Kendra J.Ross
Founder/ Director
Kendra J. Ross is a professional dancer, choreographer, teaching artist, pilates instructor, and community organizer from Detroit, MI, who now lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She is a facilitator for Urban Bush Women’s Builders, Organizers, and Leaders through Dance (B.O.L.D.) network. Kendra has worked as the Director of Programming and Artist Development and Teaching Artist at Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance.
As a performer, Kendra has traveled the world dancing for Urban Bush Women, D.J. Kid Koala, MBDance, Andrea E. Woods, and many more. Kendra presented choreographic work at the Florida A&M University, the off-Broadway show 7 Sins, Museu de Arte in Salvador, Brazil, Dixon Place, Ailey Citigroup Theater, and Actors Fund Theater. She has been an Artist in Residence at Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Bates College, and The Neighborhood Project Through 651Arts, a B.A.X. Space Grantee, and a Visiting Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts. She was recently the Inaugural BedStuy Artist in Residence at The Laundromat Project. She is currently a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow.
Kendra moved to Bed-Stuy at the height of the nationwide conversations concerning gentrification. She was immediately concerned about how she could get to know her new neighborhood and make a positive impact. Ross wanted to create a way to connect more established entities like homeowners and business owners to other newer residents and artists like herself. So she decided to use what she knew best- art- and place that on stoops, traditional spaces of gathering in BedStuy accessible to everyone. Thus STooPS was born. Kendra still serves as the Founder & Director of STooPS. Learn more at www.thekendrajross.art
Tareya Eason
Administrative Associate
Tareya Easton has been a STooPS volunteer since 2013 and is excited to have more of an impact on STooPS' success. Tareya has been integral to creating systems for STooPS ensuring funding requirements, communication, and the transition of paid staff members in 2023.
With a B.S. in Exercise Science from Georgia State University, Tareya is passionate about nutrition, fitness, and wellness. She has worked with the U.S. National Guard giving youths fitness workshops, and has a Personal Training background. Tareya is completing a 200-hour yoga teacher training while exploring various career paths.
Pia Monique Murray Producer
Pia Monique Murray is a choreographer, performer, installation artist, teacher, and creative producer. She leads Pia Monique Murray Dance Collective (PMMDC), producing movement-based multidisciplinary performance works that include community engagement and audience interaction as an artistic practice. Pia was a 2022-23 CCI 2.0 Producing Fellow with Urban Bush Women and currently is Associate Producer of Haint Blu by Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis, co-producer of When Black Women+ Speak, and Associate Producer of the 40th Anniversary season.
As Bailey’s Cafe’s Producing Artistic Director she produces and curates As Quiet as It’s Kept, a multidisciplinary ethnography project about longtime residents in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Additionally, Pia is Creative Producer of Kendra J. Ross’s KJR Works company and the STooPS Summer Festival in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She is also the creator of Black Daisies, an interdisciplinary project that centers joy as political activism.
Ashnelle Hall
Marketing Specialist
Ashnelle Hall is a Brooklyn native raised in the vibrant neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Flatbush, who serves as the Marketing Specialist for STooPS Art & Community. Bringing a deep-rooted passion for her community to the producing collaborative team, Ashnelle holds a B.A. in Media and Communications from SUNY College at Old Westbury and an M.A. in Public Relations from Hofstra University.
In her role, she is responsible for the overall storytelling of STooPS, where she strategizes and implements marketing needs for the Summer Season, manages digital content across all social platforms, and oversees the creation of promotional materials to help the organization reach its goals. When she isn't busy elevating the STooPS brand, Ashnelle spends her free time traveling, exploring museums, and attending concerts and festivals, experiences that inform her work and her own newsletter, The Culture Communique. Committed to making art accessible while honoring the local, Ashnelle remains an adaptable and transparent leader dedicated to ensuring STooPS’ diverse programming continues to flourish.