Our mission matters... to ignite the artistic freedom of performing artists of the Global Majority (85% of the global population) who are poised to create new artistic works, new ideas, and a new world in which ALL people can fourish.
Due to persistent and longstanding inequitable systems and structures, artists and institutions of the Global Majority remain the underinvested communities of the 21st century and yet...
Harlem Stage is forged in a crucible of a creative fre whose fames and embers may waver, still — undeterred by overwhelming odds — we will continue to be a conduit for freedom, a lens to focus the issues of our time, and a light to illuminate any darkness.
Dr. Indira Etwaroo | CEO & Artistic Director | Harlem Stage
ABOUT HARLEM STAGE
Harlem Stage is the global stage for performing artists of the Global Majority who dare to assert the artistic freedom that gives birth to new works and ideas and, thus… a new world. In 1983, Harlem Stage, (then named Aaron Davis Hall, Inc.) was founded in part on the principle that artists of color, particularly Black Artists’ voices were censored, not treated equitably, not given the resources, not provided the platforms that were commensurate with their talents. In short, they were denied equal access. Our mission was to provide access, resources, and enable audiences to witness the visionary work of excellence by artists of color that examined and critiqued the world, our world. We have presented and commissioned their work for nearly 40 years and continue that work at the intersection of Art and Social Justice. Harlem Stage’s collective work continues to amplify the voices of the millions who have taken to the streets demanding justice not just this time, but also historically to examine and denounce racism, its terrible legacy, and its recurring deleterious impact. We are proud of our past and are fnally seeing a gradual increase in the presentation of these artists in programming ofered by institutions across the country and the world. Simultaneously we realize that while we have seeded the feld with their representation, we have not been treated equitably, not given the resources that are required to develop and consistently sustain this work, this investment in artistic equity. The development of new work is a costly matter, from artists’ commissions to rehearsal fees to marketing expenses, each new work takes from 1 to 2 years to develop and costs an average of $200,000 to produce.
YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS
Due to persistent inequitable systems and structures, institutions focused on artists and audiences of the Global Majority remain the underinvested communities of the 21st century. We will not rest until all artists and arts institutions of and for the Global Majority have achieved equity! We hope you will join us in our quest.
ABOUT URBAN BUSH WOMEN
Celebrating its 40th Anniversary, URBAN BUSH WOMEN (UBW) is a groundbreaking Black women-led theatrical dance company and social activism ensemble founded in 1984 by visionary choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Through its mission of engaging with artists, activists, audiences, and communities through performances, artist development, education, and community engagement, the award-winning nonproft has performed throughout the United States, as well as Asia, Australia, Canada, Germany, South America, Europe and Senegal (in collaboration with Germaine Acogny and her allmale Compagnie JANT-BI). UBW has been an engine and amplifer for the stories of Black Women+ for forty years. UBW afects the overall ecology of the arts by promoting artistic legacies; projecting the voices of the under-heard and people of color; bringing attention to and addressing issues of equity in the dance feld and throughout the United States; and by providing platforms and serving as a conduit for experimental art makers. Signature programs run by UBW include the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance) and the Choreographic Center Initiative (CCI) and the CCI Producing Program (CCI 2.0). Now directed by artistic leaders Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis, UBW combines radical performance, deep engagement, and ancestral knowledge from the African diaspora into a force that is urgent, forward-looking, and essential.
SPECIAL THANKS
We would like to thank our panelists and the entire community of Black and women+ of color producers who have set the foundation and continue to build and sustain the ecosystem of our industry. We are grateful for the inaugural cohort of CCI 2.0 Fellows: Audrey Elaine Hailes, Pia Monique Murray, Stephanie Rolland, Cheri L. Stokes; Mentors: Lisa Bryd, Sandy Garcia, Laura Greer, Linda Walton; Advisors: Mikki Shepard, Stephanie Hughley, Hanako Yamaguchi, Linda Brumbach; Art- Makers: Maria Bauman, Marguerite Hemmings, Chanon Judson, nia love, Kesha McKey, Mame Diarra Speis; Partners and Guest Speakers. A special thank you to all of our venue partners: BAM, Lincoln Center, Louis Armstrong House Museum in partnership with Queens College, and Harlem Stage for supporting creatively brilliant Black women and providing space for us to gather, exchange and excel.
