Ashley Brown

Dr. Ashley Brown is an executive leadership advisor at ghSMART. She serves Fortune 500 CEOs and senior executives, private equity investors, and boards in the areas of leadership assessment, coaching and development, and organizational effectiveness. Drawn to helping leaders thrive, Brown's career has spanned the private, public, and social sectors. Prior to joining ghSMART, Brown was at McKinsey & Company. She served high-performing organizations, bringing a cross-industry perspective to talent strategy and capability building. Internally, Brown provided guidance on strategic growth to leaders of dozens of client service teams and served as an advisor to 500+ integrative consultants. She built trust-based relationships across tenures from business analysts through senior partners, and she was involved in shaping initiatives on recruitment, learning, development, advancement, mobility, and inclusive leadership. Prior to McKinsey, Brown was in People Operations at Google, partnering with leaders on topics including performance management, succession planning, compensation, and post-merger integration. During her graduate studies, Brown was an instructor of political psychology, an assistant to the Dean of Academic Planning and Policy, and a research assistant in the Graduate Student Success Office. Dr. Brown also spent several years as an analyst in the United States Intelligence Community, focusing primarily on political instability and democratization. Brown graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Spelman College with a degree in economics. She completed her advanced degrees at the University of Michigan, earning a master's degree in political science, followed by a joint PhD in public policy and political science. She is also a Certified Executive Coach.