Ashley Bell (politician)

Political career

Bell was elected to the Hall County, Georgia County Commission at the age of 27.^[1] Previously a Democrat, Bell left the party to become a Republican in 2011.^[2] From 2011 to 2012, he was the senior surrogate for U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign. In 2012, he was appointed as special advisor to Mitt Romney during the general election and co-chaired Blacks for Romney with U.S. Senator Tim Scott. In 2014, he was the senior surrogate for Jack Kingston for senate. He was also the national co-chair for Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign.^[2]

In 2016, Bell was appointed Senior Strategist and National Director of African-American Political Engagement for the Republican National Committee.^[2] in 2017, he joined the Trump Pence Presidential Transition Team, later serving as a Special Assistant in the Public Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State.^[3] On July 7, 2017, the United States Peace Corps announced Bell as the new Associate Director for External Affairs -- overseeing Peace Corps’ Offices of Communications, Congressional Relations, Gifts and Grants Management and Strategic Partnerships and Intergovernmental Affairs.^[4]

Bell was appointed on February 21, 2018 by President Donald Trump to serve as Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration for Region IV; serving nine districts located in the 8 Southeastern States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Regional Administrator Bell has oversight of over $5 billion in SBA-backed lending, the Counseling arm of the SBA, which counseled over 225,000 entrepreneurs last year in Region IV, and the contracting programs for small business, which account for over 23% of all federal contracts awarded.^[5]

Legal career

Bell began his career as a public defender, later co-founding the law firm of Bell & Washington LLP, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Bell initially focused on general civil litigation, later going on to concentrate on public finance and government litigation. Bell has been named a 2017 Georgia "Super Lawyer Rising Star", one of the 2016 "Top 40 Young Lawyers" by the American Bar Association, a 2016 “Lawyer on the Rise” by Georgia’s leading legal journal, “The Daily Report,” recognizing Georgia's top 25 lawyers under 40, is a 2014 National IMPACT Leader of the Year (given to the nation’s top young professional of color for excellence in business & civic engagement), one of Georgia Trend Magazine’s Top Forty Under 40, a MAVERICK PAC Top 40 under 40, and a recipient of his local NAACP “Drum Major for Justice” award for his work fighting environmental racism as a county commissioner. Bell was the youngest General Counsel & Special Counsel for the National Conference of Black Mayors, National Association of Black County Officials and National League of Cities – Black Caucus, in total serving over two-thirds of black elected officials across America.^[1]

Non-Profit & Volunteer Service

Bell is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, the first and only nationwide organization of black Democrats and Republicans working together on criminal justice reform. He is also the Founder of Generation Inspiration, whose mission is to teach life skills not taught in the classroom to at-risk students of color in his hometown of Gainesville, Georgia, and set them on a trajectory for success.^[1]

Personal

Bell was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia.^[6] He is a graduate of Valdosta State University - where he served as president of the Student Government Association and founded the local chapter of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity - and graduated with a J.D. from Louisiana State University.^[6] He also attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government where he was a 21st Century Leadership Fellow.^[6] He also has an honorary doctorate in Intercultural & Urban Studies from Lighthouse College.^[6]