Leadership

Our Founder and CEO

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Ashley D. Bell

Ashley D. Bell is an accomplished attorney, banking professional and serial entrepreneur.

Ashley is a Georgia-based attorney and political adviser who founded and currently serves as CEO of Ready Life, a fintech startup revolutionizing the home buying experience for Black Americans by removing the use of credit scores. He also helms the Black-led investor group preparing to acquire the Utah-based, nonminority-owned Holladay Bank & Trust, a first-of-its-kind transaction that will create Redemption Bank, pending regulatory approval.

Ashley’s legal expertise spans public policy, business and banking, and he is the former White House Policy Advisor for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in the office of American Innovation. In 2018,Ashley was tapped to lead the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Southeast Region. He also co-founded the National Black Bank Foundation alongside frequent collaborator Bernice King, daughter of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Dr. Bernice A. King

Advisory Council Chair

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June Ou

Technical Advisor

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Van Jones

Senior Advisor

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Mike Cagney

Senior Advisor

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Yolanda Daniel

Senior Advisor

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Adam Aspes

Senior Advisor

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Marty Edelman

Senior Advisor

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Sekou Kaalund

Advisor

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Cortez Bryant

Advisor

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Alice M. Johnson

Advisor

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Eugene Cornelius Jr.

Advisor

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Michael Blake

Advisor

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Joe Lubeck

Advisor

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Jonathan Beane

Advisor

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Rodney Guillory

Advisor

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Montel Williams

Advisor

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Matt Ornstein

Advisor

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Terry Rossio

Advisor

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Cordell Carter

Advisor

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