Rebecca Nichloson (She/Her) is a Black, queer femme leader, cultural advocacy & public imagination practitioner, scholar, educator, composer, playwright, creative writer, performer and interdisciplinary artist. She has over 15 years of experience in executive-level leadership, organizational strategy, communications and digital engagement strategy, and program/project development and implementation; including expertise in narrative and culture change, community building, human-centered design, and socially-engaged artistic practice. Rebecca holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University, an M.A. in English Literature, a B.A. in Liberal Arts/Business Administration, and studied publishing at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Rebecca served as a mentor (fiction/prose) for the Queer Voices Summer 2025 Mid-Career Writers Retreat, and has taught playwriting and storytelling at the Loft Literary Center and Minneapolis College of Art & Design. She is Lead Consultant at RUMINATION GARDEN (a creative consultancy) and founder of The Kaleidoscope Project (Minnesota), as well as Chief Executive Officer/Artistic Director of Cleveland-Harris Theatre Company (a fiscally-sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Cleveland-Harris is a cultural advocacy & public imagination project committed to advancing public good through arts, culture, and interdisciplinary research.

SOCIALLY-ENGAGED ARTISTIC PRACTICE

Rebecca is the author of 50+ plays and creative works, including SUBMERGED (An Opera); DEAR AMERICA (libretto & vocals, Minnesota Opera); A VERY SPECIAL MINNESOTA GARDEN (Minnesota Opera); HUE AND CRY; HELLO, I’M EVE (winner of the 2013 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award; mentioned in Lesbians & Queer Plays from Jane Chambers Prize; edited by Maya E. Roth and Jennifer-Scott Mobley. 2019; pg. 427), MARA, QUEEN OF THE WORLD; THE WILD, BOLD ENLIGHTENMENT OF SATINE; COOKING WITH ELLISE; JILL, JACK & THE MARTIAN LADY (a play she created for a children’s educational workshop), among others. She’s a proud member of the Minneapolis Playwright’s Center (two-time recipient of the Many Voices Fellowship) and an emerging member of the Dramatist Guild.

Her works often explore how identity, gender, class, sexuality, and ecologies impact lived experience. Central to her practice is the belief that art is a resource for personal and collective liberation. Her plays are performer-driven pieces that engage grief, healing and transformation — using the written word, music, and multimedia to invite audiences to reflect on what makes us human. She’s deeply interested in the re-imagination, reformation, and re-contextualization of narrative and myth; and in the ways in which people and communities exist as part of living ecosystems that shape and sustain life. Learn more about Rebecca’s plays and request full scripts via the National New Play Network (New Play Exchange).

Her fiction, poetry and performance pieces have been published in About Journal: Geographies of Justice, The Star Tribune, and anthologies among others. During her Sesame Street Writers’ Room fellowship (created by Sesame Workshop), she wrote a pilot titled Sasha K. Jenkins, Kid Scientist. The script, “Decoding Hamad’s Dream,” was for a children’s T.V. series intended to focus on STEAM and problem-solving.

As a book reviewer for IndieReader.com, she authored over twenty book reviews of fiction and creative nonfiction and contributed to “Everybody Pays For It,” published in The Huffington Post.

CREATIVE AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

She is the recipient of a Loft Literary Center Mentorship Series Fellowship, a Liberace Award, a Howard Stein Fellowship, a Matthew’s Fellowship, an America-in-Play Fellowship, and two Many Voices Fellowships from the Minneapolis Playwrights Center. Rebecca’s work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, Signature Theatre Company (Columbia New Plays Now), Harlem Classical Theatre (Playwrights Playground), East Side Freedom Library, the Loft Literary Center, Public Functionary, Pangea World Theatre, Red Eye Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, and on Twin Cities Public Television, among others.

She is the recipient of a 2019 commission from the Cedar Cultural Center for which she created Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss, & Triumph (a three-part collection of songs exploring her Nigerian (Igbo) and African American heritage and passion for genre eclectic music) and received an honorable mention from the McKnight Foundation (Spoken Word).

ADVOCACY WORK & COMMUNITY BUILDING 

Rebecca’s public sector experience includes expertise in developing strategic partnerships, program development and leadership, high-level communications, human-centered design, narrative and culture change, and socially-engaged artistic practice. She’s worked in the civic tech sector; developing comms plans and content for initiatives centered on tech for public good, including leading communications for a civic tech nonprofit in support of a premier New York-based civic tech competition that has produced 500+ tech innovations and $10 million dollars in seed funding toward solutions that empower New York City communities.

Rebecca has written, edited, and developed content (digital & print) for Earl G. Graves LTD — a New York multimedia company and publisher of Black Enterprise, a premier business & wealth-building magazine with readership of over 2 million (centering entertainment, career development, health, technology, and education).

Throughout her career she has developed and spearheaded high-impact initiatives, projects, and communications that uplift Black, Indigenous, Asian American Pacific Islander, Latine, POC, LGBTQIA+, and other historically marginalized communities. She has served as communications director for The Center for Cultural Power (a leading narrative and cultural strategy nonprofit) where she used strategic communications and narrative strategy to amplify the efforts of cultural strategists working to advance social and environmental advocacy through culture change.

She has provided communications support for numerous national initiatives, including the Constellations Culture Change Fund & Initiative, and campaigns connected to reproductive, gender and climate justice, reclaiming U.S./Mexican border narratives, and other social issues that disproportionately affect communities of color.

Rebecca has served as communications director for the African American Leadership Forum,  where she developed and implemented the organization’s communications strategy and spearheaded the development and implementation of communications plans for campaigns, its leadership academy, and a collective impact program focused on empowering Minnesota’s Black community.

Learn more about Rebecca’s public sector experience.

ENTERTAINMENT WRITING & JOURNALISM

Rebecca has written and edited content for Black Enterprise, a premier business and wealth-building magazine with readership of over 2 million, conducting interviews with nonprofit leaders and entertainment professionals including Alan Jenkins, co-founder/ executive director of The Opportunity Agenda (a communications, research, and policy organization).

Rebecca has also interviewed playwright/screenwriter Dominique Morisseau (award-winning dramatist and 2018 MacArthur Fellow), as well as Emmy-nominated actor/comedian Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) and series creator Kenya Barris.

During her time at Black Enterprise, she provided support for the company’s associated media outlets, such as Our World with Black Enterprise, a network television show featuring interviews with celebrities, newsmakers and thought leaders from around the country, and edited content for the 2015 Black Enterprise Tech ConneXt Summit in Silicon Valley.