Brief Bio

 Ashley Stewart, Ph.D., MSW,  is the founder of Studio Hope. She developed Studio Hope in response to a critical need to support leaders within organizations to effectively promote a sustainable and equitable culture shift by addressing dominant cultural ideology. As a professor, she trains interdisciplinary students about social justice theories and frameworks and translational skills for anti-oppressive practice. Her research focuses on institutionalized forms of identity-based- oppression and understanding the intricacies of policy, programming, organizational culture, and wellbeing to make equity-centered changes above and beyond diversity efforts.

Dr. Stewart has had the opportunity to work with various organizations and finds that working with leadership directly to be accountable and anti-oppressive has had the most significant impact on long-term change.  She utilizes an equity-centered approach to ensure that diversity and inclusion efforts move forward and reduce harm to people marginalized by systems. Her work includes assessing the intersections of identity, structural oppression, wellness, and policy. In addition to the advanced study of the consequence and causes of identity-based oppression, Dr. Stewart supports implementing anti-oppressive practices at organizational, structural, programmatic, and interpersonal interventions. 

Dr. Stewart believes that mental health support should be culturally relevant and trauma-informed. From her many years teaching clinical practices, Dr. Stewart has developed a unique style to mental health support that she brings to counseling at Studio Hope. The function of Studio Hope is not to engage in therapy typical of most treatment modalities, but to instead provide counseling and coaching informed by therapeutic best-practices and catered to the unique needs of each client. She believes individuals are the experts of their lived experiences, and her counseling philosophy honors that.