DR. ASHLEY M. STEWART
Dr. Stewart is a developmental scientist, policy strategist, and advisor working at the intersection of health equity & youth wellbeing, research, and institutional change.
At the center of her work are the young people and vulnerable communities whose health, development, and futures are shaped every day by the systems and institutions around them. For more than a decade, Dr. Stewart has examined the factors that shape the health and wellbeing for young people and vulnerable communities, with particular attention to how policy, technology and learning environments shape wellbeing. Her work has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the American Psychologist, and the Handbook of Children and Prejudice, among others.
Dr. Stewart believes that findings only matter if they reach the people with the power to act on them. This conviction is what moves Dr. Stewart between research, policy, and public conversation. As a Health Equity Research Fellow with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the American Institutes for Research, she has led research on the policy implications of technology, mental health, and structural inequity for young people, translating findings into recommendations for congressional stakeholders and national audiences. As a fellow with The OpEd Project in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute, she brings that research into public discourse — work that has been featured in outlets such as ESSENCE, The Grio, Word In Black, and Tech Policy Press.
She advises organizations on how to design learning environments, products, and policies with young people’s wellbeing in mind, work that has included partnering with the Steve Fund to advise more than 40 colleges and universities on supporting the mental health of students of color on campus.
Dr. Stewart holds a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master's in Human Development and Social Intervention from New York University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California.
A native of Prince George's County, Maryland, Dr. Stewart is proud to call the DMV home — a community whose influence shapes both her perspective and her commitment to the young people and families who live there.
DR. STEWART’S WORK IS ROOTED IN:
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My work examines the conditions that allow young people and vulnerable communities to truly thrive, with close attention to how policy, technology, and learning environments shape their health. I start from what people need to flourish, then ask why our institutions so often fall short of providing it.
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Young people are the experts on their own lives, yet they're too often spoken about rather than spoken with. For more than a decade, I've studied what young people need to thrive and held institutions accountable to that standard. Their realities anchor my research, my policy recommendations, and the conversations I bring into the public sphere.
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I work to translate research on structural inequity into recommendations that move decision-makers, from congressional stakeholders to national audiences, and into public discourse that reframes who gets to thrive and why. Equity is the outcome my work is built to advance.
CONSULTING CLIENTS INCLUDE:
Nonprofit & mission-driven organizations
Government agencies and public sector bodies
Philanthropy and foundations
Tech platforms and EdTech companies
Corporations — particularly those with DEI, social impact, or youth-facing programs
Academic institutions
MEDIA OP-EDS + FEATURES
Education & Training
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![Virginia Commonwealth University logo with the university seal and the abbreviation VCU in large yellow letters.]()
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![The NYU logo featuring a torch with a flame and the letters 'NYU' below it, on a purple background.]()
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![Logo of USC University of Southern California on a red background.]()
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