Ashley relocated from Brooklyn, NY to join YouthLaunch's Urban Roots Program in February 2010 as an AmeriCorps VISTA. She is looking forward to working with the Urban Roots youth and the Austin community on creating a healthier, sustainable, and more accessible food system.

Ashley was born in Houston, and she received her Bachelor's degree in English Writing and Rhetoric with a minor in German from St. Edward's University. She became very interested in food production in the U.S. as she wrote her university thesis on the genetically modified food controversy.

After discovering her passion for food and farming, she volunteered for Urban Roots in the spring and summer of 2008, which was the first time she had set foot on a farm to grow food with others. This experience stayed with her, and she went on to volunteer at Rooftop Farms, located on top of a warehouse building in Brooklyn. She became a working member of a local food co-op and a volunteer for the first Brooklyn Food Conference, leading to the creation of the Brooklyn Food Coalition. Ashley is excited to be back in Texas to serve the Austin community.

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