2024 Honorees

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a Tony-Award winning actor, author (Food Between Friends), producer, and podcast host (DINNER’S ON ME) known for his work on stage (TAKE ME OUT, ON THE TOWN, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BE) and screen (COCAINE BEAR, MODERN FAMILY) as well as his ongoing advocacy in the LGBTQIA+ community.  In 2023, Ferguson wrapped his return to Broadway in the revival of playwright Richard Greenberg’s Tony®- winning play, TAKE ME OUT, where he earned his Tony® Award in the category of ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.’ Ferguson notably starred as the widely beloved character “Mitchell Pritchett” on the five-time Emmy Award-winning ABC comedy MODERN FAMILY, which ran for an impressive 11 seasons. Ferguson has also received five Emmy Award nominations and four People’s Choice Award nominations on behalf of the show.   

Justin Mikita is a two-time Tony-award winning producer (TORCH SONG, OKLAHOMA!, IS THIS A ROOM & DANA H., SHUCKED) and partner & co-founder of Hawkins Mikita, a social impact firm working to develop the intersection of celebrity influence and social good. Prior to founding Hawkins Mikita, Justin served as the Development Director for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER). Justin worked on an intimate staff of seven to raise the funds necessary to support the Perry lawsuit, which restored marriage equality in the state of California by way of the United States Supreme Court. He helped to build a cohesive and robust social media strategy for AFER’s public education campaign by engaging and managing talent and influencers for social media amplification in the marriage equality movement on a national level. He worked with AFER through the Bostic case, which won marriage equality in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Mikita currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign and Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. Mikita holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles

A powerhouse duo, Ferguson and Mikita served as executive producers on David France’s BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary, WELCOME TO CHECHNYA, their scripted podcast, GAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and the documentary BROADWAY RISING (Tribeca Film Festival). As longstanding advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, Ferguson and Mikita co-founded Pronoun, previously known as Tie The Knot, in 2012. Since 2012, Tie The Knot has released a collection of products — in collaboration with some of their favorite fashion and design partners — with all proceeds benefitting LGBTQ organizations and causes worldwide. The organization has proudly raised over 1.5 million dollars and has supported important and impactful LGBTQ+ organizations across the nation.   

They reside between Los Angeles and New York City with their two children and dogs.

The Rainbow Book Bus, founded by drag performer Adam Powell and LGBTQ+ historian Dr. Eric Cervini, is a bookmobile program that aims to promote and protect access to representative books and media for queer communities and anyone impacted by anti-inclusive legislation. The program works toward education freedom by fighting existing censorship, as recent studies by PEN American reveal that there were 3,362 book bans enacted across 153 districts during the 2022/2023 school year, a 33% increase from the previous year. Transformed by queer artists India Torrez and Paco May, and architect Lucas Amador, the 22-foot school bus’s recent inaugural cross-country tour involved seven events with seven LGBTQ+ organizations and  8,000 books given away to kids, parents, teachers, and LGBTQ+ centers — helping to remind LGBTQ+ youth and those close to them that they’re not alone.  

Adam Powell is the Co-Founder of Allstora and The Rainbow Book Bus. Following undergrad at Harvard, Powell went on to work in marketing and talent partnerships for seven years, before launching ShopQueer, an LGBTQ+ book shop, in 2022 alongside his partner, Eric Cervini. In Spring 2024, ShopQueer.co was reimagined as Allstora, an independent, 100% author-owned digital bookshop created for ALL, led by Powell and Co-Founders Eric Cervini and RuPaul Charles. When not driving The Rainbow Book Bus across the United States, he can be found performing as his drag alter ego, Aubergine!

Dr. Eric Cervini is an award-winning author, producer, and historian of LGBTQ+ politics. His first book, The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America, was a NYT bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Cervini is also the Emmy-winning creator and Executive Producer of The Book of Queer, a queer history docu-series boasting the largest all-queer cast in Hollywood history. It premiered on Discovery+ in June 2022 and is now streaming on Max.

Join Jesse, Justin, and the Rainbow Book Bus at LA Impact on September 28!