NEW YORK – Springboard to Design announced today that it has won Gold in Community Engagement and Silver in LGBTQ+ Advocacy & Support in The 6th Annual Anthem Awards.
Anthem Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Judges for the 6th Annual Anthem Awards include Heather Elliott, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, National 4-H Council; Angie Lawry, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Colorectal Cancer Alliance; Shelby Georgis, CCO, HLK; Max Friedman, Co-Founder & CEO, Givebutter; Heather Malenshek, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Alex Schmider, Senior Director of Entertainment, GLAAD; Elizabeth Gray, Chief Executive Officer, National Audubon Society; Aurelia Figueroa, Chief Sustainability Officer, Breitling; Jonathan Adashek, SVP, Chief Global Affairs Officer, IBM; Megan Ranney, Dean, Yale School of Public Health; Mariko Silver, President and CEO, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; Gwynne Gauntlett Global Lead, Digital Giving + Engagement, United Nations Development Programme; Thiago Elias, EVP, Executive Director of Design, Edelman; Alexandra Gordon, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Acumen; among others.
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.
This year's Springboard to Design application cycle attracted more than 4,500 applicants from over 70 countries across six continents, as well as all 50 U.S. states and multiple U.S.territories. The summer cohort consisted of 18 students representing 4 countries and 10 U.S. states. The program was supported by 35 industry mentors and guest artists.
The Springboard to Design program included 14 sessions such as Intro to Design Disciplines, Model Box Creation, Advocating for Yourself, Costume, Light, Sound, Props, and Projection workshops, as well as early career and post-high-school conversations. Highlights featured widespread student interest sparked during the props workshop and wig shop tour.
What families saw when students came home from the Springboard to Design program (rated on a 1-10 scale by parents/guardians): Increase in Confidence: 9.1; Sense of Belonging: 9.5; Excitement For a Future in the Arts: 9.5.
“The work of social impact doesn’t pause when conditions get harder, and this year’s Anthem Winners proved it,” said Anthem Awards General Manager, Patricia McLoughlin. “Facing new challenges, they kept building, kept organizing, and kept delivering for the people and causes they serve. They set a new standard for good, one defined as much by persistence as by results.”
The 6th Annual Anthem Awards received more than 2,500 submissions from 43 countries worldwide, the organization’s largest competition to date. The Anthem Awards are recognizing the work that is setting the standard for good worldwide.
“We’re incredibly proud that Springboard to Design has been recognized by The Anthem Awards with wins in both LGBTQ+ Advocacy & Support and Community Engagement. This recognition is a testament to the importance of creating meaningful pathways into the theater industry for emerging designers from underrepresented communities. Talent is everywhere, but access to opportunity is not. Through mentorship, hands-on training, and connections to the professional theater community, we’re working to change that and ensure the next generation of theater designers and makers have the resources, support, and opportunities to shape the future of our industry. We’re grateful to The Anthem Awards for recognizing this work and the community that makes it possible,” said David Zinn and Clint Ramos, Co-Artistic Directors of Springboard to Design.
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.