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Rick Miramontez / Kendall Edwards / Bailey Everett
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

BTC
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
CODY RENARD RICHARD

ANNOUNCES
2026 CODY RENARD RICHARD SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

CAREER TRANSITION FOR STUDENTS
AWARDS 10 RECIPIENTS $10,000
TO SUPPORT THEIR EDUCATION
TO PROGRESS THE NEXT STEPS OF THEIR CAREERS

New York, NY (February 12, 2026) – 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 Andrés Agustín Barrera (University of California, Los Angeles), Anica Acuña (Columbia University School of the Arts), Cianon Jones (University of Iowa), Darius Knight Evans (Boston University), Gavin D. Pak (David Geffen School of Drama at Yale), Kaitlyn “KD” Dorsey (Howard University), Mar’Iaha White (Southern Methodist University), Parker Essex Hardy (David Geffen School of Drama at Yale), Saray Rodríguez Hernández (University of Evansville), and Vera Alonzo (University of Michigan).

To download headshots, click here.

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, “We are very excited to embark on this journey with the new scholars! Each of them possess the skill, drive and compassion that we look for in our students. As we enter our 6th year of the program, our mission remains the same — to give these students the tools and access that they might not be able to receive in their own communities. I’m so thrilled to continue to partner with Black Theatre Coalition to support these 10 incredible individuals.”

Over the years, the program has awarded nearly $500,000 to 55 students from 31 different universities. Past Scholars from the program are now working across the industry on Broadway in shows like Cats: The Jellicle Ball, 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 Theater, and The Public Theater.

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, EJF Philanthropies, Cordelia Persen, 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, Yang-Yang Chen, 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, stage manager, advocate and educator. As a stage manager on Broadway, he has worked on 20 productions and is currently the Production Stage Manager for Ragtime at Lincoln Center and Cats the Jellicle Ball on Broadway. Some favorite SM credits include: Lempicka, Sweeney Todd (’23 Revival), Into the Woods (’22 Revival), Freestyle Love Supreme, Hamilton, VMAs, Tony Awards, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Cirque du Soleil, 4 Live! televised Musicals on NBC and 10 productions with NY City Center Encores!. As a producer, Cody has Co-Produced the Broadway revivals of Othello, Parade (Tony Award), A Strange Loop (Tony Award), Thoughts of a Colored Man, as well as the National Tour Moulin Rouge. On top of his production credits, he has been an adjunct professor at Columbia University for the last 5 years after previously serving as adjunct faculty at New York University and Fordham University. He’s the founder of The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program for aspiring theatre makers of color. 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. Cody has appeared live on CNN and has been interviewed on The Kelly Clarkson Show, WNBC and NY1. He’s a 2020 OUT100 honoree, a Kennedy Center Next 50 honoree and was named to Variety Magazine’s Broadway Players to Watch list – the only stage manager to receive these honors! Cody also sits on the Board of Trustees for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. More info at  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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