Dr. Ashley Marshall

Leader, activist, researcher

I am a Leader, Professor, and Researcher based in Durham. My specializations include Social movements, grassroots leadership, Black women’s leadership, and political participation.

As a Leader


I am the Co-Founder and Co-Director for Forward Justice (C3) & Forward Justice Action Network (C4) racial and social justice organizations serving the US South.


  • Non-profit Management
  • Mediation, Conflict Resolution
  • Grant writing
  • Fundraising
  • Program Development
  • Policy Development
  • Leadership Development
  • Research Methods (Qualitative & Quantitative)
  • Curriculum Training and Education


My Skills

Stack of Books on a Table

My Education

  • PhD Leadership Studies, Transformative Leadership for Civic & Community Engagement
  • Master of Public Administration, Cum Laude
  • Graduate Certificate, Nonprofit Management
  • Bachelor's in Organization, Communications, African American Studies


My Experience

NC State conference naacp

Triangle community foundation

The center for women & families

international, diversity, educational program

Kentucky commission on human rights

Teaching Experience

An Open Book Beside Eyeglasses on Brown Fabric

Center for Civic Learning & Community Action

Courses Taught

  • Social Justice Practicum 517 Power & Intersectionality
  • Social Justice Practicum 516 Civics & Community Organizing
  • Social Justice Practicum 506 Understanding Social Justice


Scholarship

“If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”


- Combahee River Collective



  • Nsonwu, M., Marshall, A., Jernigan, Q., Folarin, O., Durham, L., Bailey, G., & Welch Brewer, C. (2019). From “the bank” to “the kitchen”: Pedagogical reflections of a constructivist theory framed course. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development.


  • Nsonwu, M., Jernigan, Q., Folarin, O., Durham, L., Bailey, G., Marshall, A., & Welch Brewer, C. (2019). “Unity is our strength”: Perspectives on the recruitment and retention of African American male social work students. Urban Social Work

My Community Service

Commissioner with the Durham County Women’s Commission

Advisory Council

Wisdom Council Member

Community Advisory Board Member

National Alumni & Roger G. Gregory Scholarship Committee Member

About Me


Dr. Ashley Marshall Co-Founder and Co-Director for Forward Justice (C3) & Forward Justice Action Network (C4) racial and social justice organizations serving the US South. She co-leads the growing organization and manages program development in democracy, criminal justice, and economic justice advocacy.

Furthermore, she is a researcher and advocate whose interests are Black women’s leadership in political, community, and movement spaces. She serves as faculty of Social Justice with Adler University’s Center for Civic Learning & Community Action, a Commissioner with Durham County Women’s Commission, a 2022 Social Justice Fellow with the Memorial Foundation, and is a community advisory member with Elon University, Health Equity Racism (H.E.R.) Lab.


Dr. Marshall’s earlier community experience entails serving as an organizer for N.C. State Conference of the NAACP under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, developing violence prevention programming with and for youth and serving as an organizer with Women In Transition and KY Jobs with Justice organization. She earned her doctorate in Leadership Studies, focusing on transformative civic and community engagement, her master's degree in public administration, and a graduate certificate in nonprofit administration.


Dr. Marshall has lived predominately in the South, as she was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, she grew her organizing legs in Louisville, Ky and now resides in Durham, North Carolina.



Contact Me: dr.ashley.marshall@gmail.com


linkedin
Twitter Logo
Instagram Outline Logo