The A-Team

One is a theater titan, the other a real estate mogul. Together they're changing how New York City lives.

- BY DARREN WALKER PHOTOGRAPHS BY TYLER TWINS

From left: National Black Theatre CEO Sade Lythcott, former Ford Foundation president Darren Walker, and Ray founder Dasha Zhukova Niarchos.

Sade Lythcott and Dasha Zhukova Niarchos's first encounter was like the collision of two galaxies—dazzling, radiant, rare, producing a new whole greater than the sum of its parts. They talked about their work and passions, about their journeys and ambitions, about art, theater, design, architecture, business, and philanthropy. But before any of that, they talked about their mothers: the formidable Barbara Ann Teer and Elena Zhukova, PhDs both.

Dasha spoke of the ways her mother, a molecular biologist, challenged her to dream without limit, Sade of the passion she felt for upholding her late mother's legacy in Black theater and community building. Both spoke of the ways they hoped to honor the fierce, fearless women who transfixed and transformed the worlds around them.

Over that first lunch, over these stories, Dasha and Sade saw in each other a partner. I see in their partnership the future of philanthropy—the future of culture, the future of urban development, the future of community building. The future, period.

As president of the Ford Foundation, I worked with, and learned from, the brightest minds at the nexus of creative expression and social justice. In Dasha and Sade I see a powerful model of collaboration. And in a 21-story building on the corner of 125th Street and 5th Avenue in Harlem—the future home of Ray Harlem and the National Black Theatre (NBT)—I see a literal blueprint for how we can build vibrant communities with people and culture at their center.

I first connected with Dasha in the early days of Ray, her real estate development company, and I have been a friend and supporter of NBT—founded by Dr. Teer—for many years, dating back to the 1990s, when I lived and worked in Harlem.