Stephanie Hughley

Stephanie S. Hughley is currently a Performing Arts Consultant specializing in relationship building and developing unique collaborative partnerships with public and private, for profit and non-profit individuals and organizations.  For more than 45 years she worked in the performing arts and cultural community as an artist, curator, educator, general and company manager, presenter, and producer.  She has shared her years of experience and skills with a variety of performing arts institutions, artists, arts, cultural, educational, and community organizations. 

She began her career in the arts as a professional dancer with the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts Afro/Caribbean Dance Co under the Direction of Mr. George Howard and Babatundi Olatunji and danced her way to New York in 1974 where she studied at many of the dance studios including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Fred Benjamin, and The Clark Center with Thelma Hill.  In 1975 she transitioned from dance into the theatrical community.  Her work in the New York Theater and as a member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM) included more than 15 years as a General and Company Manager for Broadway, off-Broadway, National and International Touring Companies.  She worked in the offices of The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), Iron Mountain Productions (Manny Azenberg), The NY Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater (Joseph Papp), Theatre Management Associates (Ashton Springer), and Urban Arts Corps (Vinnette Carroll. 

In 1988 as the first Artistic Director of the National Black Arts Festival, together with her team, conceptualized and implemented the 10-day Festival in Atlanta, GA with over 100 activities throughout the city in 8 disciplines.  After several other employment opportunities, she returned to NBAF in 1999 to become the Executive Producer and CEO.  

In 1992, she became the Producer of Theater and Dance for the Cultural Olympiad of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA.   From 1995 - 99 and again from 2009 - 2011 she was the Vice President of Programming for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and most recently served as Vice President of Education, Humanities, BAM Cinema & Cinematek at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). 

She currently serves as a Senior Advisor and Consultant with P.S. 314 - A Matchmaking Agency for Social Change as well as with Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA).  She most recently served as a Consultant with the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), and BAM’S Dance Africa.  She most recently sat on the Board of Directors of Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.