Ashley Woods Branch joined BlueLena as Vice President, Growth and Publisher Success in June, 2024. As a member of our leadership team, she leads the growth of our publishing community, supports client and industry successes by leading strategic initiatives that advance long-term sustainability, and grows association and platform partnerships that benefit our client community.
Most recently, Ashley has served as Executive Director for the Fund for Equity in Local News (FELN), where she partnered with the Google News Initiative to support over 240 publishers through Transformation Tech. The program provides a digital curriculum, coaching and grant-funding to accelerate digital transformation for English and Spanish-language community publishers.
With over two decades of industry experience as a journalism founder, leader, executive and consultant, Ashley has been at the forefront of driving growth and success for hundreds of news organizations, large and small. In 2017, she founded Detour Detroit, one of the first local newsletter startups, which served as a model and inspiration for many other successful newsroom launches across the United States. Ashley was awarded a visiting Nieman fellowship at Harvard University, a Marshall Memorial Fellowship, and numerous awards for local journalism and innovation.
Ashley is passionate about supporting news founders. She currently serves as a LION Publishers Sustainability Audit analyst and coaches Press Forward applicants through a partnership with The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. She’s also served as a coach and advisor for numerous programs designed to equip founders with the business and strategic skills they need to achieve sustainability. A highly respected thought leader, she is a frequent convener, speaker and moderator at industry conferences.
Ashley attended Wayne State University and lives outside of Detroit with her husband and three children.