Rebecca Kling

Rebecca’s art and advocacy work is rooted in a multidisciplinary approach to changing the world, with the understanding that there’s no one ‘right way to communicate’ that will land with everyone. For over a decade, she has worked with hundreds of community organizations, civil rights groups, and elected representatives to elevate the experiences of transgender people, and to bring transgender issues into discussions of public education and policy. Rebecca firmly believes that understanding combats bigotry, and that everyone has the ability to push for a more just and equitable world.

When Rebecca is not working with BWC, she is on the board of directors for Harbor Camps, a summer camp for transgender and gender-variant youth where she first worked as a counselor more than a decade ago. Rebecca is also on the leadership council of Our Bodies Ourselves, an educational, activist initiative supporting the health and sexuality of women and gender-expansive people.

Rebecca is co-author of The Advocate Educator’s Handbook: Creating Schools Where Transgender and Non-Binary Students Thrive. Learn more at www.theadvocateeducator.com. She received a Lambda Literary Award in 2024 for her contribution to the LGBTQ+ Anthology '2 Trans 2 Furious: An extremely serious journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies.'

Rebecca began her career working as a touring educator and performance artist, exploring gender and identity through solo stage pieces and interactive workshops. Her genre-bending productions - which incorporated conversational storytelling, personal narrative, comedic vignettes, and the world’s first Strip Q&A - took her all across the United States to interact with a wide variety of audiences.

From 2016 through 2019, Rebecca worked with the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in Washington D.C., first serving as their Community Storytelling Advocate, before becoming the organization's Education Program Director. From 2019 through early 2022, Rebecca was part of the Beyond Coal campaign at the Sierra Club, working to transition the United States from fossil fuels to clean energy,

In 2013, Rebecca was recognized for her artistic work when she was named as part of the inaugural Trans 100, a list celebrating excellence in the transgender community. In 2025, she was the first openly transgender participant of the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership Training Academy (IWIL TA), a program that prepares and propels women to pursue elected and appointed positions to advance progressive, Democratic ideals