Asheley B. Smith

Asheley B. Smith, PhD has over 13 years of work experience, primarily in development, communications, and analytics roles. Asheley B. started their career as an Executive Assistant, Operations Assistant, and Deckhand/Educator at Amistad America, Inc. in 2004. Asheley B. then worked as a Docent at the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art in 2005. From 2007 to 2008, they served as an External Affairs Executive Assistant and Development Coordinator at the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Asheley B. joined the Parkways Foundation as a Development Coordinator in 2010 before moving to Working in the Schools (WITS) as a Development Director from 2012 to 2014. Asheley B. also served as a Development Consultant for WITS from 2014 to 2015. In 2014, they worked as a Development Consultant and Interim Development Manager at Creative Partners. From 2015 to 2017, they worked as an Associate Director of Development and later as an Interim Director of External Affairs at Christopher House. Since then, they have held various roles at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, including Director of Development from 2017 to 2019, Director of Development and Communications from 2019 to 2020, Director of Communications and Client Analytics from 2020 to 2022, and most recently, Director of Analytics and Client Experience from 2022 to present.

Asheley B. Smith, PhD began their education in 1999 at Oberlin College, where they earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Dance in 2003. Asheley B. then pursued their Master of Arts degree in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago from 2005 to 2006. Later, they attended the University of California, Riverside, where they completed their Doctor of Philosophy degree in Critical Dance Studies from 2008 to 2014.