Bonsai Bermúdez

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Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director Bonsai Bermúdez completed a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Puerto Rico with a concentration on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) issues. Bonsai has been working in the social justice-service field for over 20 years- focusing on trauma, transformative justice, and harm reduction practices. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Dance, they have worked professionally as a ballet/modern dancer and actor. Bonsai became a part of Ballet Teatro de Puerto Rico, Conservatory of Ballet Concierto, Broadway Dance Center, Traveling Theatre of Puerto Rico, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, among others. They joined the Board of Directors of Chicago’s Orgullo en Accion in 2010 to politically advocate for the Latine LGBTQI+ Community.  They spent five years at the Broadway Youth Center, a Chicago program that serves LGBTQI+ youth experiencing housing instability or homelessness, as the Drop-In and Resource Advocacy Manager.

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Bonsai accolades include, among others, the "True Community Award" by the True Colors United based in NYC, the "Artistic Expression Based on Another Medium" by the Esteem Awards in Chicago, the "Leadership in Community-Based Theatre and Civic Engagement" award by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), inducted in the LGBT Chicago Hall of Fame in 2024, and the "Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Humanities" award by the Illinois State Treasurer Office. 

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Bonsai also serves as a consultant to different organizations and collectives around the country that are working to incorporate trauma informed, harm reduction, and art-healing practices into their programs, policies, and institutional work.  They are quadrilingual (Spanish, English, French and Sign Language) with a strong interest in multicultural issues.

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Bonsai@WeSayYEPP.com