Ashley Hodges

Ashley was appointed Chief Executive of Young Citizens in 2021. She has led a range of charities and initiatives within education and social mobility charities including as the founding Executive Director and CEO of the UK social mobility charity Speakers for Schools in 2013. Her career to date has focused on innovative design of education initiatives that bring together cross-sector collaboration and influential leaders to increase equitability of opportunities, inclusion and support for young people from under-served and disadvantaged backgrounds.

A former Barack Obama Campaign staffer and community organiser, she has alongside her education experience had a long-held interest in how we drive civic participation and create a modern thriving democracy. She works with the YC team to ensure young people are given the  skills, experiences and real-world rooting of citizenship issues to become active citizens, whilst seeing that institutions are coming to the table to be a part of the solution. She has spoken on the role of democratic dialogue, community organising and increasing the impact of corporate social responsibility. She previously served as a Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors at Wellbourne Primary School and a trustee at community centres in North and East London, and is a non-executive director of Democracy Club.