Ashley Jones

She/Her/Hers

Associate

I am based in: Charlotte, NC

My strengths are: 1. Integrity 2. Emotional Intelligence 3. Communication 4. Problem-Solving 5. Organization

I identify as: I am a Black woman born and raised in southeastern Virginia. I pursued higher learning in central Virginia, but I matured in the DC Metro area. I am now intentionally planting my roots back in the south and using my passion and curiosity to guide my steps and leave space for peace and connection. I am the daughter of parents married for more than 30 years, and the youngest to an older sister. I am an auntie of 3, who I literally helped raise in my adolescence. I live and love in a beautiful, fruitful partnership. My family is my center and they created who I am today, and who I will be tomorrow. I’m mostly introverted, but can be extroverted when I need to be, and as much as I try not to, I can wear my heart on my sleeve. I can be funny, and I can be fun, until I get sleepy.

Ashley Jones is an Associate at NPAG that leads client delivery and coordinates search projects in the CEO’s Homeroom. As a client-facing strategist, she executes detailed processes with critical thinking and sensitivity, while also cultivating trust and relationships with stakeholders.

She has a background in program and project management, and consulting with specialized experience in organizational development, equity and justice, and strategic communication in the nonprofit sector. She is a values-driven advocate who amplifies leadership of the communities that are impacted by change, and a skilled strategist who can articulate complex dynamics, processes, and concepts to enhance public knowledge and efficiency.

Prior to her work at NPAG, Ashley led the development of a diversity, equity, and inclusion program for an education reform nonprofit, and supported various organizations in their equity journeys across the field. Ashley comes into this work with a lens of media, culture, and advanced journalism studies. She has critiqued the lack of media diversity and international affairs through her graduate studies and credits the foundational studies of intercultural communication and psychology of prejudice to her fervor for justice. Ashley earned her B.A. in Communication Studies from Randolph-Macon College, and her M.S. in Multimedia Journalism from the Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ashley has been intentional in dedicating her career to disrupting inequitable institutions, bringing back integrity, and maintaining the fundamental purpose of informing and serving communities. In her free time, you can find her either cooking and enjoying her meal on the porch in her rocking chair, or exploring the city with her partner.

More About Ashley

Is there a quote that inspires you? I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." - James Baldwin

What lasting change do you want your work to have? Whatever privilege or positive experience I have had in life, I want to know that I have done something on my part to ensure that someone else has been able to have that same experience, or better. Whether that is within the present time, or somewhere in the future.

If you could give a 10-minute presentation on any subject, what would it be? Once you enter a certain threshold in adulthood, there becomes a shift in life when you begin parenting your parents. This can either be a headache, highly entertaining, or lead to very introspective moments.