Ashley Z. Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C was appointed to the Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow for the City of Los Angeles by Mayor Eric Garcetti in August 2015 and is charged with developing a multi-disciplinary strategy to address mobility and transportation policies and services in a rapidly changing environment. With the proliferation of emerging sharing economy technologies and the advent of autonomous vehicles, it is anticipated that new urban forms and mobility options will greatly impact this region and Ashley, funded by the Goldhirsh Foundation through the Mayor’s Fund, is developing a cross-jurisdictional strategy to ensure access and equity. Previously, Ashley served Mayor Sylvester “Sly” James as the first Chief Innovation Officer of the City of Kansas City, Missouri and the first female municipal CIO in the country. Working collaboratively across departments, Ashley focused on process improvement through strategic planning, staff involvement and the use of lean methodology and design thinking. In addition, she championed an unprecedented public-private partnership to make Kansas City the most comprehensive smart city in North America by bringing digital infrastructure to a new streetcar line in the downtown core.

Prior to joining the public sector, Ashley was an architectural designer and planner for the global firm AECOM where she worked for both public and private sector clients across North America to adopt sustainable best practices and process improvement through community engagement, policy, and operational change management. Ashley holds a BA in political science from McGill University and a Masters of Architecture from the Pratt Institute and is a registered architect in the State of Missouri. She has been recognized by the Central Exchange as a 2014 Rising Star in Technology in the inaugural STEMMy Awards, the American Institute of Architects Kansas City as the 2012 Emerging Professional of the Year, the Kansas City Business Journal as the inaugural NextGen class of 2013, and NextCity as the Vanguard Class of 2014 for urban leadership. Ashley is a founding board member of the Friends of Hale Cook, a nonprofit that partnered with Kansas City Public Schools to reopen a public elementary school in August 2013 and currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.