Ashley Philippsen

Senior Director of Engagement & Advocacy, ImpactTulsa

Ashley's focus is to ensure people-centered community wealth building and driving efforts surrounding Historic Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Massacre. Ashley is a systems, culture, and equity coach with over a decade of experience in education, leadership development, civic engagement, and school and curriculum design. Ashley uses her experience to partner with students and families, districts, and partner organizations as they navigate system complexities.

Through her career, with roles including Executive Director at Met Cares, Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Development at Teach For America, and Founding Dean of Students at YES Prep Public Schools, Ashley has developed skills in small and large team management, effective program design, and implementation, strategic thinking, and planning.

As the Deputy Chief of Community Development and Policy at the City of Tulsa, she was responsible for designing and facilitating community engagement processes for urban planning and development, amongst other City initiatives. As ImpactTulsa’s Senior Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy, Ashley partners with teams to drive policy, systems-change, and programs that create sustainable outcomes for students in the Greater Tulsa area.

Ashley started her career as a 2007 Teach For America corps member in Houston at YES Prep Public Schools. She was a founding administrator at YES Prep Brays Oaks Campus in 2009. Ashley relocated to Tulsa in 2012 to serve as Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Development with Teach For America - Oklahoma. In 2015, Ashley joined Leadership Tulsa to design and launch social innovation and adaptive leadership programs.  

Ashley has a BA in Letters from the University of Oklahoma,  a Master of Human Relations with an emphasis on Organizational Dynamics and Social Justice, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She serves on the Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission and is the president-elect of the Tulsa Area Human Resources Association.