Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s Annual Gala will honor Colman Domingo and Zakiyah Shaakir-ansari

The Tony Award-winning nonprofit Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC) has announced that its annual gala, the Artivism Ball, will be held on Monday, October 14, 2024, at 583 Park Avenue. This year's gala will honor Emmy-winning and Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony-nominated actor, playwright and director Colman Domingo and New York State Alliance for Quality Education co-executive director Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari. Zhailon Levingston (CATS: The Jellicle Ball), who sits on the BAC board of directors, will serve as gala programming director.

The evening will feature live performances from BAC's past and future while honoring individuals who have been instrumental in the organization's growth and the advancement of arts funding across the country. The event is a pivotal moment for BAC to celebrate its mission to create a more just and equitable world through the power of storytelling and to raise funds to support the organization's ongoing mission to support and empower artist-activists on Broadway and beyond.

BAC President Britton Smith shared, “The work Colman Domingo is doing as producer and star of the A24 film Sing Sing, which highlights the Rehabilitation for The Arts program in prisons, is a great example of what BAC believes is possible when artists use their platform to tell stories that go largely unnoticed. Narrative change will impact culture, and culture will change policies that impact many people's lives. We are honored to recognize Colman and thank him for his long journey as an artist who will be remembered as a voice of liberation and impact beyond stage and screen.”

“Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari and the Alliance for Quality Education are an example of how to fight for the rights of Black and Brown students in New York with grace, rigor, spirit, and diligence. We honor Zakiyah for bringing the masses a deeper understanding of what is possible when we truly care about the rights of our students, and we stand with countless parents and advocates who have witnessed her transformative leadership in this area.”

“As an organization, BAC has evolved over the past year, so the theme of this year's Artivism Ball is reintroduction. We are excited to unveil our newest program, which draws on our founding promise to activate theater artists as agents of change, and to spotlight the new staff and leadership team members who have led these initiatives. As we learned from last year's Inaugural Ball, the gala provides us with an opportunity to come together with our larger community… and dance!”

Tickets for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition's Artivism Ball can be purchased at ArtivismBall.com. For more information about BAC, visit their website at www.bwayadvocacycoalition.org.

Founded in 2016, BAC is on a mission to use art and storytelling to build a more equitable society—and to strengthen the collective capacity of individuals, organizations, and coalitions to do the same. In 2021, BAC received a Special Tony Award for providing an unprecedented platform for underrepresented members of the theater.r community and tools to help the theatre industry move towards a more equitable future.