Our Board
Rebecca Rodriguez, President
Rebecca has been a passionate catalyst for the advancement of women, minorities, and small businesses in New York City for over 15 years. She has advised over a thousand NYC-based small businesses and non-profit organizations through all stages of development. She is the founder and Principal of Eos Strategies, a small business consulting firm specializing in utilizing empowerment models to build sustainable revenue streams for Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) in both public/private sectors. Rebecca and her team advise government agencies and private organizations on how to develop entrepreneurial programs with measurable and successful outcomes.
She has received congressional recognition for her work with women-owned firms. Prior to Eos Strategies, Rebecca was a business development senior manager for the NYC School Construction Authority. She played a key role in advancing their Mentor Program, identified as one of the premier small business development programs in the City. She spearheaded business development initiatives as the Founding Regional Director for the Columbia University-Harlem Small Business Development Center (SBDC) providing technical assistance and capital access training to New York businesses and entrepreneurs in all stages of growth. Rebecca also launched Columbia University’s School of Engineering entrepreneurship program.
Austin Gonzalez, Vice President
Austin is an organizer in the Puerto Rican diaspora based in Virginia. During his time as a former union organizer and political activist, Austin has consistently highlighted the importance of members of the Puerto Rican diaspora in platforming the ongoing struggles that exist on all of the islands of Puerto Rico. Austin currently splits time between organizing in his adopted home of Virginia as well as supporting existing projects in his ancestral home of Puerto Rico.
Marvin González, Treasurer-Secretary
Marvin is a political and labor organizer. He has worked as as Deputy Director of Policy for a congressional campaign; he is a leader within the Democratic Socialist of America, the largest socialist organization in the United States, serving on its International Committee; he is President of the Campaign Worker’s Guild, an independent union organizing campaign workers and adjacent industries across the country.
Paul Figueroa
Paul Figueroa is an educator, writer, and community organizer with over a decade of grassroots experience organizing in Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican/Latinx diaspora communities in New York around social justice and decolonization initiatives. Furthermore, Paul has experience building international solidarity networks across Europe and The Americas to elevate the case of Puerto Rico in international forums and look at global solutions to issues such as climate change, food sovereignty, demilitarization, and the decolonization and self-determination of other colonized and stateless nations. You can read Paul’s essays, op-eds, and political analysis in publications such as El Nuevo Dia, Latino Rebels, Claridad, and Tempest Magazine.
Veronica Sanchez
Veronica is a grassroots activist and artist based in the Puerto Rican diáspora. She was exposed to the challenges and systemic inequities faced by Puerto Rican communities while growing up in The Bronx, as well as the disconnect between the diaspora and our ancestral homeland. This sparked her interest in social justice and led her to pursue a career in the arts and tech, with a focus on using her platform to advocate for marginalized communities.
Jonathan Soto
Jonathan has over 10 years of collective experience in law, urban planning, human rights advocacy, government administration, academia, emergency response/disaster relief, faith-based organizing, and public education advocacy. He has served as the Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Union Theological Seminary. He worked with seminarians, community organizations, and faith leaders to support social justice initiatives. Most recently, Jonathan served as an organizer for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where he supported the development of the Congresswoman’s Homework Helpers program, and connected the community to the campaign’s pandemic mutual aid resources, including 100k meals to families and conducting workers rights workshops.
