Ashley (she/they) is a Community Engagement and Research Coordinator on the Penn Urban Health Lab. Along with the rest of the Community Coordinator team, Ash enjoys the privilege of working with community members and research participants on a day-to-day basis. They also serve as co-chair of the Wellness Committee, an internal group which functions to support the Lab’s members.

Ash feels that they experience freedom through what they choose to bind themselves to. Thus, Ash feels aligned and free when connected to community - whether through research, gardening, Yoga, organizing, activism, music - or just good conversation. Ash sees each of these aspects of their life as integral components of their own personal practice – and as tools. Tools that can dismantle harmful and oppressive systems/structures as well as build systems and culture in which we are all cared for and celebrated.

In the past, Ashley has been involved with collective and independent research which examined intersections between identity, food systems, and environmental justice. Since graduating from Temple University with a BA in Environmental Studies and French, they went on to work for many environmentally-minded start-ups. They have also been sharing Yoga and mindfulness with children, as a Special Educator, and with adults of all ages and levels of experience/ability for just over a decade.