THE POINT was founded in 1994 by Maria Torres, Paul Lipson, Steven Sapp, and Mildred Ruiz.

Maria Torres received a Bachelor's of Science degree from Cornell University and has pursued a career in community development in the Hunts Point section of The Bronx. In 1992, she launched the Neighborhood Internship Bank for at-risk youth, the first employment service of its kind in the South Bronx. Since that time, she has placed nearly one-hundred young people in after-school and weekend jobs. Ms. Torres also established La Marqueta, an outdoor community market aimed at lowering the barriers to the marketplace for neighborhood entrepreneurs. Ms. Torres lives in The Bronx.(mct33@hotmail.com)
 
Paul Lipson served as Assistant Director of The Seneca Center, Inc. in the Hunts Point section of The Bronx. Since 1986, Mr. Lipson has operated economic development, youth employment, and public service programs in Hunts Point. He has established several nationally-acclaimed programs, including the Hunts Point Farms Entrepreneurship Program and the South Bronx Summer Project. Mr. Lipson's work has been featured on three networks, as well as on the pages of the New York Times. He received a B.A. in American History from Brown University.

Mildred Ruiz - Co-Founder of THE POINT CDC; Singer, Actress and Flamenco Dancer; Has shared the stage with the likes of legendary poet Sandra Maria Esteves, Amiri Baraka, Luis Reyes Rivera, Ngoma Hill, Amina Baraka. Has also trained under the tutelage of Aileen Passloff & Mariquita Flores; Is currently working, on an urban Flamenco concert @ THE POINT CDC. As a member of Universes, she has performed at Performance Space 122, Live From The Edge Theatre @ THE POINT, Rutgers Univ., Binghamton Univ., Pace Univ., Univ. of Massachusetts @ Amherst, WORD LIFE, a Hip-Hop and Spoken Word concert and conference at Irving Plaza, Sing Sing prison, City College, The Tea Party, Sister's Place, Nuyorican Poets Café, El Puente, Norwood Pub, The Next Stage, Pace University, WBAI, WLIB, GOOD DAY NY on FOX 5 and numerous other locations. She was born & raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and currently resides in the South Bronx. Recipient of the 1998 Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO Award. Received her B.A. in Literature and Language from Bard College. (mild-red@usa.net)
 
Steven Sapp has written, directed, choreographed, and produced six theatrical productions, including the critically-acclaimed Purgatory and Another I Dies Slowly. His plays have been heralded in the New York Times, Woodstock Times, and the Ulster County Daily Freeman. As a student at Bard College, Mr Sapp was a recipient of the Reamer Kline Award and the Higher Education Opportunity Program Award for outstanding students. In 1989, he received the Director of the Year and Play of the Year Awards from the Ulster County Freeman for excellence in theater in the Ulster County area. From 1990 to 1992, Mr Sapp served as Admission Officer for Bard College, and continued to produce and direct during this time. In 1993, he returned to his Bronx neighborhood to serve as a Media Arts instructor for The Seneca Center, a settlement house located in the Hunts Point section of The Bronx. Mr Sapp lives in The Bronx. (stevensapp@usa.net)