Ashley Hodo

NREI Social Justice Fellow

She/her/hers

Area of Discipline: Finance

Ashley Hodo, a native of Griffin, Georgia, is a passionate advocate for generational wealth building and economic mobility. Ashley is a proud graduate of Spelman College, where she received her B.A. in Political Science. During her time at Spelman, she served as a Legislative Intern with the Georgia House Democratic Caucus and was an inaugural Racial Justice Fellow with the Spelman Social Justice Program and the Georgia Women’s Policy Institute. Through these professional experiences, Ashley recognized critical information gaps between political systems and marginalized communities, inspiring her undergraduate research on voter suppression in Georgia and her community involvement with the Spalding County Democratic Committee, Urban Outreach Association, Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. This laid the foundation for a career rooted in bridging divides between policymakers and communities to ensure equitable and inclusive policy development. 

Ashley earned her Master of Public Policy at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy with specializations in Health Policy and Social and Economic Inequality Policy. She served as a Graduate Assistant for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, where she worked on various programs and initiatives cultivating communities among students of color such as the Emerging Minds Project and Executive Roundtable. Ashley was selected as a 2023 Chicago Mayoral Fellow, where her portfolio included the Chicago Mayor’s Youth Commission, youth employment, research on arts-related zoning and development, and other racial equity projects. Ashley was also appointed Editor-in-Chief of the inaugural Black Policy Review for the Black Action in Public Policy Studies at Harris, answering a crucial need to incorporate and amplify Black voice in policy discourse. 

Ashley remains deeply committed to living in a purpose rooted in championing racial equity and inclusion, and she hopes to continue her social justice work through legislative advocacy and public service.