Ashley Clark is the Director of Talent Management at Education First, where she leads the firm’s talent strategy, including talent acquisition, learning and development, retention, and performance management initiatives. She also partners with clients to strengthen organizational design and address educator workforce shortages. Ashley brings deep expertise in building equitable, high-performing teams and believes that people-centered strategies are essential to creating lasting, meaningful change across the education sector.

Before joining Education First, Ashley led the talent function at a rapidly growing, Series A-funded edtech startup, where she designed scalable, equitable recruiting and people operations. She also spent several years in the education nonprofit sector leading high-volume educator recruitment with a focus on increasing the racial diversity of the educator workforce in Colorado and Illinois. During that time, she built local and national partnerships to strengthen long-term educator pipelines and address teacher shortages through strategic staffing models and alternative licensure pathways, including teacher residency programs.

Ashley grew up in the Chicago suburbs and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University, a Master of Arts from Loyola University Chicago, and a Master of Science from Colorado State University Global. She also holds the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) credential and a Human Resource Management Certificate from Villanova University. Outside of work, Ashley enjoys tap dancing, traveling, collecting vinyl records, and spending time with her dogs, Enzo and Riley.