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Announcing BD Wong as the 2020 NGLA Annual Conference Saturday Closing Keynote!
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NGLA is excited to announce BD Wong as our Saturday Closing Keynote for the 2020 NGLA Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD from February 27 – March 1, 2020. His presentation will be after the Closing Banquet on Saturday, February 29, 2020 from 7:30pm - 9:00pm.
Start getting ready! Register, reserve your hotel room, and apply for student staff roles, scholarships, and awards today!
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ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE: FROM EXCLUSION TO INCLUSION presented by BD Wong
The lessons BD Wong has learned in order to survive and excel in a vocation fraught with rejection, stereotyping and racism have given him a keen perspective on the subject of diversity and forced him to empower himself. In this presentation, infused with humor, storytelling and the passion of a world class artist, BD addresses the issues of racial self-image, race-based rejection, Asian-American parental pressure and the “model minority myth,” and he describes his journey as a gay man in the entertainment industry. Retracing his path from adolescent racial self-hatred to eventual self-acceptance, from struggling with inequity to breaking down barriers in his personal and professional lives and embracing his multiple identities, including fatherhood, BD reveals the man behind the roles.
Sponsored by Justin Inspires.
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Presenter Biography:
BD WONG
Actor and Activist
Award-winning actor BD Wong is one of America’s most versatile performers. BD has been on screens big and small for the last 20 years, appearing in such hits as Law & Order: SVU, Oz, Gotham, Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World. He received an Emmy nomination for his role as whiterose and Minister Zhang in USA's Mr. Robot.
BD’s experiences in an industry fraught with rejection, typecasting, and racism have given him a sharp perspective on the subject of diversity. Lauded for his resonant and inspirational messages, BD speaks on issues like racial self-image, Asian-American parental pressure and the “model-minority myth,” and the challenges of multiple identities.
His Broadway debut in M. Butterfly earned him a Tony Award, Outer Critic’s Circle Award, Theatre World Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Drama Desk Award, making him the only actor to ever win all five major New York theater awards for a single role.
With over 20 film credits, his notable appearances include Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Father of the Bride I & II, Disney’s Mulan, and the HBO adaptation of The Normal Heart. In addition to off-Broadway and regional theater work, he starred in the widely celebrated Broadway revival of the musical You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, and 2018's The Great Leap.
BD’s memoir, Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man, recounts the highs and lows that BD and his former partner endured on the road to parenthood, and the difficult days following the premature birth of his twin boys via surrogate mother. The White House invited BD to participate in a conversation on fatherhood and male mentorship.
Winner of the GLAAD Davidson/Valenti award, BD is an advocate for The Trevor Project's “It Gets Better” campaign and was honored for his support of the LGBT community at the annual Marriage Equality Gala. BD is on the Board of Directors of Rosie’s Kids, an organization that provides free performing arts classes to public school students.
BD has headlined productions of the ambitious one-man musical Herringbone – in which he plays nearly a dozen characters — at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. He co-authored and directed the musical adaptation of Mr. Holland’s Opus at the Ogunquit Playhouse in 2016. Wong produced and directed The Yellow Wood for NYMF and Cindy Cheung’s Speak Up For Connie for the All For One festival. He is currently developing the new musical, Heading East.
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NGLA MISSION
NGLA educates leaders from a variety of fraternal experiences to transform and empower their community and align actions with values.
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