Ashleigh Gainey, M.H.E., is a Cincinnati native who attended Miami University, completing her Bachelor of Science in Family Studies with a minor in Criminology.
Ashleigh began her post-collegiate career in Guangzhou, China, working for Lion King International. Upon returning to the U.S., she relocated to Rochester, New York, where she earned her Master’s in Higher Education. She went on to build a distinguished career in higher education and educational leadership, serving as the Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, as well as holding Assistant Director roles in academic advising at both the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Northeast Lakeview College in San Antonio.
Returning to the Midwest, Ashleigh served as Project Director and appointed DEI Coordinator for the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES) before becoming the founding Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
Alongside her corporate and community leadership, Ashleigh is a serial entrepreneur. Together with her husband, she co-owns and operates a strategic consulting firm—specializing in internal and external growth strategies, financial oversight, and layered reorganization for maximum scaling—as well as a commercial and residential lawn care and landscaping company.
An active community leader, Ashleigh has decided to go deeper in her boards of service, now being the Vice Chair of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative Board, the current Chair of the FIESTA NKY Board, and the Chair of the Advisory Council for the College of Health, Education, and Society at Miami University.
A favorite scripture that guides her journey is Ecclesiastes 3:1: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
