Altruistic Ash

Whiteside, LMSW, is a healer, therapist, doula, and educator. She believes that choosing to heal is a radical act of self-love. Her charge fuels her: to walk alongside Black and Brown femmes (women, girls, feminine identified) as they continue on the ever-evolving process of self-discovery, making adjustments to live in alignment with their desires and express themselves the most authentically. In

her practice, she prioritizes and centers the experiences and healing of Black and Brown femmes. She serves as a guide as clients navigate back to a space of remembering the inherent truth of who they are and desire to be. Ashley has worked in the field of Social Work for over seven years. Her work has centered around her values of community and evolution. Ashley has previous experience working with youth in afterschool programs, community organizing, inpatient intensive substance abuse rehabilitation programs, statewide program implementation, and data collection/analysis in school day treatment programs, community-based family therapy, emergency department psychiatric triage, and inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Ashley has never lost her passion and focus on serving her community. She worked with Root3d, a community wellness studio, to provide open community groups and a women’s group. From there, she began to offer more community workshops on mental health topics, providing information to the community in an accessible format. Recently Ashley has rejoined the classroom as an educator at The University at Albany, State University of New York, School of Social Welfare. She has taught there for two semesters as a Macro Practice Instructor, teaching sequences I and II for first-year MSW students. She developed a curriculum centered around social justice and equity while meeting CSWE standards. Ashley recently moved to Philadelphia, PA, where she is excited to continue her work supporting clients and the greater community.