Our Staff
Ross R. Ross
CO-DIRECTOR of Political Education & PRoDuction
Ross (they/them) is a 25 year old Black queer New Orleanian creative Sagittarius weirdo, performer, writer, poet, visual artist, and the newest Co-Director of LOUD Queer Youth Theater. They are an anarchist connoisseur of the arts and an active advocate for social justice and giving back to the community. They perform, create, and support art that pushes a catalyst of equality, liberation and freethinking.
Simone Immanuel
Co-Director of Theater & Performance
Simone Immanuel (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, actor, and writer from New Orleans, LA. Film and TV credits include South Side (Comedy Central), Under False Colors: The Story of Frances Thompson (Comfrey Films), and Intersection (Tuckergurl). Recent theatre credits include her Off-Broadway debut in 7 Minutes by Stefano Massini, her original play I’m Gonna Let It Shine (finalist, Kennedy Center’s John Cauble Award), and From the Inside Out, presented at Long Wharf Theatre’s Black Trans Women at the Center festival.
A graduate of NOCCA and Ball State University (BFA, Acting), Simone currently is a Theatre Arts Teacher at NOCCA. She created and hosts Created to Create, a talk show spotlighting local Black artists in New Orleans, amplifying cultural bearers, and promoting community growth. She has served as an Artist-at-Work Resident with Ashé Cultural Arts Center and the Office of Art and Film and is the Program Consultant for The Alliance for Cultural Equity (A.C.E.), supporting the preservation and amplification of marginalized histories and cultures. Simone is a 2022 Broadway Advocacy Coalition Artivism Fellow, 2023–2024 New Orleans Museum of Art Creative Assembly member, and founder of Bulbancha Beholders, a collective supporting young Black, trans, and queer artists.
Her mission is to use art to amplify underrepresented voices and show that representation is transformative.
IG: @is_fierce
Roney Jones
Co-Director of Theater & Performance
Roney Jones (They/She) is a New Orleans native who found their way back home in 2022. They did their schooling at Howard University. While living in the nation's capital they directed at the Kennedy Center during their VSA Playwright Discovery Event in 2016. They also assisted Raymond Caldwel, Artistic Director of Theater Alliance, in several Howard Productions. Beyond that they taught at Appel Farm Arts Camp in Elmer, New Jersey for two summers in a row. LOUD gave them a space to combine their talents for directing, youth stewardship, and activism. They plan to continue creating environments that allow the youth they serve to blossom into their full selves.
Miss Keyshia Pearl
Operations and Development Co-Director
Miss Keyshia Pearl is an Operations and Development Co-director at LOUD! She/They identify as a Black Indigenous culture bearer of the 7th ward of Bulbancha/New Orleans. She received her B.A. in English from Xavier University of Louisiana in 2024. Miss Pearl spends her free time conducting zoological research on the wild flora and fauna of her neighborhood and the extended region of Southeast Louisiana. She loves to sing, dance, write, and illustrate!