Springboard To Design Honored As A Finalist For The 6th Annual Anthem Awards

NEW YORK –– Springboard to Design announced today that it has been named a Finalist in two categories: Advocacy & Support in Belonging & Inclusion and Community Engagement in Belonging & Inclusion in The 6th Annual Anthem Awards.

Public voting is now open in both categories through Thursday, October 29. Supporters can cast their votes for Springboard to Design in the following categories:

• Advocacy & Support
• Community Engagement

Anthem Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Judges for the 6th Annual Anthem Awards include an esteemed panel of leaders from leading organizations and companies dedicated to social impact, including Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association, Heather Malenshek, CMO, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Award-Winning Actor & LGBTQ+ Advocate, Patrice Duckworth, Chief Inclusion Officer, Johnson & Johnson, Fatima Graves, President & CEO, National Women’s Law Center, Justina Nixon-Saintil, Vice President & Global Chief Impact Officer, IBM, and many others.

“We’re thrilled to see the impact sector bounce back, share their stories, and expand their impact after a challenging year last year,” said Anthem Awards General Manager, Patricia McLoughlin. “This year’s Finalists are truly setting the standard for how to advocate for a cause, inspire action, create impact, and overall make this world a better place.”

Springboard to Design (SB2D) is a tuition-free theater design mentorship and equity initiative that expands access to careers in theater design for students from underrepresented communities. Founded by Design Action and led by Tony Award-winning designers Clint Ramos and David Zinn, the program provides hands-on training, mentorship, and professional development across disciplines including scenic, costume, lighting, projection, sound, props, wigs, and production design. Through its commitment to equity and inclusion, Springboard to Design works to ensure that the next generation of theater artists reflects the diversity of the communities whose stories they bring to life.

“We’re honored that Springboard to Design has been recognized by The Anthem Awards for our commitment to expanding access and creating a more inclusive future for theater. Talent is everywhere, but access to opportunity is not. Through mentorship, hands-on training, and meaningful connections to the professional theater community, we’re working to ensure that emerging designers from underrepresented backgrounds have the tools, resources, and support to see themselves in this industry and shape its future. This recognition reinforces why that work matters,” said Clint Ramos and David Zinn in a joint statement.

Alongside the Finalist Announcement comes the launch of Anthem Community Voice in Partnership with NationBuilder, an annual voting campaign and celebration to uplift the work of Anthem Finalists.

Supporters can celebrate Springboard to Design’s work online from October 13th to October 29th at celebrate.anthemawards.com. All Finalists are also in the running to win a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Anthem Award selected by Anthem judges. All Winners for the 6th Annual Anthem Awards will be announced on November 5, 2026.

ABOUT DESIGN ACTION

Design Action is an intergenerational coalition of BIPOC and white designers working to end racial inequities in the North American Theater by confronting racism in our workplace and forging new pathways into the industry for rising designers of color.

ABOUT CO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CLINT RAMOS

Clint Ramos is a Tony Award-winning creative director, designer, and producer. Most recently, he designed costumes for The Metropolitan Opera’s sold-out production of Tristan und Isolde. He produced Theater Group Asia’s sold-out productions of The Notebook, Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, starring Lea Salonga, Arielle Jacobs, with both productions featuring a cast of Filipinos and Filipino Americans. Ramos serves as the Visual Director for Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City, where he reimagines the entire Lincoln Center campus each summer into a vibrant stage for more than 300 events that serve New York City’s diverse communities. He also serves as

Artist-in-Residence at Lincoln Center.

Ramos is currently a lead producer on Slanted Floors, and previously was lead producer of the groundbreaking Broadway musical Here Lies Love, and is currently the Producing Creative Director for Encores! at New York City Center. As a designer, Ramos has created over 200 productions across theater, opera, and dance. His Broadway credits include Maybe Happy Ending, Eureka Day, Here Lies Love, KPOP and Slave Play.

ABOUT CO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DAVID ZINN

Recent work on Broadway includes scenery for: Liberation, The Last 5 Years, Stereophonic, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Notebook, Kimberly Akimbo, Funny Girl and The Humans; scenery and costumes for Boys in the Band, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Fun Home, and costume design for Enemy of the People and A Doll’s House Part 2. Off-Broadway: Playwright’s Horizons, The Shed, Roundabout, MTC, NYTW, Lincoln Center Theater, 2nd Stage, and The Public. Also: A.C.T., A.R.T, Berkeley Rep, Pasadena Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, and Steppenwolf. In London, he recently opened Here We Are at the National (set and costume design) and Stereophonic at the Duke of York’s. In Europe, he designed sets and costumes for the Berlin Staatsoper and at Theater Basel.

Zinn has received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critic’s Circle, Hewes and Obie Awards for his work.

ABOUT THE ANTHEM AWARDS:

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards recognizes impactful brands, nonprofits, and individuals that are setting the standard for good worldwide. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Belonging & Inclusion; Education, Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Sustainability, Environment & Climate; and Technology. This season’s partners and sponsors include NationBuilder, Sustainable Brands, NationSwell, The Bloom, the Social Innovation Summit and The Nonprofit Alliance. The Awards were founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, GLAAD, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.

ABOUT THE WEBBY AWARDS:

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites and Mobile Sites; Video & Film; Advertising, Media & PR; Apps, Software & Immersive; Social; Podcasts; Games; Creators and AI. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and over 70 countries worldwide this year. The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include Adobe, WP Engine, Patreon, ElevenLabs, Framer, Meta, NAACP, KPMG, The Wall Street Journal, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, SXSW, The Podcast Show, and Authentic.