Communications Strategist ❋ Cultural Organizer ❋ Data Storyteller

Jaleria Rivera

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Nice to e-meet you!

Hi, my name is Jaleria. I’m a devoted Data Storyteller seeking a purposeful career in strategic design and culture marketing. As a long time Sales Marketer and Creative Director, I understand the art of human engagement to drive meaningful change within organizations. My unwavering curiosity for data and design has led me to build longstanding initiatives that drive incremental growth, cement brand affinity, and foster community engagement.

Achievements

  • Data storyteller, who contributed to $3M in revenue for Emerging, Enterprise, and Brand accounts (2024).
  • Brand collaborations include Amazon, Michaels Arts & Crafts, Kraft Heinz, UCLA Health, Airbnb, Chili's Grill & Bar, PetSmart, and more.
  • Directed Multi-location Sales Department design rebrand across 500+ content materials.
  • Directed over 20 cross-department, design, and storytelling projects.
  • Won cross-department collaboration award in Q1-24.
  • Won top revenue contributed to in Q4-23.

Career

  • Collaborations include Big Ears Festival, Bonnaroo Festival, Dogwood Arts, Arts & Culture Alliance, etc.
  • Built and directed an arts studio cooperative for 5 grassroots and/or non-profit art organizations.
  • Built shared studio that houses up to 50 individual artists.
  • Hosted over 156 events in 2024, July grand opening.

Community

  • Member, Alternate ROOTS (US South)
  • Member, Black Girl Environmentalist
  • Member, Mayor’s Maker City Council
  • Member, Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville
  • Voting Member, Waymakers Collective
  • Panelist, Community Agency Grant Arts and Culture

Affiliations

  • 2025 Creative Liberation Fund, Waymakers Collective
  • 2024 Individual Bailey Grant, Arts & Culture Alliance
  • 2024 Windgate Fellowship, Arrowmont
  • Artists Scholarship, Big Ears Festival
  • 2024 Emerging Leader, YMCA 39th Annual Tribute to Women Awards | Finalist
  • The Crown Pitch Competition, The Women & Shora Foundation | Winner, Second Best Pitch

Awards

  • Threads of Change: Redefining Sustainability Panel, Bonnaroo
  • The ROI in Us: Reimagining Health & Joy in Environmental Professionals, CERES
  • Making Space / Finding Place with Randy Boyd and Jaleria Rivera, Big Ideas Welcome Podcast
  • Artful Sustainability: Transforming materials, transforming mindsets, Dogwood Arts House & Garden Show
  • DIY or Die: How SpaceCraft Empowers Artists to Build Their Own Economy, Pecha Kucha
  • Keynote Speaker, Social Media, The Maker City Summit

Presentations

  • Food Systems Community Dinner

    We brought artists and food system organizers to the same table to challenge the traditional 'pantry' model. Through structured mapping and brainstorming, we explored how galleries and studios can serve as dignified, community-centered recovery hubs. The dinner itself served as a proof-of-concept, using creative placemaking to transform a discussion about waste into an experience of hospitality.

    March 2026 | United Way of Greater Knoxville | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  • Black Business Cohort

    100Knoxville is a business accelerator program run by the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center with a goal of helping Black-owned businesses in Knoxville.

    September 2025 | 100 Knoxville | Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center

  • Artist Professional Development Grant

    The grant funded a three-week dance intensive in Amsterdam, NL for the renowned Summer Dance Forever dance festival. I used this time to elevate my personal dance practice, steward the principles of social justice equity in dance, and gained new connections for international performance in 2026.

    August 2025 | Arts & Culture Alliance - Bailey Grant

  • Threads of Change Sustainability Panel

    Coordinated by The Bottom, this Bonnaroo panel explored sustainable living through the lens of fashion and creative reuse. Panelists shared practical tips, tools, and personal practices for reducing waste and embracing sustainability in everyday life and style.

    June 2025 | The Bottom | Bonnaroo

  • "The ROI in Us" Panel & Discussion

    Hosted a virtual panel with Black Girl Environmentalist featuring Madelyn Collins, exploring how joy, movement, and maker practices can reshape sustainability for desk-based environmental workers.

    Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwsPpQhxPxk

    June 2025 | Ceres | The ROI in Us: Reimagining Health & Joy

  • "Making Space / Finding Place" Podcast

    This episode is about how people like Randy and Jaleria shape places - and how the places they build shape the people and communities from the ground up.

    Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TvgTzhJ9R8

    March 2025 | Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center’s Big Ideas Welcome Podcast

  • Pecha Kucha Presentation

    Jaleria Rivera, Founder, sharing the philosophy of the arts studio co-op, SpacecCraft at Pecha Kucha. Title: DIY or Die: How SpaceCraft Empowers Artists to Build Their Own Economy Watch: https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/spacecraft-diy-or-die

    February 2025 | Pecha Kucha Knoxville

  • Artful Sustainability Panel

    Transforming materials, transforming mindsets Moderated by Jaleria Rivera, Spacecraft. Ty Murray - The Bottom, Jaz Parks - Childlike Creative & Alex Stiles - Fourth and Glass​​This panel discussion explores the transformative power of creative reuse, where sustainability meets innovation. Discover how artists, designers, and makers are redefining waste by turning discarded materials into meaningful works of art, functional object.

    February 2025 | Dogwood Arts

  • Annual Tribute to Women's Awards

    Meet our Fourteenth Finalist for the 39th Annual Tribute to Women Awards: Jaleria Rivera! Nominated by Hannah Houser, Jaleria Rivera is a dynamic leader dedicated to fostering co-liberation, equity, and creativity. As a Black woman and the founder of SpaceCraft, Jaleria embraces innovative economic practices like the "Next Economy," which challenges oppressive structures and promotes a racially just, bioregional, and locally self-reliant economy.

    Watch: https://youtu.be/aMuhxEHwcm4

    September 2024 | YWCA 39th Annual Women's Awards

  • Collective Imagination

    Jaleria Rivera was a member of the inaugural 2023 "Let Her Lead" cohort, a development program run by the Knoxville-based organization Let Her Speak.

    Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EexVWAcJshk

    Listen (Leading From Purpose): https://open.spotify.com/episode/2yr6xr8VC4IJvwxq3F52Me

    February 2024 | Let Her Speak

  • What's the Big idea? Pitch Competition

    Annual $10K pitch competition from budding Entrepreneurs in Knoxville, TN.

    Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h1Dsaf8l34

    March 2023 | Knoxville Entrepreneur Center

“I wholeheartedly recommend Jaleria for any position in brand strategy or marketing management. Her creativity, determination, and strategic expertise will undoubtedly make a meaningful impact wherever she goes. Please feel free to contact me if you require further information.”
Casey Fox — Development Director, Arts & Culture Alliance
“Her role in stewarding our brand's vision and assistance in crafting dynamic experiences for festival-goers in 2024 is a testament to her ability to navigate complex projects while maintaining a pulse on evolving trends and community needs. She consistently showcased her self-starting nature, taking ownership of complex tasks and driving them to completion with precision and passion.”
Ty Murray — Art Director, The Bottom
“Jaleria’s strengths are multidimensional, encompassing not only deep business acumen but also creativity, leadership, and a strong collaborative nature. Her hard work ethic and positive attitude are not only contagious, but are invaluable assets.”
Rachel Cancio — Campaign Director, Yelp