Jorge Rodriguez

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT JORGE RODRIGUEZ

Historian of Religion and Social Movements | Grant Writer and Fundraiser | Non-Profit Executive | Professor I grew up in an affordable housing complex outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Born to Puerto Rican migrants in a diverse, poor, and working-class community, I saw firsthand what happens when institutions abdicate their responsibility to care for the poor. Yet I also witnessed the beautiful potential of communities coming together to care for one another and imagine new systems into existence. It was in my parents\' living room, watching Dad put together budgets for the school cafeteria where he worked, that I first learned about administration. It was under the tutelage of my mother, who was a Family Advocate for Head Start, that I got my first lessons in movement building and social change. In my own professional life, I have bridged academia, non-profit leadership, public scholarship, and social justice movements, blending scholarly rigor and practical expertise to drive institutional growth and mission-driven change. With a Ph.D. in History of Religion and a specialization in social movements, I have found ways to apply scholarly insight to strategic executive administration. As a result, I have developed skills in-Grant Writing & Fundraising, securing over $8 million as principal grant writer and development strategist across several organizations-Leadership & Management, with five years of executive-level experience developing dynamic teams-Public Scholarship, publishing four academic articles, over 30 pieces of public writing, and presenting at over 14 conferences-Pedagogy, having seven years of graduate-level teaching experience with courses on Religious History, Fatness, Latinx Religious Activism, and Social Movements-Professional Facilitation, curating dozens of intentional conversation spaces for community organizers, philanthropic leaders, graduate students, and higher education professionals-Consulting, having advised over 11 organizations on redesigning internal operations, bylaw creation and revision, development strategies, and messaging around justice, equity, and inclusion. In each of these, I\'m building on the skills given to me by the community that raised me. A community that taught me to excavate the root causes of systemic issues and find solutions geared toward justice, inclusion, and care.