Ashley Garcia-Rivera is a Policy and Advocacy Fellow at the Center for Adoption Support and Education, where she advocates for the mental health needs of the foster care and adoptive community and adoption-competent therapy. Ashley is currently obtaining a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology and Philosophy at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. 

In 2013, she created a charity, Suitcases of Hope, dedicated to giving a large duffel bag to youth entering the foster care system. Ashley’s goal is to eliminate the use of trash bags.

Since 2016, Ashley has been part of the Speakers Bureau for AdoptUSKids and the Ad Council. Ashley shares her foster care and adoption journey to inspire others to adopt older youth through foster care. This past summer Ashley completed an internship with the National Adoption Association and AdoptUSKids. Ashley looks to bring a fresh perspective from her lived experiences to our ever-changing welfare system.