BTC ANNOUNCES THE 2025 CODY RENARD RICHARD SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Kendall Edwards / Bailey Everett
rick@omdkc.com / kendall@omdkc.com / bailey@omdkc.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
BTC
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
CODY RENARD RICHARD
ANNOUNCES
2025 CODY RENARD RICHARD SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Photo by: Marc Franklin
New York, NY (January 29, 2025) – BTC and Broadway stage manager and producer Cody Renard Richard announces the next cohort of The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program. The program is dedicated to building a bridge into the industry for emerging theatrical leaders of color working behind the scenes.
This year’s recipients include Jasmine Brooks (Yale University), Jeyna Lynn Gonzales (University of California, Irvine), Bell Hernandez (University of California, Irvine), Brissa Lopez (Columbia University), Savanha Moore (University of Iowa), Briana Newson (California Institute of the Arts), Andre Rodriguez (Texas State University), Salomé A. Ayers Sánchez (University of North Carolina School of the Arts), Tait Truong (Oklahoma City University), and KayCi Wolf (Texas State University).
Each student will receive a financial grant of $10,000, mentorship through various online seminars focusing on community building, leadership, and social justice, and an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to meet with mentors and experience Broadway and New York’s theater scene in person.
Cody Renard Richard states, “I’m so proud that we are celebrating our 5th Anniversary of the program. This program is such a labor of love and I’m so grateful for all the support that we’ve been given over the years. Each year I’m reminded of how important this program is and how special spaces like these can be. Our incoming cohort is full of creative thinkers who are passionate about building community and shifting the landscape of our industry. I can’t wait to uplift their talents and learn from them along the way.”
Over the years, the program has awarded $340,000 to 45 students from 31 different universities. Past Scholars from the program are now working across the industry on Broadway in shows like Maybe Happy Ending, A Wonderful World, Buena Vista Social Club, Our Town, Hamilton, Hadestown, Hell’s Kitchen, and Disney’s Aladdin, on tour with Tina Turner: The Tina Turner Musical, and across the country at Regional Theatres like Utah Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Lincoln Center Theatre, and the Public Theatre.
The program is supported by the Jeffrey Seller Family Foundation, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, The Miranda Family Fund, Tiger Baron Foundation, Kevin McCollum, Thomas Kail, Junkyard Dogs, Jenny Steingart, and Jill Furman. The Jeffrey Seller Family Foundation and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids serve as lead sponsors.
This year’s selection committee featured prominent theatrical professionals and leaders including Richard, Tom Andre Bardwell, Jhanaë Bonnick, Lani Fu, Ann James, Zhailon Levingston, Tina McCartney, Kenneth McGee, Timothy Oliver Reid and program manager Nzinga Williams.
For additional information, please visit crrscholarship.com.
ABOUT CRR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program strives to:
- Encourage more Black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and other students of Color to pursue degrees in the theatrical management and artistic fields, such as Stage Management, Technical Theatre, Theatre Design, Playwriting, Directing or Theatre Management.
- Cultivate and provide a space for the next generation of BIPOC artists, while honoring, recognizing and welcoming their future contributions to the theatrical world.
- Connect our scholars with theatrical and community leaders of color, to help cultivate their leadership and advocacy skills to encourage them to be change agents in their own communities and within the industry.
- Create a community of scholars who will learn and grow together throughout their various educational journeys.
- Remind BIPOC individuals that their voices and talents are needed and will be supported.
ABOUT CODY RENARD RICHARD
Cody Renard Richard is a Tony Award winning Producer, Advocate, Educator, and professional Stage Manager with a career that spans many genres including Broadway, Television, Cirque Du Soleil and Opera. On Broadway, he has worked as a full time and substitute Stage Manager for 19 productions and is currently the Production Stage Manager for The Last Five Years on Broadway. Other favorite SM credits include: Lempicka, Sweeney Todd (’23 Revival), Into the Woods (’22 Revival), Freestyle Love Supreme, Hamilton, Jesus Christ Superstar Live!, Annie Live!, VMAs, Tony Awards and 10 productions with NY City Center Encores! As a producer, Cody has Co-Produced the Broadway revival of Parade (Tony Award), A Strange Loop (Tony Award), Thoughts of a Colored Man, as well as the National Tour Moulin Rouge! The Musical. He is also a Co-Producer for the upcoming revival of Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. On top of his production credits, he is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University after previously serving as adjunct faculty at New York University and Fordham University. He has actively worked with numerous organizations including Broadway Advocacy Coalition where he founded The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program for aspiring BIPOC theatre makers. The program is now run in partnership with Black Theatre Coalition. He is also a founding member of RISE Theatre Directory; a theatrical database geared to uplift underrepresented individuals in the theatre. As an advocate for change and equity, he has appeared live on CNN and has been interviewed on WNBC and NY1. Cody was profiled as the cover story for SWERV Magazine in 2023 and has been featured by Variety Magazine as one of their 2020 Broadway Players to Watch, Out Magazine as a 2020 OUT100 honoree and in Forbes, among other publications. He was recently honored by the Kennedy Center as a part of their Next 50 list and is the recipient of the 2020 Webster University’s Young Alumni Award and the 2020 Native Son Next Award. He holds a BFA in Stage Management from Webster Conservatory and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Directors Guild of America. Cody also sits on the Board of Trustees for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids. www.codyrenard.com @codyrenard
ABOUT BTC
BTC was founded by T. Oliver Reid and Warren Adams during the Summer of 2019. They identified the disparity between the growing inclusivity onstage, versus the almost non-existence of Black professionals off stage. They invited their colleague, Reggie Van Lee, to join them as Co-Founder in their march towards dismantling the systemically racist and biased ideology in the theatrical job space. BTC officially filed as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) in June of 2020.
BTC’s mission is to remove the “illusion of inclusion” in the American Theatre. By building a sustainable ethical roadmap that will increase employment opportunities for black theatre professionals. Our vision is to reshape the working ecosystem for those who have been marginalized by systemically racist and biased ideology.
For more information about BTC, visit their website https://buildingthechange.org/.
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