Ariana DeBose, Cody Renard Richard & More Join Broadway Cares Board of Trustees

The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees added four industry-leading voices, each with an essential dedication to Broadway Cares’ fundraising and grant-making. Joining the board at its annual fall meeting on October 12, 2023, were actor Ariana DeBose, Ambassador Theatre Group North America CEO Stephen Lewin, production stage manager and producer Cody Renard Richard and Actors’ Equity Association Executive Director Alvin Vincent Jr.

“These four movers-and-shakers have made a groundbreaking impact in our industry,” said Robert E. Wankel, president of the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees and Chairman and CEO of The Shubert Organization. “Their presence on the board will play a critical role in Broadway Cares’ ongoing fundraising and grant-making efforts. Broadway Cares and the board are committed to bringing new voices to the table who will play an integral role in the organization’s and our industry’s future.”

Stepping off the board after years of distinguished service are actors Kate Burton, Kathleen Chalfant (a founding board member) and Cherry Jones.

About the newest trustees:

DeBose is an Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor. Named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2022, DeBose made her Broadway debut in Bring It On: The Musical and appeared in the original Broadway casts of A Bronx Tale: The Musical, Hamilton, Motown: The Musical and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. An Oscar winner for her lauded portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of West Side Story, DeBost received widespread acclaim as host of the Tony Awards in 2022 and 2023. She has participated frequently in Broadway Cares’ twice-annual in-theater Red Bucket fundraising and appeared at many legacy events, including Broadway Backwards, Broadway Bares and the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction.

Lewin is the chief executive officer of Ambassador Theatre Group, North America. He oversees the business operations of the company and is responsible for its financial success. Since 2016, Lewin has led the live entertainment company which has a diverse content slate including both theater and music. Lewin has strategically grown ATG’s vertically integrated business model that encompasses all areas of live entertainment. Lewin is responsible for ATG’s North American operation, which includes Broadway’s Hudson and Lyric theaters plus six more historic theaters across the country. ATG recently announced it’s combining operations with Jujamcyn Theaters, owner of five Broadway theaters. 
 

Richard is a producer, educator and stage manager with a career that spans Broadway, television, Cirque du Soleil and opera. Richard currently is production stage manager on the hit Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd. His 15 Broadway stage management credits include Freestyle Love Supreme, Hamilton, Into the Woods and Pass Over - which was the first new play to welcome an audience to Broadway after the COVID-19 shutdowns. As a producer, Richard received Tony Awards for co-producing A Strange Loop and this year’s revival of Parade. As part of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, he founded The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program for aspiring BIPOC theater makers.

  

Vincent is the executive director of Actors’ Equity Association. Appointed in 2022, Vincent oversees the collective bargaining process for more than 40 national and regional contracts and supervises Equity's professional staff nationwide. He is the union's representative and lead spokesperson with the media, labor, bargaining partners and government officials. He is a founder of the Actors’ Equity Political Action Committee, for which he also serves as treasurer. Dedicating his career to the labor movement, prior to joining Equity Vincent was the international vice president and mid-Atlantic region director for the United Food and Commercial Workers International.

The full list of the members of the Board of Trustees can be found at broadwaycares.org.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the philanthropic heart of Broadway, is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including The Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts, the HIV/AIDS Initiative and the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative. Broadway Cares also awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing lifesaving medication, healthy meals, counseling and emergency assistance.

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