Dr. Ashley is a catalyst for change—a globally recognized scholar-practitioner and the founder of Enhancing Girlhood LLC, dedicated to strengthening organizations that serve children, with a focus on adolescent girls and vulnerable communities.
Her leadership background is extensive, including serving as the executive director of Dayton, Ohio’s only adult literacy center and director of the innovative Middle East and North Africa Girl Center created through a Mercy Corps-UNICEF partnership. She established Enhancing Girlhood to translate this expertise into specialized consulting that ensures clients can achieve deeper, sustainable impact. She works with UN agencies, international NGOs, governments, and educational institutions worldwide.
Dr. Ashley’s work is rooted in decades of experience designing and implementing child-focused initiatives within conflict and fragile settings. Her consulting approach is defined by her specialization in assets-based methodologies, like Positive Deviance, which she leverages to transform transactional processes into authentic, mission-aligned partnerships—whether securing sustainable funding, designing high-impact programs, or guiding action-oriented research.
She has served girls and communities across the globe, including in the US, Ethiopia, Kenya,
the DR Congo, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Her notable contributions include responding to the Syrian refugee crisis, developing child marriage prevention and response guidance for UNHCR, and initiating innovative, girl-led research and programming as the leader of the Girl Center. For a decade, she also served as a blogger and reporter for Girls’ Globe, amplifying the experiences of changemakers and applying a solutions-lens to human rights violations.
Dr. Ashley holds a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University and has served as faculty at Antioch College and Sinclair Community College. A published academic and thought leader, she possesses specialized training in Immunity to Change, Girl Meets World, and psychological first aid. She recently concluded five years of volunteer service on the National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN). She serves on several boards, including Enhance Worldwide, the nonprofit she co-founded, a local chamber music board, and several boards focusing on fundraising and development for community initiatives. She speaks French, German, and Serbian.