Ashley D. Bell

Ashley Bell is the co-founder and General Counsel for the National Black Bank Foundation and the $250 million Black Bank Fund, and in this role, facilitated the refinance of the construction loan for the Emory Sports Medicine Complex with a syndicate of Black-owned banks. The $35 million loan marks the first time a professional sports franchise has had a significant loan underwritten exclusively by Black banks.

Previously, Bell served as the White House Policy Advisor for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration for the Southeastern United States. In these dual roles, Bell led entrepreneurship policymaking at the White House, and execution of those policies for underserved communities, minorities, and women at SBA.

Additionally, as part of the policy team that created the rules for opportunity zones, he helped oversee the execution of all opportunity zone-related federal spending that supported small business growth, including but not limited to start-ups. Bell worked closely with venture capital funds, qualified opportunity zone funds, and traditional lenders to leverage public and private resources to support economic growth in underserved communities and worked directly with entrepreneurs to create strategies to leverage local, state, and federal incentives.

Bell earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Valdosta State University and a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Civil Law from Louisiana State University.