The 2025 Beloved Benefit took place at the Woodrow Arts Center with a bold goal to unite Atlantans and invest in the people and communities shaping the city’s future. This year, over $8 million was raised.
The event featured performances by T.I. and Ludacris, and was emceed by Maria Taylor and Rickey Smiley, but this year’s experience won’t just feel like a concert or an awards show. “In the past, it’s felt a bit like the Grammys,” says Rodney Bullard, CEO of The Same House. “This year, think Broadway.”
The Beloved Benefit wasn’t born just out of ambition, it was born out of a need for something different.
“This really was the inspiration of Dan Cathy, who at the time was CEO of Chick-fil-A,” Bullard explains. “We had gone to the Robin Hood Gala in New York, an amazing event fighting poverty, but we noticed something. The room was full of ultra-wealthy people, talking about poverty. But the people affected by poverty weren’t in the room.”
That moment planted a seed.
Bullard and Cathy imagined an event that would look and feel like the city of Atlanta itself, diverse, vibrant, and inclusive. “At our very first Beloved Benefit, we had Bruno Mars, Steve Harvey, and the late Congressman John Lewis,” Bullard recalls. “Congressman Lewis told us, ‘We’re one people, one family. We all belong to the same house.’ That’s where our name comes from. That idea, that everyone in Atlanta deserves a seat at the table, became the foundation of The Same House.”
Since 2019, the Beloved Benefit has raised over $60 million, supporting more than 40 nonprofits and positively impacting at least 800,000 individuals, according to Bullard.
While much of the funding stays in Atlanta, the ripple effect has extended beyond the city limits. This year, eight nonprofit partners will be featured, including Atlanta Technical College, Latin American Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, and City of Refuge, among others.
Bullard emphasizes that the work goes far beyond charity. “This is about economic mobility—education, entrepreneurship, employment, affordable housing, and mental health. Those are our pillars,” he says. “And it’s also about proximity. People can’t aspire to what they can’t see. By bringing people together—people from different economic backgrounds—we create visibility and opportunity.”
As the curtain rises on this year’s Beloved Benefit, the format is changing to reflect its deeper mission. “We’re leaning more into storytelling this year,” Bullard shares. “It’s going to be more like Broadway—moving, intentional, and reflective of the real stories in our city.”
But what truly makes the Beloved Benefit different is its soul.
“We don’t just want to raise money, we want to raise awareness, raise compassion, and raise a vision for what Atlanta can be when we come together,” says Bullard.
