Mission
Since 2012, Broadway For All (BFA) has been on a mission to make Broadway truly for ALL.
Broadway For All is a Manhattan-based national organization that equips young artists and professionals with the programming, community, and vision to build a more systemically healthier and powerful arts industry.
What We Do
Our programs provide the resources and opportunities for ALL with the ultimate goal of building a systemically healthier arts industry.
Through BFA’s programming, artists of all ages from disparate socio-economic and cultural backgrounds–who were designed not to meet–are brought together to train with the industry’s best. As one community, they collaborate, connect and grow as artists who are impassioned to create meaningful change in the industry and the world at large.
How we do it
Our flagship 4-week Summer Conservatory brings together students who, because of their socio-economic, racial, or zip code statuses, were designed not to meet. Over 350 students have received training with professional artists and industry leaders to advance their skills in: Drama, Musical Theatre, Dramatic Writing, Musical Theatre Writing and TV/Film Production.
After the Conservatory, BFA alums can utilize BFA 365, a program that helps with coaching and prepping our alumni applying to arts high schools, colleges and auditions.
The House programs:
Our House Lab Production program focuses on bringing together seasoned professionals, Broadway for All alums, and artists from the local community to present new works by heretofore unproduced playwrights.
Our Front Door Reading Series program welcomes new and established playwrights to have their works read AND gives BFA alums the opportunity to showcase their skills in a professional setting.
Access For All provides access to historically excluded communities to experience live theater and other performances to help them connect and be inspired by the artform.
Core Values
In all of our programming we strive to keep our Core Values and encourage our artists to take these ideas with them after they leave BFA. They are:
Compassion ● Professionalism ● Artistry
Accountability ● Possibility
We lead by a philosophy that these values, plus opportunity, are the key to success not just in the entertainment industry, but anywhere.
Meet The Team
Osh Ashruf
Founder & Artistic Director
Belle Goodman
Development Associate
Patch Canada
Interim Executive Director
Luka Kain
Marketing Associate
Nick Turturro
Director of Marketing
Ella Martin
Project Assistant
GLOBAL ARTIST CITIZENS
Our artists are uplifted and going places
You’ll find our alums on Broadway and national tours in shows like The King and I, Matilda, and Finding Neverland, Showtime’s Billions, Elf at Papermill Playhouse
● 60% of our artists go on to careers in theatre and film
● 90% of our artists get into a high school or college of their choice
Our alums have been accepted to Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Brown, Columbia, SUNY Purchase, Princeton, PACE, PPAS, LA!, Talent Unlimited High School and many more.
Broadway For All Honorees
BFA Founding Hero Award Winner
Fred Zollo
BFA Core Values Award Winners
Kristolyn Lloyd
Jana Shea
Heidi Schreck
Board of Directors
Shoshana Fisher, Chair
Kimberly Murdaugh
Sudha Ramkumar, Treasurer
Maximillian Sugiura, Secretary
Osh Ashruf
Advisory Board
Chris Ashley
Teach For America
Keith Beauchamp
Filmmaker (TILL, the film) & Activist
Carly Callahan
The United Theatre
David Cromer
Director & Actor
Jennifer Friedland
Clear Day Productions
Kelley Girod
Apollo Theater/The Fire This Time Fest
Tracie Hall
American Library Association
Jack Lane
Producer
Kristolyn Lloyd
Actor & Director
Ayanna Prescod
Situation
Ciara Renée
Actor
Susan Rose
Rose Productions
Charlene Rue
Brooklyn Public Library
Tony Shalhoub
Actor
Jana Shea
Seaview, Broadstream
Schele Williams
Director
Kristen Wolf
Author and Filmmaker
Fred Zollo
Frederick Zollo Co.
History
Broadway For All (BFA) began its life as a project of Harvard University’s Presidential Public Service Fellowship in 2012 with the goal of increasing the diversity of the American stage and screen to reflect the diversity of America. To achieve this goal, founder Osh Ashruf (Ghanimah) created a 6-week summer conservatory in New York City taught by working professionals in NYC’s theater and film world that brought together arts students from all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. So that no student was turned away for financial reasons, this conservatory was provided to all students at no cost, no matter their background.
After that first conservatory, the families of our students banded together to raise the necessary funds to allow us to return for the next summer. Subsequently, BFA has held a summer conservatory every year while remaining entirely donor-funded.
Since our beginning, we have broadened our scope to become an organization and a movement centralized around radical inclusivity and diversity. In striving towards that goal, we provide opportunities for performing arts experiences that bring together young artists from different backgrounds to share their passion with each other.
With recent efforts, we’ve expanded beyond our conservatory with two new initiatives: BFA 365 and Access For All. Through BFA 365, we provide one-on-one coaching sessions to aspiring young artists to prepare them for performing arts high school and college conservatory auditions. This program is designed to level the playing field for students who cannot access expensive audition coaches. Access For All is a ticket distribution initiative and our fastest growing program. Our Access For All partnerships with Broadway producers have sent over a thousand students to their first shows including Be More Chill, The Prom, and Moulin Rouge!.
As our programs strive to shape artists that are as compassionate as they are talented, we could not be more excited for what the future holds for Broadway For All. Looking ahead, we are growing beyond New York City, with Access For All partnerships and conservatories in other U.S. cities, to bring access to world-class training and professional theater to even more students.