Ashley recently relocated to the Chattanooga area after 15 years in NYC and San Francisco. She has been a leader in community management for most of her career working at brands like Airbnb and Wix, and most recently joining Stripe as the company's first Community Lead. She lives in St Elmo with her husband and son and loves supporting every corner of the arts in Chattanooga - from dance to theater to visual arts - and is so excited to join the board of The Popup Project.

Welcome to Today.

Anthony M. Wiley Jr. is a Chattanooga native who grew up navigating some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods—yet never lost the power to imagine something better. He is the founder and CEO of Welcome to Today, LLC, a mindfulness and emotional intelligence company rooted in healing, liberation, and community care. With over a decade of experience as a nonprofit professional, equity trainer, music producer, meditation teacher, and activist, Anthony brings a deeply embodied understanding of transformation and justice.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology from Bryan College and has served his community in several capacities: as an organizer of the 2020 social justice demonstrations in Chattanooga, a Police Advisory Review Board Member, and a Commissioner for Public Art Chattanooga. In 2021, he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy as a Second-Class Petty Officer after three deployments and eight years of service, earning distinctions including two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and the Coast Guard Expeditionary Medal. His reflections on race and military culture were published in the anthology Why Black Lives Matter (Too).

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Wiley currently serves as the music minister at Westside Missionary Baptist Church and leads his business alongside his beautiful wife, Gabrielle. Together, they are raising three daughters—Hasiina, Miranda, and Asha—with love, rhythm, and reverence. When not organizing, creating music under the name “Brophesor X,” or writing, he practices meditation as a spiritual discipline and survival strategy.

Emily Allen Murphy is thrilled to serve on the board of the Pop-Up project, and as a former dancer herself, wholeheartedly believes in the mission of the organization and the power that a vibrant arts economy can bring to communities. Emily currently serves as the Director of People and Culture at the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and has previously served as an HR Professional in organizations of various sizes and industries since moving to Chattanooga in 2017. She is excited to pair her professional experience with her love of dance in order to help advance the mission of the Popup Project. 

Anthony Prince is a musician, yoga teacher, community connector, and non-profit professional hailing from Atlanta, GA. Having played music his entire life, both professionally and recreationally, he's always loved the bonds that music and the arts create amongst peers and communities of all walks of life. Pre-Covid, Anthony founded a music & arts collective called Seeds of Sound that aimed to create various opportunities to connect the many disconnected arts groups within Atlanta by hosting pop-up events to curating full-on camping festivals. From working with dancers, visual artists, experiential artists, and uniting communities of all ages and demographics, Anthony strives to bring his connective experiences to support the ongoing work the Pop-Up Project has already been doing for so long now.