Ashley has spent the majority of her professional career working in education. Her life and work have been devoted to ensuring that people—regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status—have access to both a quality education and future that are not dictated by their zip code. She started her career in education as a Teach for America corps member in Dallas, Texas, where she taught 8th grade English Language Arts at J.L. Long Middle School. Following her time in the classroom, she transitioned into the educational nonprofit world as a staff member for City Year Dallas. Serving as both the Learning and Development Manager and later the Learning and Analytics Director, Ashley worked to train young adults to become powerful mentors and tutors for underserved students in the Dallas Independent School District. She specialized in developing and adapting trainings that offered participants choice and ownership over their own learning.

Ashley is an advocate for learning, growth, and change, and she wants nothing more than for things to leave her better than how they came to her. She is a self-proclaimed bookworm, and generally averages about book a week. Ashley is currently in graduate school, working toward her Master of Public Administration with a focus in Educational Nonprofits from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia. 

Why are you passionate about this work?

In my second year of teaching, my team had chosen The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie to read with students. The main character is a Native American teenager with a speech impediment and family members struggling with alcohol abuse. After reading the first chapter aloud, one of my students hung back after class. This student was a Mexican American teenager with a stutter and a family history of substance abuse. When it was just us in the room, I asked him if he liked the book so far. He stared at me and said, “It’s me, miss. I’ve never read a book about me.” I had another student ask me to help her find the book in Spanish so that her grandmother could read it. I had students volunteering to read the book out loud that had almost never spoken in my class before. These weren’t students who hated reading or were bad at English Language Arts—these were students who had never seen someone like them reflected in a book. At the end of the semester, I had students write in my yearbook that I had taught them how to love to read. I had students message me after I left the classroom to ask for names of books or book recommendations. I’m passionate about this work because of that student who saw himself in the pages of a book, because of the other student who wanted to read a book with her grandmother, because of another student who was held back a year and used the opportunity to become a leader of the school, because of another student who told me that students listened to me because I listened to them, because of yet another student who could read almost no English and still did every assignment and never wavered in her commitment to be better; this is a list that could go on and on. I am interested in promoting equity in schools and school systems because those students deserve it, and I’m interested in promoting excellence in classrooms and systems because those students are capable of it. Students need caring adults to push open doors, bring chairs to tables, crack glass ceilings, and pass microphones all to make sure that the generation behind them can see further, take bigger steps, and have a greater impact. The work of equity and excellence can’t be done today or overnight or in a few short days—but it can begin today. There is no such thing as “other people’s children,” and we must do what we can to ensure all children are empowered to continue this work long after we’re gone. 

Why are learner-centered and equitable classrooms and systems important in education?

Education is supposed to be about students, and educators should be focused on the growth and development of their students. Learner-centered classrooms should therefore be a given, and yet that hasn’t been the case in our country. Diverse classrooms aren’t enough, because those students must feel that they belong in those spaces. Belonging isn’t enough, because those students must all feel that their voices are included and uplifted. Inclusion isn’t enough, because those students’ needs must be a focus and a target for educators in both classrooms and systems. We begin the critical task of pushing toward a more just and equitable society by creating learner-centered classrooms that are focused on equity rather than equality. We begin to meet society’s needs by educating students in a way that meets their needs; we model the world we want to see in the spaces we inhabit and influence.