Rebecca Garza-Bortman
Designer, musician and ideation facilitator
Rebecca Garza-Bortman is a designer, musician, and ideation facilitator. She was an early designer at YouTube, founding designer of MasterClass, and now leads Co-building and Collaboration at Learning Commons. She’s fronted the bands My First Earthquake, Happy Fangs, and now Love Jerks with her rockstar husband. They are raising two children to be feral and exuberant like their parents.
Articles
Blog
Finding Bashert in Grief
In this deeply personal reflection, Rebecca Garza-Bortman explores the Yiddish concept of bashert—that sense of what is meant to be—through grief, memory, friendship and ritual. After losing her father during the pandemic, she reflected on the ways Jewish mourning traditions, creative practice and unexpected collaborations helped her navigate loss. Garza Bortman and her creative partner Ruth Siegel have reimagined the yahrzeit candle with help from Reboot, bringing beauty, care and intention to a familiar mourning ritual. And what begins as a story about reimagining the humble yahrzeit candle becomes a meditation on remembrance, community, and the sacred rituals we create to carry those we love forward. Read more.