As a Strategic Advisor to the President & CEO, Dr. Ashley Fortner-Domínguez collaborates with the CEO overseeing strategic initiatives and priorities, executive operations, and efforts that strengthen organizational effectiveness and drive growth. She also supports with the planning and development of tools and resources and has leveraged her system-level leadership experience to facilitate professional learning with school and system leaders in California, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and South Carolina.
Ashley’s worked with clients to develop aspiring leaders, conduct systemwide audits of leadership development programs and processes, create leader standards, and provide executive coaching and strategic support to system leaders who are navigating complex change. Before joining The Leadership Academy full-time in 2025, she was the organization’s Harvard Resident, completing a yearlong doctoral fellowship and playing a pivotal role supporting strategic planning.
With more than 15 years of education experience, Ashley’s systems-level perspective is rooted in on-the-ground experience in the U.S. and abroad. In her early career she was an instructor and curriculum designer in Jordan and Egypt. Her passion for supporting multilingual learners continued in her first U.S. teaching role, when she returned to her hometown as a dual language elementary school teacher at Dallas ISD in Texas. She went on to hold roles as a campus instructional coach and school leader, then moved into system leadership, where she managed leader recruitment, selection, and pipeline systems, developing a strong bench of assistant principals, principals, and other system leaders.
Ashley earned a Doctor of Education Leadership from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, a Master of Education in Education Leadership from Southern Methodist University, and a Master of Arts in Middle East Studies from The American University of Cairo. She’s also a graduate of the University of Richmond, with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minors in Arabic, Philosophy, and Women & Gender Studies. She holds multiple language teaching certifications. Ashley is based in Nevada.
