Jackie Rivera (they/them) is a queer, non-binary actor de Borikén and Ecotheater artist based in Brooklyn, NY.

Their performances encompass a commitment to climate change advocacy and visioning for a better future - whether that’s exploring alternative housing solutions through their 4 year stint as a Vanlifer, developing new plays and musicals about environmental and climate collapse (and cultivation!), or creatively engaging the voices of people who bike and the fight for transportation justice. Through comedy, crafting, and community they hope to build access to performance as a tool for personal, practical and political change. Their MFA thesis project, a digital feature called Tiny Dyke; Van Life uses clowning, puppetry and DIY tutorials as a springboard to sex positive discourse and mindfulness practice, as we navigate our tumultuous relationship with the built environment. Think: PeeWee Herman meets Sesame Street meets How it’s Made - but explicitly queer and trans.

As a stage actor with a focus on developing new and experimental plays, they’ve worked regionally at Florida Rep, Gablestage, Actor’s Playhouse, freeFall, Kitchen Theatre Company, and in NYC at New York Live Arts (with Judith Butler), The Brick, SolProject, EnGarde Arts, various projects supported by New Georges, and in the world premier of Helen. by Caitlin George with The Super Geographics presented at La Mama.

As a Creative Climate leader, they spent 5 years as the Associate Artistic Director of Agile Rascal Bicycle Touring Theatre, America’s first and only dedicated theater company that tours original environmental plays exclusively on bicycles. Agile Rascal’s mission is to make innovative, new theater accessible, promote cycling as a viable means of transportation, inspire reverence for our natural landscape and to foster creative connections between artists, activists and cyclists. Since leaving Agile Rascal, they’ve focused their transportation justice efforts in alignment with their cultural reconnection in a project called Boriken Bike Tour, which supports ecotourism of Puerto Rico for the state-side diaspora to reconnect to the land of Boriken by bicycle in a series of how-to and travelogue zines, featuring tips and reflections from our initial bike packing trips.

They hold a Masters in Fine Arts in Performance + Performance Studies at Pratt Institute (Brooklyn). Additionally they hold a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Acting from The New World School of the Arts Conservatory, accredited by University of Florida (2009). And trained for 1 year with SITI Company in their Conservatory Training program in Suzuki and Viewpoints Techniques. They are a 2024 NYSCA Solo Artist Grant Recipient and a 2021 City Artists Corp Grant Recipient which they used to co-create Ghost Bike Performance Project and 2024-25 Ghost Bike Performance Fellowship with Superhero Clubhouse.