Born in Michigan to Filipino parents, Rabbi Mira Rivera grew up in the Philippines under the care of her maternal grandmother. Widely traveled, Rivera has studied in Varanasi and taught meditation and yoga to women all over the world. She fulfilled her dream of dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company, toured in Actors' Equity productions, and earned a B.F.A. in Film from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She later settled in New York City and raised a family. At the same time, she taught dance to public school children through National Dance Institute and grew as an educator in synagogues. She was the first Filipino-American woman to receive ordination from The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2015, where she earned an M.A. in Jewish Studies. She is also a Board Certified Chaplain. Currently, she serves as a Jewish Emergent Network Rabbinic Fellow at Romemu and as a co-chair of the Rabbinical Council of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ). She co-founded Harlem Havruta, “a brave space for Jews of Color, allies and co-conspirators” in West Harlem, and belongs to the first cohort of the Jewish Women of Color Resilience Circle. The song in her heart is the Ladino saying, Boz del puevlo, boz del sielo: The voice of the people, the voice of heaven.