Young Alumni Award: Social Entrepreneur Ashley Edwards ’08 

Ashley Edwards accepted the 2023 Young Alumni Award virtually from Portugal on Alumni Weekend. Her parents Jeff and Debbie Edwards accepted the award in person.

Ashley is the founder and CEO at MindRight Health, a Newark-based tech startup dedicated to making mental health services accessible and inclusive of underserved communities. Ashley has raised over $2.8 million in capital for the platform. She was the  first Black female founder to raise over $1 million in venture capital in New Jersey and at the time she was one of only 35 to ever do so in the United States. Ashley is currently the Inaugural Visiting Social Entrepreneur at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She has been recognized for her work as a Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneur, named as one of the top “healers” set to influence the next century.

During her acceptance remarks, Ashley cited leadership lessons learned at MFS. “One of the most significant lessons I learned during my time at MFS was the importance of servant leadership,” she said. “This school instilled in me a deep sense of  responsibility to give back to my community and to make a positive impact in the world.” She continued: “The foundation of my approach to leadership was laid at Moorestown Friends… I was surrounded by teachers, classmates, and staff who modeled what it means to be a servant leader… MFS showed me how to lead with empathy, compassion, and a deep commitment to making a difference.”

Ashley serves as the East Coast Impact Chair of the Global Forbes Under 30 community. Ashley has been profiled for her work in media outlets such as Fast Company and Huffington Post. She has also been recognized by a number of organizations, including the Tribeca Disruptor Awards, the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, and the Elle Impact Awards for her leadership in social innovation. Her speaking engagements have included Stanford, Yale, Harvard Business School, Google, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Before founding MindRight, Ashley served as Director of Operations for Newark Prep Charter School in Newark, NJ, where traditional face-to-face classroom learning was blended with online learning. She developed the school’s operations and data management system from launch to 300+ students. Ashley holds an M.B.A. and an M.Ed. from Stanford University, where she was the recipient of the Miller Social Change Leadership Award and served as President of the Black Business Student  Association. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics, where she received the Yale Franciscus Fellowship in Entrepreneurship.

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