Ashley Dedmon, MPH, CHES®, LSS

Previously, Ashley served as the inaugural Director of the National Breast Cancer Roundtable at the American Cancer Society (ACS), a White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative, where she led an equitable network of stakeholders to improve the lives of cancer patients and their families. Prior to her role at ACS, she was a Manager for African American Health Equity Initiatives and Metastatic Breast Cancer Initiatives for Susan G. Komen®.

Ashley also served as project coordinator for Harris County Public Health, overseeing efforts to combat childhood obesity through policy action. Additionally, she worked as a Community Engagement Specialist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, managing corporate partnerships and community initiatives. Before that, Ashley spent ten years as a health education teacher and curriculum writer in the Texas public school system.

Ashley's deep-rooted commitment to our mission is evident in her advocacy efforts, community engagement, and support initiatives. She was a research advocate with the National Cancer Institute Patient Advocate Workgroup, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Health Physical Sciences-Oncology Advocacy Network. Ashley has volunteered with The Light Collective, The Tigerlily Foundation, and TOUCH on various health equity initiatives, as well as Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) as a research advocate and peer navigator, an Ambassador for The Wisdom Study, and former Board of Directors Member for CanCare Houston.

A 2022 National Breast Cancer Coalition’s Project LEAD Institute graduate, Ashley is trained through the GW Patient Navigation Program and a Tigerlilly ANGEL Advocate. She currently serves on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, where she co-chairs the genetic and genomic workgroup, and the National Minority Quality Forum Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative (CSSI) Scientific Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Penn Medicine: Basser Center for BRCA Young Leadership Council: Black and BRCA Initiative and a member of the Breastie community.

Ashley's passion for our cause is both professional and deeply personal. A BRCA2 previvor, she was a teen caregiver for two parents with cancer: her mother, who had metastatic breast cancer, and her father, a prostate cancer survivor. During her double mastectomy, Ashley wrote "The Big Discovery," a children's book that helps families navigate a breast cancer diagnosis. She and her story have been featured on the TEDx platform, in Women's Health Magazine, Healthy Women, Essence Magazine, National Geographic, Ana Ono, and other national media outlets.

She has served on various related workgroups and committees focused on advancing equity and has presented at institutions and organizations such as the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), MD Anderson Cancer Center, Yale University, Gilead Oncology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Susan G. Komen®, The Kellogg Company, Myriad Genetics, CURE® Education, TOUCH, The Tigerlily Foundation, Gilead Oncology, NIH, Basser Center for BRCA, and American Cancer Society.

Ashley holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Prairie View A&M University and a Master of Public Health from Florida A&M University. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, researching how chronic stress and social factors might change Black women's genes, making them more susceptible to breast cancer.

In her leisure time, Ashley enjoys spending time with her family, publishing her children’s book series on health conversations, serving in her community, and spinning on her Peloton.