FEATURED PANELISTS
Deirdre May
Chief Content Communications Ofcer, Harlem Stage
Deirdre May has worked in media and entertainment throughout her 25-year career, having managed national campaigns and promotions, multiple advertising agencies; partnered with studios, music industry partners, sports leagues, and major networks, such as NBC and HBO. She has had a life-long passion for amplifying the stories and contributions of peoples of the Global Majority. She joined Harlem Stage in 2015, after a nine-year tenure at Time Warner to focus her eforts on mission-driven work.
Kendra J. Bostock
Founder/Director,
STooPS Art & Community
Kendra J. Bostock is a professional dancer, choreographer, teaching artist, pilates instructor, and community organizer from Detroit, MI, who now lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY. Kendra is the Founder/Director of STooPS Art & Community, an organization that uses art as a catalyst for community building by curating art in unconventional spaces such as stoops, sidewalks, parks, and block parties.
Ebony Noelle Golden
Founder & CEO, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative
Ebony Noelle Golden is a ceremonialist, culture worker, public scholar, and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Wielding womanist and Black feminist practices, Golden’s work invokes messy, magical, and medicinal methods to weave liberated worlds ripe with creativity and thriving. Since 2009, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, her consulting practice, has served more than 100 social justice, education, arts & culture institutions.
Fatima Jones
Chief Marketing Ofcer, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Fatima Jones is an innovative cultural strategist, marketing, public relations, and reputation management leader with more than 20 years of experience. She is Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Chief Marketing Ofcer, leading all integrated marketing and communications, including advertising, social media, press, audience development and design. Fatima can be reached on LinkedIn @FatimaJones.
CURATOR & PRODUCERS
Lai-Lin Robinson
When Black Women+ Speak Curator and Co-Producer
Lai-Lin is a Producer, Curator, Performance Artist, and Arts Advocate who is passionate about nurturing art that challenges the way we exist. Originally from Washington, DC now living in New York City, Lai-Lin is grounded in her core values of empathy, community and anti-racist practices. For over 10 years she has collaborated with artists and organizations to transform their visions into a dream reality.
Pia Monique Murray
When Black Women+ Speak Co-Producer, UBW 40th Anniversary Associate Producer
Pia Monique Murray is a choreographer, performer, installation artist, teacher, and creative producer. She has worked with nora chipaumire, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Camille A. Brown, Dianne McIntyre, Chanon Judson, Mame Diarra Speis, Monica L. Williams, and the late Blondell Cummings in various capacities.
Jonathan D. Secor
UBW Producer; and Executive Creative Producer, 40th Anniversary
Jonathan has worked in and around the arts for over three decades as a facilitator for creative artists and ideas and is delighted to once again be working with Urban Bush Women, having previously worked as Producing Partner. Jonathan was producer for NYC Free, a four-week festival, curated by Mikki Shepard. Prior to this, Jonathan was Director of Public Programs for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Land Acknowledgement
The Harlem Stage Gatehouse sits on land that was stewarded by the Lenape Tribes and was violently overtaken, leading to the death and displacement of countless original inhabitants and stewards of this land. The colonial initiative of the United States of America not only invaded the land stewarded by Indigenous tribes, it also enslaved and exploited millions of Africans stolen from their land to build a free labor force under barbaric conditions that included the separation of families, brutal beatings, rape, and lynching. Harlem Stage seeks to partner with all communities, artists, and institutions of the Global Majority in the struggle for true equity and freedom.
Harlem Stage encourages all people to see this acknowledgment as a call to action to join our eforts and our mission to ignite the artistic freedom of performing artists of the Global Majority who are poised to build new artistic works, new ideas, and a new world in which ALL people can fourish.
Our Commitment to the Planet
Harlem Stage’s values are rooted in ensuring a sustainable planet. Because we see climate change as one of the most pressing issues of our time – an issue that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities across the globe - we will continue to honor environmental initiatives both in our operations and programming. Our eforts in using less paper, transitioning to LEDs in our tech and operational spaces, and leaning into digital communications, we have reduced our carbon footprint by 2.5 tons this 2024 – 2025 season alone. Finally, we are proud to work with artists, such as Bebe Miller who will explore the dynamic and thriving ecology of forests, as necessary to a sustainable planet, as part of our Spring 2025 E-Moves Festival.
