Conrad Ricamora, known for his breakthrough role as Oliver Hampton on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder,” has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support Asian American male actors pursuing professional training.

The initiative, titled “The Right to Be There,” aims to provide scholarships to Asian American men enrolled in Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Master of Fine Arts (MFA) acting programs. Ricamora said the fund was created in response to a career marked by exclusion and the continued underrepresentation of Asian men in the performing arts.

Ricamora, who is Filipino American, contributed $8,000 in seed funding—a nod to eight being considered a lucky number in Chinese culture—and pledged to match the first $10,000 in public donations.

“I’ve carried grief… from being told—implicitly and explicitly—that I don’t belong,” Ricamora wrote on the campaign page. “I’m launching a scholarship fund for Asian American male actors pursuing BFA or MFA acting degrees—to help plant seeds of hope for the next generation.”

The fund will distribute scholarships annually, beginning in 2025, with an emphasis on supporting artists whose identities have been historically sidelined in theater and television.

Ricamora, 46, earned an MFA from the University of Tennessee and first gained recognition in the Off-Broadway musical, “Here Lies Love.” He made his Broadway debut in 2015 in “The King and I” and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2024 for his performance in Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!.”

His role on “How to Get Away with Murder,” which aired from 2014 to 2020, was one of the few depictions of an openly gay Asian American man in a lead network television role.

In addition to his acting career, Ricamora has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and greater inclusion of Asian American voices in the arts.

“Let’s not wait for gatekeepers to change the rules. Let’s change the soil.

I’m calling this fund The Right to Be There—because no young actor should grow up feeling like their presence is conditional.”

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