Ashley R. Goldon

Ashley R. Goldon, a current Doctoral Candidate in Social Work program at USC, is a closet convict turned justice advocate, whose mission is to leverage adverse experiences to catalyze positive change in the community. After her release from prison in 2010, Ashley persevered to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, in 2013, but not before pioneering two student groups that bolstered student and community engagement. Four years after being hired into Metro-Detroit’s largest juvenile justice facilities, Ashley’s passion and talent landed her a position in leadership, where she managed educational, therapeutic and recreational programing for over 200 youth, including a Human Trafficking Awareness program and an innovative expressive arts continuum that targeted trauma affected youth with juvenile justice adjudications.

In 2018, Ashley served as founding chair of USC’s Unchained Scholars, a Student Organization for Graduate Students of Social Work adversely affected by the criminal Justice System. In 2020, she graduated Suma Cum Laude with her master’s degree in Social Work, from the University of Southern California and launched Innovative Transitions, a non-profit that will bolster financial capability for all by providing system-impacted people with home ownership opportunities.