Before she was the iconic Barbara Howard on “Abbott Elementary,” Sheryl Lee Ralph was a Broadway star, originating the role of Deena Jones in “Dreamgirls” in 1981.

Her longtime career in showbiz dawned at the same time as the onset of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. And as Ralph lost friends and colleagues to the disease, she knew she had to do something about it.

In 1990, she founded the DIVA Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for HIV causes, especially those focused on the lives of women, children, and marginalized groups within the Black community.

“The DIVA Foundation is committed to achieving better health outcomes for all people through innovative programming using the transformative power of the arts,” the organization’s website states.

“The foundation structures its programming under five pillars: Health Awareness, Women and Girls, LGBTQ+, Social Justice & Racial Equity, and Food & Housing Insecurity. The DIVA Foundation believes we can help others realize healthier and enriched lives if we ‘dare to care about humanity.’”

Over the past three decades, the DIVA Foundation has raised over $3.5 million for organizations like Women Alive, Minority AIDS Project, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Black AIDS Institute, and more. And in 2022, Ralph co-produced a documentary that tells the stories of young Black women impacted by HIV. 

But her commitment to marginalized communities also zooms in on other topical issues, like “schooling” her peers on respecting a person’s pronouns after posting a video earlier this year helping those “of a certain age” learn why it’s important to call someone by the correct name and pronouns.

It is this activism that earned her the title of Advocate of the Year, an honor bestowed by LGBTQ+ media organization The Advocate.

She was honored with a cover story in The Advocate’s magazine, as well as graced with the award at an Out100 event earlier this month.

“To be named Advocate of the Year is an honor I carry on behalf of every individual who has fought for love, for identity, for visibility, and for freedom,” Ralph said.

Fellow “Abbott Elementary” stars Chris Perfetti and Lisa Ann Walter presented her with the award, which she accepted by singing a verse from Diana Reeves’ “Endangered Species,” the same song she sang when she won her Emmy.

She also went on to honor all the change-makers in her midst.

“Advocacy is not a solo journey — it is a collective movement. It is the bravery of those who came before us, the courage of those who stand with us, and the hope of those who will follow,” Ralph said.

“I have been inspired over the years by so many in this community — by those who refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice, by those who live their truth unapologetically, and by those who show us that joy is also an act of resistance.”

At the event, co-star Walter spoke highly of Ralph’s decades of activism.

“She is a long-time activist for people in this particular community — before it was accepted, before it was cool,” Walter said to a Red Carpet interviewer. 

“When she was a very young Broadway star… she saw the need of the people around her who were dying. She created a foundation, and she got loud about it. And that’s a brave thing to do.”

Walter — and The Advocate — were not the only ones to recognize this in Ralph. In October, she was also honored with GLSEN’s Champion Award for her years of allyship.

“Ralph’s leadership serves as a beacon of hope for LGBTQ+ youth facing harmful discrimination and legislation across the country now more than ever,” GLSEN stated in a press release.

These days, Ralph continues to be a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, while also working to unite others in a shared vision of a brighter, safer future for all.

“I am a believer in the power of unity,” Ralph said in her acceptance speech.

“The world may try to divide us, but our strength has always been in our ability to stand together, to lift one another, and to remind each other that love — at its core — is unstoppable.”

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Header image by Anthony Acero