Bella Stenvall, ’21

Bella Stenvall graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Arabic along with a minor in Global Studies. The Norma J. Ehrlich scholarship was an invaluable aspect of her college experience, not only providing her with important financial assistance, but also a family of strong, successful women that continue to inspire her. A dance-maker turned researcher, Bella is invested in embedding arts and culture into the choreography of public life as a means of social change. She works in strategy development, quantitative and qualitative research design, and data analysis, all while integrating her own experiences as a dancer, choreographer, and creative collaborator and centering values of equity and inclusion.

At her current role at AEA Consulting, a cultural and creative consulting firm, Bella works on a wide range of projects across the arts and culture sector. These have included a disability action plan for the Museum of Modern Art; strategic planning processes for the J. Paul Getty Trust, Merce Cunningham Trust, Lincoln Center Theatre, and Brooklyn Academy of Music; a social impact study for Little Island; feasibility studies in Sullivan County, NY and Santa Maria, CA; and the development of business plans for the University of Arizona Museum of Art and San Diego Theatres.

Prior to joining AEA, Bella was selected as one of 12 Fellows at the Coro New York Leadership Center. The Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs is a prestigious graduate-level, experiential leadership program to complete projects in a variety of sectors and gain a mastery of cross-sector, adaptive leadership. Through the Fellowship, Bella led research for the Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Bloomberg LP, crafted the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation’s first ever Board Education and Engagement Program, and served as a gallery associate at High Line Nine Galleries in the Chelsea Arts District.

At UCLA, Bella held many leadership positions on campus. Through the Student Alumni Association, Bella served as the Executive Director of Spring Sing 2021, UCLA’s largest showcase of student artists that attracts an annual audience of over 9,000. Additionally, she was very involved in arts activism communities on campus, served on the UCLA Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Student Advisory Board, and worked as a research assistant. She did an advanced Arabic immersion program in Amman, Jordan where she conducted independent research on the development of hip hop communities that was presented at UCLA’s Undergraduate Research Week.

Bella lives in Brooklyn, NY and is a practicing choreographer and dancer. She most recently was an Artist-in-Residence with Studio 8 in Amman, Jordan for their biannual contemporary dance festival, IDEA.