Ashley Bell
Ashley is an accomplished attorney, banking professional and serial entrepreneur.
Ashley D. Bell 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., and serves as founder and executive director of the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, a national organization dedicated to criminal justice reform.
Ashley founded his law firm, Bell & Washington in 2005, and was recognized as one of America’s top 40 attorneys under 40 by the American Bar Association. He later served as a partner focused on public policy, business and banking at Dentons.
Expertise: fintech; banking; entrepreneurship; innovation; public policy
Please direct media inquiries for Ashley Bell to info@yourwinningmargins.com.
Relevant links
Washington Post: Black investors see purchase of Utah bank as a civil rights victory
Atlanta Biz Journal: Bernice King, Ashley Bell buy bank to boost opportunities for Black home buyers and entrepreneurs.
Banking Dive: Black banks have dwindled in number, but a new one’s coming
Wall Street Journal: As Black-Owned Banks Steadily Fade Away, Investors Step In to Form One
Governing: Black Banks in Atlanta Continue as Bastion of Fiscal Strength
Black Enterprise: Ready Life Advisors Montel Williams, Dr. Bernice A. King and Ashley D. Bell Co-Host National Town Hall on Homeownership
Variety: Ashley D. Bell Announces Ready Entertainment Production Company
American Banker: Black entrepreneurs take aim at racial wealth gap by starting mortgage fintech