Diana Solomon, 34, is someone you should still know.
Solomon was featured in Baltimore Jewish Times in 2019 when she was the director of innovation at 4Front, a nonprofit initiative providing Jewish teens with various leadership programs. Today, she is senior director.
“I am directing the whole initiative. We’ve seen a lot of different iterations over the years, and my role has very much changed and evolved over the years. As has the 4Front initiative,” Solomon said.
Having taken on the new role in 2021, Solomon said she is now the only original member of the 4Front team still with the organization.
Solomon grew up around the corner from the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore in Owings Mills, attended Camp Milldale and was a member of Temple Emanuel of Baltimore.
After studying communications at the University of Maryland, College Park, “I wound up back in the Jewish community that raised and shaped me,” said Solomon.
Solomon started at 4Front back in 2016 when the initiative was first being developed. A Diller Teen Fellow alum, Solomon said she joined the team because she wanted to create the same experience she had for teens, developing a strong connection to the Jewish community.
“I’m really lucky that I get to direct our team. We have five professionals on our team now, all running different teen programs, doing parent engagement, working with other youth professionals, working in partnership with other teen serving organizations in the community. And I kind of get to look at things big picture and make sure that we are really supporting Jewish teens in the community as holistically as we can,” Solomon said.
She added that teens having strong Jewish role models during these formative times is highly important and the impact of the work 4Front does motivates her.
“There’s always challenging times,” she said. “When you’re in nonprofit and grant funded work, the mission that really drives you. I’m proud to still be here this many years later.”
Currently living in Baltimore City, Solomon is married with two young kids, two cats and a dog. She described her family as an active “J family.” Both her children attend the Early Learning Center at the JCC, and they also often attend events at PJ Library and Beth Am Synagogue.
“This many years later, I’m still so passionate about the work that we do, and I believe so strongly in the work that we do. I think now more than ever, it’s really hard to be a Jew in the world, and that is felt especially by young people and by teens, and they’re at a super critical moment in their lives where they are building their identity,” Solomon said.
Having been a part of the program, which is supported by The Associated and the Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, and is managed by the JCC, for 10 years now, Solomon said she is excited to see what’s next for 4Front.
“I’m proud of where 4Front has come. We’re actually really coming up on our 10th year, which is crazy, and I’m excited to see what’s going to come next for us and for myself,” she added.
