Elz Cuya Jones Named Broadway Advocacy Coalition Executive Director 

The Tony Award-winning non-profit Broadway Advocacy Coalition has announced that Elz Cuya Jones, who is currently serving as Managing Director of Special Campaigns for North Star Fund, has been named Executive Director of BAC. Ms. Jones will join the award-winning organization beginning September 23, 2024.

"I believe that storytelling is our greatest power, which is why I am thrilled to join the team at Broadway Advocacy Coalition,” said Jones. “At BAC, artists and activists create a culture that values our communities, encourages dialogue and activates our empathy. I won't remember every detail of a 76- page policy paper, but I will never forget a young person's poem about her parents' immigration, or a letter written by an incarcerated elder, or the song of a mother whose son was murdered by the police—because those stories didn't just raise my awareness, they moved me to act." 

“We are excited to have Elz Cuya Jones as the new Executive Director for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition,” said Richard Gray, Chair of the BAC Board of Directors. “Elz comes to BAC with a tremendous range of leadership capacities and experiences and, most importantly, a new energy and vision of transformational change that will lovingly challenge us to seek new ways for our work to grow and have greater impact. “ 

"Seven years of working with Robb Nanus, our first Executive Director of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, gave us great success and laid a strong foundation, preparing us for the opportunity to partner with a leader like Elz,” said Britton Smith, President and Artistic Director of BAC. “Her unwavering commitment to equity and the intersection of arts and advocacy is evident in both her expertise and her impressive history in ethical fundraising and leadership. Elz's vibrant vision and passion for our next phase are the driving forces we need to guide us through our next step of growth. I couldn't be more excited for what lies ahead with her leadership." 

Elz Cuya Jones is a storyteller, fundraiser, and mother with 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership. Before joining Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Elz led the all-women of color development team at North Star Fund, a community foundation that supports grassroots organizing for social justice movements in New York. Today, she serves as Vice Chair of Advocacy Institute, an organization that supports the legislative and policy work of community leaders working for equity and justice.

Over the span of her career, Elz's highest and most humbling honor has been fundraising for the Let Us Breathe Fund, the only New York-based fund led by and for Black activists organizing for Black liberation. The fund started in 2015 following the death of Eric Garner and has since made over $5 million in grants to Black-led organizations fighting police violence and structural racism.

Prior to working in the nonprofit sector, Elz spent a decade in the newsroom. There she witnessed the magical power of storytelling which later drove her communications and development strategies at Harlem RBI (now DREAM), Women's Project (now WP Theater), Hip-Hop Theater Festival (now Hi-Arts) and Youth Speaks. Working in several arts organizations repeatedly affirmed Elz's belief that art is essential. She has seen firsthand how art mobilizes marginalized communities and how culture paves the way for political change—both of which make her move to BAC feel like an inspired return home.

Born to immigrant Filipino parents in the San Francisco Bay Area, Elz earned her Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications at the University of California, Berkeley, and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Nonfiction at Hunter College.

Elz is obsessed with the theater, documentary films, and finding the perfect postage stamp. She lives in Manhattan with her son Bolden, incandescent and enchanting, to whom she dedicates every move and every breath.

Founded in 2016, BAC's mission is to use arts and storytelling to build a more equitable society —and build the collective capacity of individuals, organizations, and coalitions to do the same. In 2021, BAC received a Special Tony Award for providing an unparalleled platform for underrepresented members of the theater community and tools to help the theater industry move toward a more equitable future.

This fall, Broadway Advocacy Coalition will present its annual gala, The Artivism Ball, which will be held on Monday, October 14, 2024 and will celebrate the Emmy-winning and Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Tony-nominated actor, playwright, and director Colman Domingo, and Co-Executive Director of the New York State Alliance for Quality Education Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari. Zhailon Levingston (CATS: The Jellicle Ball), who serves on BAC's Board of Directors, will serve as Director of the Gala Program. 

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

Tickets to Broadway Advocacy Coalition's Artivism Ball can be purchased at ArtivismBall.com. To learn more about BAC, visit their website at www.bwayadvocacycoalition.org.