ELISA BOCANEGRA

— Deborah Vankin

THEATER FOUNDER

As the founder of the BIPOC-focused company Hero Theatre, Bocanegra has helped make live theater in Los Angeles more equitable and inclusive — providing space for and giving artistic voice to actors of all races, genders, sexualities, religions, beliefs and backgrounds. For more than a decade, Hero has presented plays that seek to represent America as it is: a complex, messy, beautiful, sometimes fractured melting pot — but always craning toward the light of justice. An actress and director with Puerto Rican roots, Bocanegra is a 2022-23 Fulbright Award recipient. She is currently working as a director on a 10-year-long stage and screen project called “Nuestra Planeta,” which seeks to educate

Latino audiences about environmental justice in the Americas. During the height of the pandemic, Bocanegra used money she made from commercials to help keep Hero afloat. The company’s mission of creating a platform for artists of color, she said at the time, was too important to give up on, no matter the cost.

— Jessica Gelt