Most Tony Awards honor what happens on stage. One honors what theatre people do off it. The Isabelle Stevenson Award recognizes members of the theatre community for their charitable and humanitarian work, and it says a lot about what Broadway values.
The Isabelle Stevenson Award is a special Tony Award given to a member of the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort to one or more humanitarian, social service, or charitable organizations. The cause doesn't have to be related to theatre.
It was announced in October 2008 and first presented at the 2009 Tony Awards.
Isabelle Stevenson led the American Theatre Wing for decades, as president and later as chair, until her death in 2003. She was closely associated with the Tony Awards and expanded the Wing's education and outreach work. We profiled her and other founders in The Women Who Built Broadway's Charities.
The Isabelle Stevenson Award isn't voted on by the full Tony voting pool. The recipient is selected by the Tony Awards Administration Committee and announced ahead of the ceremony, alongside other special awards. Here's how the competitive Tony categories are decided.
The first recipient, in 2009, was actress Phyllis Newman, honored for her work supporting women's health in the entertainment community. Recent recipients include Billy Porter in 2024 and Celia Keenan-Bolger in 2025. In April 2026, the Tony Awards announced that music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell would receive the 2026 award, recognizing work that includes her long involvement with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and MAESTRA, which supports women and nonbinary musicians in theatre.
The Stevenson Award is a public statement that service is part of a theatre career, not separate from it. It connects to a long tradition, from wartime canteens to the red bucket, that we trace in our history of Broadway activism.
Broadway for Democracy grows out of the same idea: theatre people can use their time and visibility for something bigger than any one show. Our cause is civic participation, and we're nonpartisan. See how we fit with the rest of the field in our guide to Broadway nonprofits.
Yes. It's a special Tony Award presented as part of the Tony Awards.
It was announced in 2008 and first presented in 2009.
No. The award honors humanitarian, social service, or charitable work of any kind.
Mary-Mitchell Campbell was announced as the 2026 recipient.
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