ABOUT
Stephany Ashley (she/her)
is a writer, facilitator, strategist and advocate living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her life’s work is to (1) reduce the immediate suffering caused by poverty, stigma and criminalization, while (2) inspiring people to believe that another world is possible and (3) initiating new models for society that act on that belief.
Stephany was introduced to the labor movement as a member of the Exotic Dancers Union, and grew up (politically) under the tutelage of harm reduction and HIV activists in San Francisco. At 25 she became the youngest person to serve as President of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, a hub of progressive politics in San Francisco. She then served as legislative aide to Supervisor David Campos, where her legislative achievements included establishing a “buffer zone” to protect patients and providers of reproductive health services from harassment, and opening “Jazzie’s Place” - the first LGBT homeless shelter in the country.
She is the former Executive Director of the St. James Infirmary, an Occupational Health & Safety Clinic serving current and former sex workers, and former Campaign Manager of Tipping Point Community’s Chronic Homelessness Initiative, which sought to cut chronic homelessness in half in San Francisco. Most recently, she served as Northern California Director of Housing Services at Brilliant Corners, where she helped to launch the Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool, which aims to end homelessness for 1,000 San Franciscans utilizing existing market rate housing.
She currently serves as a Lead Trainer for the Soul Focused Group, and as Chair of the Board of the Transgender, Gender-variant, and Intersex Justice Project.