on Budget & Credit Counseling Services; a Forbes feature on Vibe Magazine; a Wall Street Journal feature on a major donation to The Mount Sinai Medical Center as well as a New York Times front page photo of the remodeling of the Church of St. Mary The Virgin.

A National Merit Scholar and a New York State Regents Scholar, I graduated from Syracuse University (Go Orange!), have Master of Arts credits in Media Studies from New School University and am an alumna of the Eighth Class of the CORO Foundation and New York City Partnership's prestigious Leadership New York program.

I was chosen as a member of the inaugural Black Leadership Summit and as a panelist for the social communications industry’s key event "Social Media Week" on "The Changing Relationships Between Journalists, Opinion Makers & PR Pros.”

Maria “Puck” Meunier, Board Member

Maria “Puck” Meunier has more than 25 years as a creative executive. Meunier operated Koos and Co which was located on Madison Avenue until in closed in 2018. Koos and Co created one-of-a-kind couture pieces for men and women. The garments were all made in New York City at the Koos workroom. She directed the workforce and the creative, and the business aspects of the company. Kollageworks Too, LLC, owned by Meunier operated the company. In addition to her extensive experience in retail and manufacturing. She has always been directly involved with the customers and has established a large following. Other experiences included assistant buyer at Lord and Taylor and Buyer at Bloomingdales. Before finally settling in the states she lived in France where she was a stylist for photographer. Meunier is a native of the Netherlands and after high school worked in sales at Liberty of London. She later moved to the States where she attended Vassar College and majored in Economics. She speaks Dutch, France, German and English.

Deirdre Washington, Board Member

Was born in Harlem where she attended A. Phillip Randolph High School, and was a Library Page at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

After graduating from Clark University with a degree in Arts Education, she taught middle and elementary school students in Atlanta for 15 years. Deirdre enjoyed infusing art appreciation into school culture and giving young people opportunities to reach their full potential through creative expression.

Deirdre returned to New York City and committed herself to her artistic journey. She developed the Faysĭz of Fōlk series, depicting people who look somewhat similar but are actually very different.

She created her first collection of handmade tote bags based on her original canvas works. These versatile bags, constructed with red interiors and handles and designed to carry books and an ipad, are dedicated to her mother who lost her battle with HIV/AIDS in 1990.

Deirdre served as an Apprentice at SoHarlem until 2019. As an apprentice, she assisted with studio management and sales while perfecting her work in textiles. In 2017, she joined the City University of New York’s School of Medicine as the Site Coordinator in the Physician Assistance Program.