Speaker Series

The League’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee has developed a new speaker series, entitled Listen. Learn. Act: Conversations about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The goal of this series is to allow us to come to a better understanding of one another by listening to and learning from different stories, whether they be told by prominent individuals in our industry, or leaders in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion arena sharing what they’ve learned from working in the field.

The League believes that the stories and viewpoints offered by the speakers here are critically important to building an equitable and inclusive community for all.  While the perspectives and points of view are varied in nature, the League does not intend to endorse any particular viewpoints or statements made by the speakers, but rather supports the dialogue and the need for a forum in which these important issues are discussed.

The Broadway League has partnered with Invest in Access to provide ASL Interpretation services for these events.

The tenth installment of “Listen. Learn. Act: Conversations about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” focused on Gender Identity. This session was held on Friday, October 28th, 2022, and featured a conversation with four distinct artists from various backgrounds. Tomás Matos and Becca Blackwell, actors, Brendon Holloway, Ph.D. candidate and adjunct professor at the University of Denver, and Qween Jean, costume designer and Founder of the Black Trans Liberation. George Strus, Founding Artistic Director of Breaking the Binary Theatre, moderated the event.

The ninth session took place Monday, February 28, 2022 featuring a conversation on accessibility with David J. (DJ) Kurs, Artistic Director of Deaf West Theatre, Betty Siegel, Director of the Office of Accessibility and VSA at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Victor Calise, Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and moderated by Broadway League Member Victoria (Tory) Bailey.

The eighth session took place Wednesday, November 3, 2021. The conversation was with four distinct artists from various backgrounds of the Asian American Pacific Islander community, Baayork Lee, Eric Keen-Louie, Linda Cho and Christine Toy Johnson and moderated by Broadway League Member Kumiko Yoshii.

The seventh session took place on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee Co-Chairs Jack Eldon and Barbara Whitman outlined the various EDI initiatives currently supported by The Broadway League before Tammie Ward (The Shubert Organization), Naila McKenzie Ross (Disney Theatrical Group), and Maggie Brohn (Adventureland LLC) shared details of replicable initiatives currently taking place or in development at their respective organizations.

The sixth session took place on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, and featured a conversation between playwrights Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), and Keenan Scott II (Thoughts of a Colored Man), moderated by two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway producer Brian Moreland.

The fifth session took place on Monday, December 14, 2020, and featured a conversation between Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated Wayne Brady and two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway producer Brian Moreland.

The fourth session took place on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 with Black Theatre Coalition founders Reggie Van Lee, T. Oliver Reid, and Warren Adams, and was moderated by Aaliytha Stevens, Chief Operating Officer, SpotCo.

The third session took place on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 with Black Theatre United’s Broadway stars Norm Lewis and Capathia Jenkins, and was moderated by Kendra Whitlock Ingram, President & CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center.

The second session took place on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 with Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s Britton Smith, Co-founder and President; Susan Sturm, Policy & Research Director; Alejo Rodriguez, Community Engagement Director, and was moderated by Naila McKenzie, Director, Legal Counsel and Business Affairs at Disney Theatrical Group.

The first session in the series took place on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, and featured a conversation between Tony Award winning director Kenny Leon and Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Executive Director of ASU Gammage.