Stephanie S. Hughley, a graduate of Kent State University and Antioch College, was the executive producer of the National Black Arts Festival and vice president of programming for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. She also served as the theater and dance producer for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Cultural Olympiad.

Born in Canton, Ohio, on October 16, 1948, to Lillie Mae and Robert Lee Smith, Sr., Hughley became a dance instructor in 1971, teaching at Smith College as well as Northeastern, Brandeis, and Harvard Universities. She danced with the Dance Theatre of Boston and the National Center of Afro-American Artists. In 1976, Hughley moved to New York City, auditioned for a role in the Broadway production of Bubbling Brown Sugar, studied dance at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance and the Little Red School House, and apprenticed under the directorship of Ashton Springer to expand her theatre management skills.

In 1982, she became General Manager of the Negro Ensemble Company. Hughley managed and supervised the production of over twelve Broadway shows, including Your Arms Are Too Short To Box With God, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Bubbling Brown Sugar. She also toured the United States and Europe as the Company Manager of For Colored Girls.