STORY CHANGERS AWARD
2024 Winner
ARTISTS HEAL®
ARTISTS HEAL® is committed to creating healing and care spaces for collaborative art-making and serving the thriving arts and culture sector nationally. The vision is to reimagine a design for creating that supports the holistic wellness and well-being of artists, creators, and art consumers. Through the development of practical and accessible tools, ARTISTS HEAL® serves artistic communities through programming, workshops, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility consultation, and community development. Noelle Diane Johnson, founder, has led workshops in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and beyond. She has been a featured presenter at major conferences like Theater Communications Group, which serves over 700 member theaters and affiliate organizations and over 7,000 individual members nationwide. She has also presented at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in 2023. The Artists Heal Method has led to the implementation of new policy in theater organizations and educational institutions all over the tri-state area, and has inspired many artists to examine the way they approach their practice. Learn more at artistsheal.org
The story Changers Award is an annual award honoring an outstanding woman/femme/trans/non-binary leader or leaders who exemplifies the mission, vision and values of Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival (PWTF) through their words, actions and contributions to the Philadelphia Theatre community and beyond.
It is our goal to honor women exhibiting “who we wish to be when we grow up” (no matter how old or experienced we become ourselves). We strive to be leaders and initiators who create opportunities for women, giving a voice to their stories and providing a community that celebrates the creativity of women and their contributions to the larger society.
Winners of the Story Changers award posses these qualities: Leadership, Inspiration, Mentorship, Creativity, Achievement, Support, Partnership, Ingenuity & Passion
Previous Winners
Artistic Honorees - For outstanding leadership and empowering women in the arts in Philadelphia
Social Justice Honorees - For outstanding community leadership and for empowering women to change the story in the city of Philadelphia
2023
Betty Smithsonian (she/her), Best of Philly Up and Coming Comedian 2019. She is a comic, creator, performer, entertainer and award winning goof. She can be found telling jokes, parading in the streets, confidently speaking on topics she barely understands, and creating stages and spaces for lots of people all over the land. She was once named in the New York Times as a ‘freelance clown.’ She’s on stage regularly at Punchline and throughout the Philadelphia area. She can host your fundraiser, corporate event and/or seder. Her comedy has been described as high energy, life changing, authentic. She is the Co-founder of Free Fringe Philly, a cast member on The N Crowd, and an award winning short form improv comedy.
2022
LaNeshe Miller-White is the Executive Director of Theatre Philadelphia, an umbrella organization that celebrates, and promotes the Philadelphia region's diverse and growing theatre community. She is a cultural producer, actress, and marketer, serving as the Marketing Manager for Painted Bride Art Center for over 10 years. She believes in using art for social change and is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Theatre in the X, a West Philadelphia based theater company that produces accessible theater productions for Black audiences and provides opportunities for Black artists.
2021
No More Secrets MBS's mission is to decrease uterine care and menstrual health disparities in underserved communities through the eradication of societal stigmas and propagation of resources and scientifically based information.
2020
Jamie R. Gauthier
Kendra Brooks
Katherine Gilmore Richardson
Helen Gym
2019
Parent Artist Advocacy League for Arts + Media (PAAL) is a national community, resource hub, and solutions generator for individuals with caregiver responsibilities and institutions who strive to support them.
2018
Keila Cordova is a Philadelphia-based dance-maker, performer and writer. She creates original dance theatre works for her company, 3 Pony Show. Past evening-length dances include KITH , Linear Default, As Pretty Does and Volcano, My Love, As Pretty Does, Agnes Falling, Gold and Janet 2.0 and Mamibaile.
Her works have been performed at numerous festivals, including – the Philadelphia Fringe, newMoves Contemporary Dance (Pittsburgh, PA), E-Moves (Harlem Stage), Around the Coyote (Chicago), Dixon Place’s Moving Men (NY), Celebrate Dance (San Diego, CA), HERE Arts Center/Lincoln Center’s American Living Room, Boogie Down Dance (Bronx), D.U.M.B.O Arts (Brooklyn), Sweat Modern Dance (Hoboken, NJ), Toronto Fringe - as well as Judson Church (NY), BAAD! (Bronx Academy of Art & Dance) and Outlet Dance Project at the Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton, NJ).
2017
WOAR is the oldest and largest rape crisis center in the state of Pennsylvania. WOAR serves the Philadelphia community. Sexual violence thrives in a society rooted in systemic oppression. WOAR’s mission is to eliminate all forms of sexual violence through specialized treatment services, comprehensive prevention education programs, and advocacy for the rights of victims of sexual assault. To accomplish this mission, we fight all forms of oppression including racism and gender-based violence.
2016
Joanna Settle is an award-winning director and arts educator based in Abu Dhabi. Settle is known for creating and curating contemporary performance across multiple disciplines: opera, theater, performance art, cabaret and installation. Her work and her teaching pedagogy approach performance making as a method of inquiry.
2015
Jennifer Childs is a Co-Founder of 1812 Productions and has served as the company's sole Artistic Director since 2006. For 1812 she has created over 20 original works of comedic theater including The Carols, To the Moon, It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project, Cherry Bomb and the annual political humor show, This Is The Week That Is. She created a series of shows that looks at comedy history which enabled her to develop relationships with and perform the work of pioneering comedians such as Phyllis Diller, Tom Lehrer, Sid Caesar, Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory, Bob Elliot, Steve Martin, Bob Newhart and others.