Janine Carambot Santoro

Janine Carambot Santoro (she/her) serves the City of Bethlehem as the Director of Equity and Inclusion. She currently works alongside City Hall employees and community partners to co-create the City’s first Equity Plan. She is a liaison for the Mayor’s Latino Advisory Council, South Side Task Force, Bethlehem Human Relations Commission, and the Bethlehem Community Advisory Board. Through the Mayor’s Office, she has helped to engage Bethlehem residents and community partners around initiatives such as a year-round homeless shelter, affordable housing opportunities, the South Side Community Center feasibility study, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and the Community Recovery Fund through the City’s We Build Bethlehem platform and community meetings. Janine received her B.A. in English and Psychology from Rutgers University (NJ), her M.Div from Drew Theological School (NJ), and both her Diversity and Inclusion Certificate and Equitable Community Change certificates from Cornell University (NY). She has served as the President of the Latino Leadership Alliance of the Lehigh Valley (LLALV) from 2021 – 2025, is a candidate for ordination within the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination, and serves on a number of advisory boards. She is the recipient of the 2021 Fidelity Bank Community Star Award for her programs, community conversations, and oral history project at the South Side Branch of Bethlehem Area Public Library, a 2023 recipient of the Women of Excellence Award presented by the South Bethlehem Historical Society, and a 2024 recipient of the Community Partner award presented by the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce.