As an attorney focused on corporate finance and banking at the world’s largest law firm, Denton’s LLP, Ashley is committed to furthering the growth of entrepreneurs, and has worked closely with venture capital funds, qualified opportunity zone funds, and traditional lenders to leverage public and private resources to support economic growth. Earlier in his legal career, Ashley focused on public finance and government litigation. As the youngest black lawyer listed in the “Red Book” of America’s top municipal bond attorneys, he guided over a billion dollars in successful bond transactions that have revitalized urban areas across America. Ashley serves as the General Counsel for the National Black Bank Foundation and the $250 million Black Bank Fund, and in this role, facilitated the refinance of the construction loan for the Emory Sports Medicine Complex with a syndicate of Black-owned banks. The $35 million loan marked the first time a professional sports franchise had a significant loan underwritten exclusively by Black banks. Ashley and NBBF followed this up with a $45 million transaction featuring two Black-owned banks to develop The Trade, a new Autograph Collection® hotel by Marriott at the steps of the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee's Deer District. The scope and nature of these transactions, will diversify the Black banks' loan portfolios and bolster their capital cushion, allowing them to extend new capital into disadvantaged communities of color. Ashley also serves as the Lead Director of the Minority Depository Institution Innovation Committee recently formed as part of a partnership between JAM-FINTOP and NBBF. Ashley led a team of attorneys at Dentons working on the launch of a new Mission-Driven Bank Fund, a capital investment vehicle being developed by the FDIC to support insured Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). This work resulted in Denton’s team being named Law360’s Fund Formation Group of the Year. Previously, Ashley served as the White House Policy Advisor for Entrepreneurship & Innovation for the and the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration for the Southeastern United States. At the SBA, Ashley focused on supporting underserved communities, women and minorities. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he played an instrumental role in the promotion and implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help businesses navigate the unprecedented crisis. As a senior executive at the SBA, he worked to increase access to capital and contracting dollars for minority owned businesses through partnerships with the public and private sector. Tasked with procurement oversight of $6 billion in financing, under his leadership, the SBA provided access to capital and federal contracting opportunities, counseling and mentorship, and financial assistance following declared natural disasters. A former Hall County Commissioner elected at the young age of 27, Ashley was one of the youngest commissioners ever elected in the State of Georgia, representing the third fastest growing metropolitan area in America. Ashley began his legal career as a public defender and went on to become a celebrated trial attorney. He co-founded the law firm Bell & Washington LLP, based in Atlanta, Georgia, over 15 years ago. Ashley has been named a 2020 Georgia “Super Lawyer Rising Star” (first named in 2017) and is a recent graduate of the Fiftieth Anniversary Class of Leadership Atlanta for 2020, having previously completed Leadership Georgia in 2012. He is one of the 2016 “Top 40 Young Lawyers” in the country by the American Bar Association, and a 2016 “Lawyer on the Rise” by Georgia’s leading legal journal, “The Daily Report,” recognizing Georgia’s top 25 lawyers under 40. Ashley is a graduate of Valdosta State University, where he was President of the Student Government Association and founded the school’s chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. In 2019, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts & Sciences and joined the VSU Foundation Board of Trustees, where he serves on the institutional investment committee that manages their assets and investments. Ashley obtained his law degree from Louisiana State University, which he attended on a full scholarship, and has an honorary doctorate from Lighthouse College. Ashley was a 21st Century Leadership Fellow at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and currently is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship, a Partnership of ADL and The Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.