Emmy-winning actress Kerry Washington, who received the Equity in Entertainment award last year, took the stage to announce the final two $1 million scholarships to high school students from underserved communities across Los Angeles. The scholarships were handed out to participants in THR's mentorship program, a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles.
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00:00I am really excited to be here, to return to this stage at this event to celebrate the
00:08graduates of the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program.
00:14I just want to say, and I've said this at this event before, I just want every single
00:18one of you to know that you are a winner.
00:20I want every single one of you to know that truly, that we are so honored to be in a room
00:28with you, and I want you to take that and put it in your heart for the rest of your
00:31career.
00:32If you ever have a moment where you walk into a room and you feel like you don't belong,
00:36remember this moment, because you are the guests of honor.
00:39You belong in every room that you wind up in.
00:41That's why you're there.
00:42Okay, so last year, it was my enormous honor to accept the Equity in Entertainment Award
00:52this year.
00:53Congratulations, Selena.
00:54I did not have a billion dollars when I accepted it, so amazing.
01:00I'm so honored to be in your company.
01:04I also, if you'll forgive me, I just want to make a tiny correction, and I hope you'll
01:09forgive me, Joe, but I think it's important to say this.
01:12The woman sitting next to me is actually not my mom.
01:16So the woman sitting next to me, and it's an easy confusion to make, because last year
01:19when I was here getting the award, my mom was here, and my aunt was here, and the woman
01:22sitting next to me, her name is Katherine Atkinson.
01:25She's an extraordinary manager, and I want to mention it in particular in this room because
01:31she's been my manager for 35 years.
01:35There is so much power in partnership between women in this business, so I just want to
01:43put that out there.
01:45Stick with the people who have your back.
01:47Okay, before I announce our winners of the last two scholarships, I want to thank the
01:52organizers and donors whose shared mission makes this mentorship and scholarship program
01:56possible.
01:57I am thrilled, maybe that's not even a big enough word, I am exploding with pride to
02:03share that the Royble School of Film and Television Magnet, where I am on the advisory board,
02:08has joined as a new partnership school of the mentorship program to create a path for
02:12Royble students to become future mentees.
02:16For the first time, Royble students are included in the new class of mentees whose journey
02:22begins today.
02:23So thank you to Royble.
02:25For those of you who don't know, we founded Royble in 2021.
02:29The mission of the school here in Los Angeles is to build a more inclusive pipeline of historically
02:34underrepresented kids who are both college and career ready and interested in film and
02:39television industries.
02:40So basically we founded a school so that we could help people who will hire us one day.
02:47We are basically like a performing arts high school for all the arts that live behind the
02:51scenes and our students are extraordinary.
02:53Also, for the third consecutive year, the Best Buy team and CEO Corey Berry have launched
03:01a partnership with the mentorship program that will give mentees access to their Los
03:06Angeles community impact hub, a network of 12 teen tech centers, including locations
03:13in South LA, Koreatown, and East LA that provide access to cutting edge technology and career
03:19exploration opportunities within the creative economy.
03:23The teen tech centers are filled with teens who want to succeed and the mentorship program
03:30will be open to those motivated members annually, creating again a pipeline for future mentees
03:36for the Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program.
03:39I need to also shout out the Golden Globe Foundation for continuing their generous support
03:45with a multi-year grant of $50,000 annually through 2025, maybe we do even longer next
03:53year, to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles to support the mentorship program's
03:57general scholarship fund.
03:59Thank you so much.
04:01All of this support and scholarship funding changes lives, but also costs a lot of money
04:06to operate this program, 365 days a year.
04:11So also, it's a lot of thank yous, because it takes a lot of people to make this work.
04:16The Hollywood Reporter is thrilled to announce that WME is generously contributing $75,000
04:22to support the essential operational expenses of the mentorship program, including program
04:28management by EIF and Big Brothers Big Sisters, transportation for the mentees, college test
04:34prep, college admissions, and financial aid counseling, and more.
04:40Okay, now I think we should announce another winner, yeah?
04:45Remember you're all winners, but yeah, okay.
04:47So this scholarship to Chapman University is provided by the National Association of
04:52Theater Owners of California and Nevada.
04:54Thank you to Todd, is it Vadenberg or Vandenberg, Vradenberg, that's how you say his name, put
05:08some respect on his name.
05:11But also, let's not assume that the only harder names to pronounce are the other ones.
05:18So okay, and board member, Lyndon Golan, for providing a scholarship for the past three
05:23consecutive years.
05:25I'd like the scholarship winner and her mentee to join me on stage when I say her name, not
05:29before.
05:34And it is Kenya McCoy of City Honors High School.
05:45Hello everybody.
05:48I was twisting my shawl over there because I didn't know I was going to be up here.
05:52But I'd like to say thank you to my family, especially to Carrie, Alma, Big Brothers Big
05:58Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, and also the Hollywood Reporter, and anyone who funded
06:05this award, and also my friend Nathalia, and my friends at school, and I'm really nervous,
06:13that's all I have to say.
06:17Thank you to writer and executive producer Melissa Blake, who is also an LMU alum, for
06:23her incredible generosity in creating this new scholarship for Loyola Marymount University.
06:29The last scholarship we are giving out today goes to...
06:34Can I get a drum roll?
06:38That was exciting.
06:42Brianna Calderon from Amina Watts High School.
06:47Brianna!
07:17Can everyone hear me?
07:20Okay.
07:22Just like everyone else, I'm feeling pretty nervous, but I want to say it's such an honor
07:27to be able to be one of the recipients of the scholarship.
07:32I want to say thank you to the Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program for being able to give
07:39these type of opportunities for us women.
07:45I want to say thank you to Alma, specifically from Big Brothers Big Sisters, Greater LA.
07:53She's been the best coordinator.
07:57She's always showing support, not just for myself, but for the rest of the cohort.
08:03And I want to also say thank you to the Hollywood Reporter for being able to help us out with this.
08:09I want to say thank you to LMU, of course, for giving me this amazing opportunity.
08:17I've always wanted to be able to, I guess, sorry, to pursue a career where it allows
08:28me to be able to share stories.
08:31That's what I really want to do.
08:33I want to share stories that inspire many people that have been in my shoes, and I want
08:40to be able to inspire the world.
08:42So I want to thank you all.
08:44I want to thank my family, my hardworking dad, my sister, and my brothers for having
08:50sacrificed a lot.
08:52I just want to let them know that every step I take, it's because of them.
09:02Every step.
09:11That's it for me.
09:13Thank you all for being here.
09:14Thank you for being here for us.