Ashley Lawrence is a public policy and civil rights lawyer in Washington, D.C. She is a Policy Associate with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for the Equal Protection and Pro-Truth Initiatives. Previously, she worked in the DC office of Holland & Knight LLP, focusing on higher education and health equity in public policy practice. She was also a Managing Director of the Public Policy practice of Dentons law firm, where she worked on healthcare and immigration matters. Following law school, Ms. Lawrence was a registered lobbyist at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, where her portfolio included voting rights, criminal justice reform, and hate crimes. Ms. Lawrence is a Howard University School of Law graduate in Washington, D.C., and a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she double majored in Government and African American Studies.
Ashley is an advocate dedicated to public service and civil rights issues, with over 10 years of significant legislative, communications, research, and nonprofit experience. Ms. Lawrence has worked with two congressional members and other civil rights organizations in policy and legal support capacities to advance social justice advocacy. Her passions include voting rights, environmental justice, and women’s and girls’ empowerment. Her hobbies are dancing, singing, musical theater, boxing, and tennis.
Ms. Lawrence has been a member of the Xi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. since 2018 and has been a member since 2008. In her community, Ms. Lawrence is also a member of the Junior League of Washington, where she has been a member of the Washington School for Girls, Community Outreach, and Development and Training committees. She is currently the Co-Chair of the New Member committee. In her free time, she performs with Songrise, a local all-women’s social justice singing group that performs in the Civil Rights protest tradition. Originally from Queens, New York, Ms. Lawrence resides in Maryland and is a Kingdom Fellowship AME Church member.