The Comic Relief Icon Award was established to recognize outstanding individuals in the entertainment industry who have leveraged their platform as a force for good, and whose actions have inspired the public to take action to break the cycles of intergenerational poverty.

Trevor Noah is best known for being the Emmy Award-winning host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central and for hosting the Grammy Awards for five consecutive years. He has written, produced, and starred in 12 comedy specials, and his “Off The Record” tour has sold out worldwide. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, as well as the #1 New York Times bestseller, Into the Uncut Grass. He launched the Trevor Noah Foundation to improve access to quality education for underserved youth in South Africa. Trevor now hosts an original podcast titled What Now? With Trevor Noah and heads up his production company Day Zero Productions.

The Comic Relief Visionary Award was established to recognize trailblazing individuals whose exceptional professional, civic, and philanthropic endeavors have meaningfully and boldly created opportunities to support and empower others.

Kristin Lemkau is the Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management at JPMorgan Chase. She oversees the U.S. wealth management division, which includes a ~5,800 branch and office-based advisor network, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing and the remote advice platform, J.P. Morgan Personal Advisors.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management has more than $1T in assets under supervision and advisors operating in ~5,000 Chase branches and offices across the U.S. Lemkau was named one of Barron’s "10 People to Watch in Wealth Management" in 2022.

Before 2020, Lemkau was the Chief Marketing Officer of JPMorgan Chase, where she led a global marketing team of 2,000 people with a $5B+ budget. In that role, she was responsible for brand, media, sponsorships, data and analytics, performance marketing and consumer communications. Lemkau helped launch several successful products, including Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Banking and Freedom Unlimited.

She has been recognized as a leader in the industry. In 2022, she was inducted into Forbes’ CMO Hall of Fame. In 2019, she was named “Marketer of the Year” by The Ad Club and ranked #5 in Forbes’ “World’s Most Influential CMOs.” She has also been named to Entrepreneur’s “50 Most Daring” list, Ad Age’s “Power Players” and Business Insider’s “50 Most Innovative CMOs in the World.” In addition, the International Radio & Television Society inducted her into their Hall of Mentorship for her work in advancing diversity.

She serves on the Board of the Robin Hood Foundation, Global Citizen and the College of Arts and Sciences of Vanderbilt University.

She graduated from Vanderbilt University.

John Oliver is an Emmy and Writer’s Guild Award-winning writer, comedian, and host of the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. On his occasional breaks from television, John returns to his first love of stand-up, performing to sold-out venues around the world.

From 2006-2013, he was a correspondent on the multi-award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, guest-hosting the show for two months during Stewart’s absence in 2013.

Prior to this, he starred in his first stand-up special John Oliver: Terrifying Times before going on to host four seasons of his own stand-up series for Comedy Central, John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. Until 2015 he also co-hosted the weekly satirical podcast The Bugle.

Oliver voices the character Zazu in the Disney film The Lion King, following previous guest roles including Paramount’s Wonder Park, Danger Mouse, Community, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, The Detour, Rick & Morty and The Horne Section TV Show.

Michael Che can be seen on his 12th season of Saturday Night Live as "Weekend Update" co-anchor alongside Colin Jost, and in his HBO Max series, That Damn Michael Che, a comedy sketch series which he stars in, wrote and executive produced.

His first hour long comedy special, Michael Che Matters, hit #1 twice on the platform, first upon its initial release and then again in 2020. Che’s second special for Netflix, Michael Che Shame the Devil, taped at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

He has been nominated for multiple Emmys for his writing on SNL, and has co-hosted NBC’s live Emmy Awards telecast alongside Jost. 

Prior to his time on SNL, Michael was a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and appeared alongside Chris Rock in the 2015 feature, Top Five. When Che is not in front of the camera, he tours the world headlining live stand-up shows.

He is a native of New York City.

Ilana Glazer is a comedian, actor, advocate, and creator best known for co-creating and co-starring in the acclaimed series Broad City. She co-wrote and starred in Babes, which premiered at SXSW 2024 to rave reviews before its Neon release. Her stand-up includes Ilana Glazer Live — which toured across the US and Canada — and her sophomore stand up special Human Magic. In 2025, she made her Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Good Night & Good Luck alongside George Clooney for a special limited run.

Mike Birbiglia is an Emmy-nominated comedian, writer, director, and actor who has performed his award-winning solo shows worldwide—from the Sydney Opera House to the West End of London to Broadway. His six solo shows— Sleepwalk With Me, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Thank God For Jokes, The New One, The Old Man & The Pool, and The Good Life — enjoyed successful runs on and off Broadway and became hit Netflix comedy specials. The shows merge storytelling and comedy in a way that The New York Times has called “Birbiglian.” Birbiglia also wrote, directed, and starred in the films Sleepwalk with Me and Don’t Think Twice. As an actor, Birbiglia has appeared in the films Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars, Popstar, A Man Called Otto, as well as TV roles in Orange Is the New Black and Billions. He hosts the podcast Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out.

Lupita Nyong’o is an Academy Award-winning actress known for her work in Black Panther, Us and 12 Years a Slave, for which she received the Oscar, SAG Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Spirit Award and NAACP Image Award. She also became a New York Times bestselling author for her book Sulwe.

She earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut and this summer played “Viola” alongside Peter Dinklage, Sandra Oh, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Junior Nyong’o in Shakespeare in the Park’s Twelfth Night, directed by Saheem Ali.

Her award-winning original storytelling podcast, Mind Your Own, explores themes of belonging from an African perspective.

Nyong’o has partnered with Foundation for Women’s Health to fund a research grant to accelerate the development of non-invasive and minimally invasive treatments for uterine fibroids.

She will co-star in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey releasing in theaters July 2026.

Ronny Chieng is an Emmy Award-winning comedian, writer, and actor who was born in Malaysia and currently lives in New York City. He is a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, winning an Emmy for his work guest hosting the show in 2024. He has starred in the blockbuster films Crazy Rich Asians, Godzilla vs. Kong, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, M3GAN, Hulu’s Vacation Friends and Randall Park’s film, Shortcomings, for Sony Pictures Classics. His television credits include Disney+’s series American Born Chinese, Hulu’s History of the World Part II, Disney+'s Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., NBC's Young Rock, and three Netflix standup comedy specials: Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedy Destroys America, Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy and Ronny Chieng: Love To Hate It. Ronny can currently be seen starring in Hulu’s Interior Chinatown, based on Charles Yu’s book and directed by Taika Waititi.

Gregory Porter, raised in Bakersfield, California, drew early inspiration from the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound and his mother’s Nat King Cole records. He began singing in San Diego jazz clubs while attending San Diego State University on a football scholarship before moving to New York to pursue music full-time. His first albums, Water and Be Good, earned Grammy nominations, and his 2013 Blue Note debut, Liquid Spirit, became a global breakthrough, earning his first Grammy. Porter has since won multiple Grammy Awards, released acclaimed albums, and emerged as one of the most successful and soulful jazz vocalists of his generation.