Each year, the Tony Awards recognize one leader in the community “who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.” This year’s recipient? Nederlander Organization Executive Vice President Nick Scandalios.

As EVP of one of the three major Broadway theatre owners, Scandalios contributes to the Broadway landscape not just through architecture but also through the shows his theatres offer. “I think about the shows I want to see produced, the shows that we have in our Nederlander Theatres and how we continue to build our relationship with the customer more and more on a one-on-one basis," he says. "Because the thing about our fans is they’re really fans. There’s 250,000 people a week going through these Broadway theatres inside nine blocks.

“The thing I love the most about the theatre is that we're a family and we're a community of people,” he says.

As a humanitarian, Scandalios has advocated for LGBTQ families across the country, and he is thrilled to be acknowledged with the award. “So many of us live the arc of our entire lives in the theatre and you end up spending a lifetime with people,” he says. “All of that builds into these very deep relationships even with your competitors, which, I dare say, I've never been able to think of another industry that you can find that.”

The Isabelle Stevenson Award was first established in 2009 and presented to inaugural recipient Phyllis Newman. Subsequent recipients include Eve Ensler, Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Baayork Lee, and more.

For more from Scandalios, watch the full video interview above.