HARLEM STAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Angela Glover Blackwell
Jenna Bond
Jamila Ponton Bragg
Jamie Cannon, Vice President
JoAnn K. Chase
Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes
Dr. Indira Etwaroo
LaChanze Sapp-Gooding
Jenette Kahn
Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President
Channing Martin
Rebecca Robertson
Mark Thomas, Treasurer
Tamara Tunie
Blair Washington
Michael Young, Secretary
HARLEM STAGE STAFF
Acey Anderson – Maintenance Associate
Lamont Askins – Operations Manager
Jelani Buckner – Innovation Business Operations Management Director
Bethany Cintron – Community, Education, and Social Initiatives Manager
Dr. Indira Etwaroo – CEO & Artistic Director
Julianna Friedman – Associate Director of Individual and Foundational Giving
Deirdre May – Chief Content Communications Ofcer
Sarah McCafery – Programming Manager
Andre Padayhag – Marketing Manager & Graphic Design
Carl Hancock Rux – Associate Artistic Director
Shanté Skyers – Director of Development
Karlvy Smith – Strategic Planning Manager
CONSULTANTS
Das, IT
Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants
Katie Burk, Graphic Design
Aon/Albert G. Ruben Company (NY)/Claudia Kaufman, Insurance
Margaret Hunt, Development
Dwight Johnson, Gala Consultant
Deniz Kofteci, Social Media & Website
Madison Consulting Group, Matt Lawrence
Manchester Benefts, Greg Martin
Jess Medenbach, Digital Video Services
Squire Media & Management, Public Relations
Marc Millman, Photography
Ncheng, LLP
Donna Walker-Kuhne, Community Engagement
HARLEM STAGE FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS
Endowment
Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
Leonard and Sophie Davis Estate
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Public Support
National Endowment for the Arts—Chair, Maria Rosario Jackson,PhD
New York State Council on the Arts—Chair, Katherine Nicholls
The New York City Department of Cultural Afairs—Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Laurie Cumbo
The New York City Council—Councilmember Shaun Abreu and Councilmember Yusef Salaam
Manhattan Borough President– Mark Levine
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
Foundation Support
Altman Foundation
The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc.
The Black Seed Fund
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Columbia Community Service
Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts
Davis/Dauray Family Fund
Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
Francena T. Harrison Foundation
The Ford Foundation
The Harkness Foundation for Dance
The Hearst Foundations
The Howard Gilman Foundation
Jerome Foundation
Jewish Communal Fund
The Diana King Memorial Fund Presented by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation
Lambent Foundation/Tides Foundation
Lucille Lortel Foundation
(Foundation Support continued)
Mellon Foundation
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Metzger-Price Fund
Miranda Family Fund
Pierre and Tana Matisse Charitable Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The Scherman Foundation, Inc.
SHS Foundation
The Shubert Foundation, Inc.
The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc.
The Leonard and Robert Weintraub Family Fund
Corporate Support
ABC7
BET Networks
Berklee NYC
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids
Citi
City Winery
Consolidated Edison Company
The Estée Lauder Companies
Hell’s Kitchen The Musical
The Interpublic Group of Companies
JoAnn Chase Company
Leuchtturm1917
LCM/247
Manhattan Beer Distributors
Penguin Random House
The Public Theater
Pure Green
SESAC
Uncle Nearest
United Talent Agency
West Harlem Development Corporation
INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT
Randy Adams
Laura Aden
Charlene Adhiambo
Benjamin Angeloni
Jamison Antoine
Ngozi Anyanwu
Deborah Archer
Bernard Aronson
Lisa Arrindell
L. Kelly Atkinson Jr.
Roland Augustine
Arno Austin
Neal Baer
Catherine Baker-Pitts
Clare Baren
Betsie Becker
Stefany & Simon Bergson
Stephanie Berry
Jacqueline Beverly
Nilanjana Bhattacharjya
Robert D. Bielecki
Susan Bird
Richard Bizier
Daniel Black
Angela Glover Blackwell*
Patricia Blanchet
David Bogen
Bill Bragin
Andrea Brecker
Enrique Brown
Ronald K. Brown
Ben Brown
Richard Buery
Khephra Burns
Terry Burrell
Todd Steven Burroughs
Angela Butler
Arcell Cabuag
Megan Callari
Mary Schmidt Campbell
Jamie Cannon*
Patrice & William Cannon
Joe Capotorto
Gayle Capozzalo Heil
Hillary Carlip
Amy Cassello
Denis Cavanagh
JoAnn Chase*
Nancy Clipper
Michelle Cofey
Honeychild Coleman
Sharon Combs
Anita Contini
Stephanie Cook
Erica Corbin
Barry Cohen
Caroline Cronson
Pat Cruz
Joan Daidone
Sandra Daley
Hugh Dancy* & Claire Danes*
Milly Hawk Daniel
Zenzele Daniels
G. Jean Davis
Dolores Day Gilliard
Paul F. Dean Jr.
