Ashley Williams Clark is the Vice President of Detroit Future City (DFC) and the Director of the Center for Equity, Engagement and Research (the Center). In this role, Ashley leads and manages the Center’s work with a focus on promoting economic equity in Detroit through evidence-based research, policy recommendations, and engaging Detroit residents and community leaders to understand and utilize DFC research.

 

Ashley has more than 15 years of experience in public policy research and analysis, community engagement, program development, and project management. Prior to joining DFC, Ashley worked for the City of Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department on the public-private partnerships team. She also served as the director of outreach and strategic partnerships at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte Urban Institute, a non-partisan, applied research and community outreach institute. While at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, Ashley also was the interim and associate director of an integrated data system and led the Institute’s research and community engagement initiatives that addressed affordable housing and homelessness.

 

Ashley previously held joint roles at the Urban Institute in Washington D.C. as a research associate on the Metropolitan Housing and Communities team and as the director of operations for the Urban Institute Academy for Public Policy Analysis and Research, a training and mentoring program aimed at training and cultivating a diverse pipeline of public policy scholars from historically underserved communities (now a separate non-profit called The Policy Academies).

 

Ashley has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a member of Leadership Detroit Class 43.

 

Kristopher Smith is a Community Development Officer at LISC Jacksonville where he co-directs LISC’s Family Wealth Creation Initiative and Creative Placekeeping efforts to advance economic growth in urban core neighborhoods. Kristopher designed and launched the Heirs’ Property Program in Jacksonville/Duval County in 2021. 

 

Kristopher has over 25 years of experience in philanthropy, public sector and community development. Prior to joining the LISC Jacksonville team, Kristopher completed a sixteen month stint as Director of Community Services at the Community Action Council in Lexington, KY. Kristopher also served as a consultant and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Mid South from October 2016 thru October 2018. Prior to his work at FMS, he served as the director of leadership development for the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities from 2008 – 2016. During that time, he worked closely with the Restoring Prosperity in Older Industrial Cities group to allocate resources and oversee project execution. Kristopher also managed the Funders’ Network’s year-long fellowship program, the PLACES, that provides philanthropic leadership training and skill-building opportunities.

 

Kristopher holds a master of arts in public administration from Nova Southeastern University, a bachelor of arts in public science from Bethune-Cookman University, and certification in entrepreneurship education from Babson College.