About
Jon Imparato is an award-winning writer, producer, and activist whose career spans decades in LGBTQ+ advocacy and cultural storytelling. For twenty-five years, Jon has served as the Artistic Director of the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center, the largest cultural arts program for the LGBTQ+ community in the world. Producing more than 350 events and collaborating with artists including Liza Minnelli, Laverne Cox, Jane Fonda, Billy Porter, and Shirley MacLaine. Jon played a critical role in the progression of the queer community through the arts. His productions garnered over 199 awards, including multiple Ovation Awards and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre. In 2020, he was honored with the LA Stage Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the arts.
Imparato’s work extends beyond the stage. For a decade, he worked directly with homeless LGBTQ+ youth at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, combining artistry and advocacy in service of community impact. He is responsible for launching one of the largest LGBTQ+ drop in centers for homeless youth in the world, which remains open today.
​
Imparato is carrying his lifelong mission of amplifying underrepresented voices into literature. His forthcoming memoir, The Good Inside the Grief, explores loss, faith, and resilience, with excerpts already being highlighted in journals including The Wrath-Bearing Tree and Lowestoft Chronicle. His essay The Shaving Cart—a searing yet humorous account of caregiving during the AIDS crisis—earned the prestigious Sherman Hewitt Award for Nonfiction. Through this work, Imparato continues his commitment to telling stories that confront loss, champion identity, and inspire resilience.
Awards
The Sherman Hewitt Award: First Place Non-Fiction
​
The Lifetime Achievement award for excellence in theater from the LA Stage Alliance
​
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre
​
City of West Hollywood Leadership Acknowledgment.
​
19 LA Times Critics Choices or Best Bets
​
48 Picks of the Week in the LA Weekly
​
Playwrights' Arena Community Partner Award
​
​