Ashford Hughes

"Ashford Hughes Sr., in November of 2015 was appointed by newly elected Mayor Megan Barry to serve in her administration as Senior Advisor to Workforce, Diversity and Inclusion through the Office of Economic and Community Development. In this role he seeks to engage, convene and lead in developing workforce strategies that connect residents with training opportunities that lead to career pathways to success. His portfolio is also focused on identifying disparities in city programs and services, and helping create ways for city departments to address these gaps. This role will also work with community groups and organizations to ensure equal access to city programs and service. Beginning in 2013 Ashford served as the Assistant Business Manager and Political Organizer for the Southeast Laborers’ District Council, an international labor union affiliate of LiUNA!. He was tasked to lead on a variety of issue and candidate based campaigns while advocating for policies to aid local workforce.

Prior to joining the Southeast Laborers’ District Council, Ashford served as the Political Director for the state Tennessee Democratic Party. Here he was directly responsible for the implementation of constituent outreach programs, candidate recruitment, candidate management and leadership development amongst various party officials and activist. He served as the liaison between the members of the Democrat House Caucus, Senate Caucus and the State Party. Since 2005, Ashford has worked as a senior political staffer and consultant on numerous candidate, labor and issue based campaigns in Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Florida and Massachusetts. Ashford’s community service includes formerly serving on the boards of the Martha O’Bryan Center, Fifty Forward, Nashville Emerging Leaders and the Tennessee Equality Project. Ashford also served for three years as Community Engagement Co-Chair on metro government’s Nashville Next initiative. As the 2012 Co-founding member of the Nashville New Leaders Council, he served as Chapter Co-Director for two years. Ashford has a Bachelor of Science Degree, with a concentration in Political Science, from Tennessee State University and is seeking to conclude his Graduate School Degree, where his concentration has been a Master’s in Public Administration, from Tennessee State University.
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