Bio
Ashley Harrington is federal advocacy director and senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), a non-profit policy and research organization dedicated to eliminating abusive lending practices and advancing financial opportunities for people of color and low-income individuals. Ashley leads CRL’s federal advocacy efforts, helping to shape fair lending and consumer protection reforms to address racial wealth disparities. Her portfolio includes a range of consumer lending issues, with a focus on student debt reform.
Ashley has previously worked at UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) and in the New York Governor’s Office. She is the author of articles and reports on student debt, particularly as it affects Black borrowers; a frequent media contributor; and she has provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee and Small Business Committee.
Ashley received her B.A. in Public Policy Analysis from UNC-Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and a Gates Millennium Scholar. Ashley earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law where she was a Derrick Bell Public Service Scholar and an Articles Editor of the New York University Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in New York.
Featured work
![A black man receiving his diploma and giving a handshake.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/03/Student-Debt-Blog-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Mar 30, 2021
Student Debt is a Racial Justice Issue. Here’s What President Biden Can Do to Help.