Anne Delaney
Janet Dewart Bell
Vijay Dharmapuri
Ingrid Doyle
Abigail Ehrlich
Michelle Elliott
John Ellis
Lauren Elmore
Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo
Dr. Indira Etwaroo*
Sehra Eusufzai
Joni Evans
Courtney Lee-Mitchell*
Susan Feder
Tovah Feldshuh & Andrew Levy
Tanya Fernando
Laura Flanders
Joy A. Flynt
Donald G. Fornof
Neil Fox
Ian Friedman
Vivian & Paul Friedman
Viola Fulton
Neil Gaiman
Alex Gansa
Edward L. Gefner
Stuart Gelwarg
Dolores Day Gilliard
Lyn Godley
Arlene Gooding
Indira Goodwine-Josias
Todd Gordon
Porsha Grant
Elaine L. Greene
Steve Greer
Laura Greer
Michael Greif
Agnes Gund
Sharon Hall
Yvonne Hall
Eugene & Nora Hamond
Jody Harrow
John Haworth
Patrick Heaphy
Ruth & Stephen Hendel
Leon Henderson
Robert Hill
Navasha Hill
Hallie Hobson
Kinshasha Holman Conwill
William Holtzman
Winnie Holzman
Debra James
Ginger Johnson
Melissa Jones
Edward L. Jones
John Josephson & Carolina Zapf
Jenette Kahn* & Al Williams
Jeanette Kastenberg
Michael Kenny
James King
Steven Kirkpatrick
Laurie Klatscher
Daniel Klaus
Tim Knowling
Juan Lara
Brad Learmonth & Jon
Gilman
Kenneth Lee
Kenny Leon
Karen & Danny Lerner
Paul Levitz & Jeanette Cusimano
Loida N. Lewis
Jim & Beth Lewis and Family
Yang Li
Jeanine Liburd
Todd London
Mino Lora
Carey Lovelace
Contstance Maitland
Channing Martin*
Lucinda Martinez
Richard Massey
Gay McDougall
Kevin McNeal
Sherman & Chris Meloni
Linda Meresman
John Metzner
Elizabeth Minnich & Si Kahn
Bonnie J. Monte
Colin Montgomery
Justin Garrett Moore
Carol Wood Moore
Alexis Moore
Iona Morris Jackson
Matthew Morrison
Michael Mosley
Kelly Myers
Lynn Nottage
David O’Brien
Cynthia Oliver
Courtney O’Malley
Dan Osheyack
Gina Paige
Estelle Parsons
Richard D. Parsons
Marguerite Pitts
Will Pitts
Lisa G. Podulka
Stan Ponte
Jamila Ponton Bragg* & Alvin Bragg
John & Maxine Potts
Michelle Potts
Terri Prettyman Bowles
Ben Reese
Adaa Reyes
Diana Richardson
Adam Richman
Dee Dee Ricks
Rebecca Robertson* & Byron Knief
Verdery Roosevelt
Golda Rosheuvel
Gretchen Rubin
Judy Rubin
Tyhessia Salgado Perez
Kathryn Shattuck
Robinregina Shaw
Michelle Shay
Stefanie Siegel
Barbara Simino
Catherine Slade
Kenneth Small
Fran Smith
Ted Snowdon & Dufy Violante
Cleveland Solomon
Michael Sommerfeld
Jason & Beth Spector
Devon Sprunk
Kenneth Stallings
Grace Stanislaus
Elizabeth Streb
Carol Strom
Hiroko Takada
Mark Thomas*
Michelle Thornhill
Teri & Lloyd Trotter
Tamara Tunie*
Melissa Vander Plaats
Reginald Van Lee
Deborah Velazquez
Blair Washington*
Jason Watt
Erica Webber
Theis Weckesser
Carrie Mae Weems
Fran & Barry Weissler
Charles Whelan
Cherl Williams
Naina Williams
Greg Williamson
Michael Young*
*Board Members
The above list refects gifts received between July 1, 2023 and September 19, 2024. If your name has been omitted or misprinted, please accept our apologies and contact Development Manager, Julianna Friedman at jfriedman@harlemstage.org
