Ashley Stoney is a strategic communications leader with 14 years of experience leading award-winning campaigns in corporate, consumer, housing finance, and higher education sectors. She has a personal mission to help corporations fine-tune their messaging to appropriately reach communities of color and underserved populations. Previously, Ashley was a principal at Korn Ferry leading DE&I communications for a range of tech, consumer, and higher education clients. Prior to that, she co-led integrated external communications campaigns for Fannie Mae, a Fortune 25 company and leading provider of housing finance. During her tenure there, she also worked closely with the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion – as well as senior leaders in DEI and corporate communications – to communicate about key DEI activities and initiatives to external audiences and stakeholders.Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Ashley was the Director of Communications at the Plastics Industry Association, serving as spokeswoman for the association. Ashley previously held roles at communications agencies including Finn Partners, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, and Ketchum. During her agency tenure, she supported many clients across different sectors, including Corporate, Consumer, Higher Education, and Public Affairs. Previous clients include Burning Glass Technologies, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and the Nuclear Energy Institute, among others.Ashley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Howard University. She earned a Cannes Lion award for her work with Dr Pepper Snapple Group and a SABRE award for her work with the Nuclear Energy Institute. She served on the Board of Directors for Sela Public Charter School.As a freelancer, Ashley also writes about Black culture, millennial motherhood, and pop culture. Her work has been published in The New York Times, New York Magazine’s The Cut, The Washington Post’s The Lily, ESSENCE, Refinery29, and Romper.