Crystal Mercado is a theatre artist, director, facilitator, and educator passionate about the intersections of theatre and her community of San Diego. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University and a BA in Children’s Theatre from San Diego State University. Crystal is the Artistic Director of Bocón: A Community Arts Organization, which is dedicated to empowering artists of all ages to create collaborative works of art that voice social perspectives on community stages. She is currently producing Safa’s Story, a forum theatre for youth piece. She directed Bodyguard: Protector of Anatomy (Creede Repertory Theatre), a play that tours to hundreds of schools across five southwest states. She has worked as an artist in residence teaching theatre, creative drama, puppetry and theatre for social change in classrooms K-12 all over San Diego. Empowering audiences through the many forms of storytelling and personal narrative is at the center of her artistic work and pedagogy.