July 8th, 2021
GIRLFORWARD ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Photo credit: Tori Smith
GirlForward has selected Ashley Marine, the current Deputy Director, as its next Executive Director. Ashley will succeed Shailushi Ritchie, who served as Interim Executive Director of GirlForward beginning in September 2020.
“On behalf of the GirlForward Board of Directors, I am thrilled to announce that Ashley Marine has been appointed the organization’s new Executive Director. After a thorough interview process, our Board determined that Ashley has the experience, integrity and compassion to support the communities served by GirlForward. We feel confident that Ashley’s collaborative approach to leadership will strengthen the organization for continued, long-term success,” said Valerie Weiss, GirlForward Board Chair.
Ashley Marine received her undergraduate degree from Xavier University. She studied abroad in Kumasi, Ghana, where she collaboratively provided street education with girls engaged in migrant labor work. Ashley continued her studies at the University of Chicago, receiving a master’s degree in social service administration and completed her field work as a Jessica Eve Patt intern at Chicago Foundation for Women. These experiences sparked a lifelong passion for sharing multicultural spaces and building power with women and girls that continues to fuel her work today.
Since joining GirlForward as Director of Programs in 2013, Ashley has established and grown the organization’s transformational Mentoring, Education and Safe Spaces programs. Over the last two years, as Deputy Director and head of operations, she has strengthened infrastructure and service delivery and supported the challenging transition to virtual programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mentoring Program is perhaps the best testament to Ashley’s exceptional, transformative leadership. The program boasts a 100% high school graduation rate and has over 75 matches currently exploring their passions and building lifelong bonds. As Executive Director, she will continue to be a passionate champion of GirlForward’s mission who deeply understands stakeholders’ needs.
“I am honored and excited to become the next Executive Director of GirlForward. This powerful community of refugee and immigrant girls has humbled and inspired me over the last 8 years. I look forward to deepening our roots in Chicago and Austin and continuing to serve girls through mentorship and education at this important time in their lives,” said Ashley.
Since being founded in 2011, GirlForward has served over 400 girls in Chicago and Austin, TX who have arrived as immigrants, refugees and asylees. “I am thrilled that Ashley will be leading GirlForward as the new Executive Director. As many longtime GirlForward community members know, Ashley has been with the organization since its very early days. She was the first person I hired, at a moment when I needed someone who could turn a big, hopeful vision into a reality. GirlForward would not have become the incredible organization that it is today without Ashley's leadership over the past eight years, and there is no one better suited to take on this role at such a pivotal moment,” said Blair Brettschneider, Founder of GirlForward.
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About GirlForward:
Founded in 2011 in Chicago, GirlForward is a community of support dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunities for girls who have been displaced by conflict and persecution. GirlForward serves girls in high school who identify as refugees, immigrants, or asylum seekers and have resettled in Chicago, IL or Austin, TX. Through their Mentoring, Education and Safe Spaces Programs, over 150 girls each year access resources through GirlForward to succeed in high school.
For more about GirlForward:
Chicago HQ & Office: (773) 856-0598
Mailing Address:
GirlForward
P.O. Box 607516
Chicago, IL 60660