Our team

The people who keep the beat.

GrooveFit brings together dance, yoga, social work, and wellness education. Here’s who’s behind it.

Founder & choreographer

Jannelle Cortes

A Dominican-American choreographer and entrepreneur, part of the Washington, DC and New York City dance, education, and health communities for 20 years.

More about Jannelle

Jannelle founded GrooveFit in 2006 as a dance and fitness company that promotes cross-cultural unity and wellness accessibility. GrooveFit has provided dance, meditation, yoga, and mental health services to public schools, churches, and hospitals.

Through sister company Groove Trips, she takes travelers on dance and cultural journeys to places like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal, India, Egypt, and Turkey, using dance and rhythm as a portal through which migration stories are told.

She volunteers at Hope Connections for Cancer Support, serves on the board of the Silver Spring Town Center in Maryland, and spends weekends serving her Harlem community through the Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance.

Yoga · empowerFit Wellness

Lateefah Fleming

A 20-year veteran of the wellness field and president of empowerFit Wellness, a yoga, Pilates, and dance experience.

More about Lateefah

empowerFit is dedicated to empowering women, especially Black women and women of color, to find their voice and use it to embolden themselves and their communities. Lateefah combines the grounding and strength of yoga with the freedom of dance and exposure to different cultures.

She has led international yoga retreats, mentored fitness professionals as a Fitness and Wellness Director at NYC facilities, and is the author of “Everyone Can Do Yoga.”

Social work · Mental wellbeing

Ashley C. Whiteside

A Licensed Master Social Worker who believes that choosing to heal is a radical act of self-love.

More about Ashley

Ashley has worked with youth, families, recovery programs, foster care, developmental disabilities, aging, and small businesses. She has facilitated group therapy in community mental health settings, including Root3d, and developed group curricula on life skills and coping.

She is driven to help Black and brown girls and women reach their dreams through education.

Wellness education · The Seven Effect

Seven Brown

Founder of The Seven Effect, with more than twenty years across the beauty and wellness industries.

More about Seven

An energy medicine intuitive, certified health counselor, and beauty and wellness educator, Seven has made helping people find balance inside and out her life’s work.

Your spot on the floor is waiting.

Tell Jannelle what you’re looking for, a class for you or a program for your people, and she’ll get back to you with what’s running.

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