I was invited to share an Accelerate TECHNOVATION video update for Cleveland Leadership Center's SPARK: “Grit to Great” Conference last year, which encouraged us all to get out of our comfort zone, get curious + start innovating to “spark” new ways of doing things by taking risks. I was grateful to share Other Brown Girl + met the wonderfully inspiring + talented Marcela Rodriguez-Gonzalez. This week on the pod, we giggle about our childhood role models (Wonder Woman!) our love of tacos, the arts, "the other" + what it means to be a first-generation, creative-at-heart daughter of an engineer + doctor.
As Director of Community Development at Cleveland Play House (CPH) with a passion for education, MARCELA RODRIGUEZ-GONZALEZ has the honor of advocating for historically marginalized community members by evaluating strategic partnerships and programs engineered to remove barriers for participation.
Marcela joined CPH in 2017 as the Education Apprentice. She earned her Master’s Degree in Theatre at the University of Central Missouri and was the recipient of the President’s Diversity Scholarship. Marcela discovered her passion for developing communities through arts and education at a young age and has focused her research on Applied Theatre and Theatre for Change. She created the project Unheard Voices: Giving a Voice to Female Minorities in the US, which she directed as a performance.
Through CPH, Marcela creates educational programs focused on culturally relevant youth empowerment while celebrating and recognizing the diversity of the Cleveland community, creating after-school empowerment groups for middle school girls through programs such as Girls Who Code. Cleveland Play House was awarded the Cleveland Foundation's Equity in the Arts Fund to support Marcela's Community Development theatre programs in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood.
Links:
https://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/education/in-school/community-development
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelarodriguezgonzalez/
https://www.instagram.com/marcelosky.ro/
