Jonathan Soto

Jonathan has dedicated his life to serving people over profits and communities over special interests. Growing up in a working class family that moved between New York and Puerto Rico, Jonathan saw his parents work multiple jobs at a time in order to make ends meet. He realized an inconvenient truth: hard work alone didn’t guarantee access to good public schools in his neighborhood; hard work alone didn’t stop the threat of foreclosure of his family home when big banks crashed the economy.

Jonathan became a community organizer by day and law school student by night. He was appointed by the Mayor of New York City as the Executive Director of the Center for Faith and Community Partnerships. He mobilized served New Yorkers impacted by issues of mental health, LGBTQIA+ discrimination, homelessness, immigration, domestic violence, and domestic workers’ rights.

After Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Soto was on the leadership team that deployed 150 NYC employees to provide technical assistance to municipalities and the central government of Puerto Rico.

Most recently, Jonathan served as an organizer for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He led a Homework Helpers program and supported mutual aid efforts that provided free tutoring to 500 students and 100K meals to families.

With over 10 years of experience in law, urban planning, human rights advocacy, government administration, academia, emergency response/disaster relief, faith-based organizing and public education advocacy, Jonathan is ready to take on the special interests and fight for his neighbors in the East Bronx.