Ashley Fried

Background

About Ashley Fried

I caught fire for the nonprofit industry as an aid worker in Sierra Leone, Africa. Literally… but that’s a story I save for dinner parties. Metaphorically, I caught fire for the industry from a coffee-ring-stained magazine in my dentist’s office waiting room. Who knew a root canal could transform my life path? An article in this magazine explained how a well-intended (and massive) donation of clothing ultimately devastated a micro-industry of local seamstresses, who no longer had business in their village. The piece ended with a stark reminder about how often well-intended people and donations meant to “change the world” sometimes changes worlds—for the worse. Kudos to the author, whose thought-provoking words have moved and tugged at me for almost a decade. I have dedicated my career to just this: meaningful, strategic giving that uplifts and sustains local economies rather than disrupts them. It brought me to pursuing my B.A. in Nonprofit Management from High Point University, serving as a grant writer and fundraiser for one of the largest behavioral health providers in the Northeast, to aid work across the globe. Most importantly, it gets me out of bed in the morning.