As the 2025-2029 Nebraska State Poet, Jewel Rodgers has been a spoken word poet for more than a decade, performing in schools, festivals, community settings, conferences, public events, and other venues. Rodgers is an Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award winner for Best Performance Poet in Omaha and a three-time TEDx speaker. She has received numerous accolades, including being a 2022 Union for Contemporary Art Fellow, a 2023 Andy Warhol Populus Fund Grantee, a 2024 finalist in the Blackberry Peach Poetry Slam, and a 2025 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. 

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Through her State Poet initiative, Rodgers works to increase access to poetry and creative connection across Nebraska through performances, workshops, community conversations, and literary exchanges. Beyond poetry, Rodgers is a spatial practitioner and emerging developer focused on small-scale community development projects in Omaha, exploring how storytelling, public space, and culture work together to deepen a sense of belonging.