Bonsai Bermudez
Bonsai Bermudez completed a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Puerto Rico with a concentration on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer issues. They have been working in the social justice-service field for over 10 years with a main focus on trauma, transformative justice, and harm reduction practices. Prior to entering graduate school, they completed a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre and Dance and have worked professionally as a ballet/modern dancer and actor. In their show business career 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. In 2010 joined Orgullo en Accion as a Board Member to politically advocate for the Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Community in Chicago. Bonsai also worked for five years at the Broadway Youth Center, a program that mainly serves LGBTQ youth experiencing housing instability in Chicago, in which the last three years performed as the Drop-in and Resource Advocacy Manager. Bonsai is currently working as the Executive Artistic Director of YEPP, a program for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness to explore their history, investigate new ways to address their struggles, and celebrate their strengths throughout the process of developing a theatrical performance piece.
As an individual that believes in transformation and healing, they have nurtured a personal-professional career integrating harm reduction, trauma informed principles, transformative and restorative justice, drama and dance therapy, art therapy, body-mind integration, and life balance integration. He is quadrilingual (Spanish, English, French and Sign Language) with a strong interest in multicultural issues.