Ashleigh Axios believes that great design and strong leadership can positively transform public services, businesses, and communities. As an executive, she has built and co-led organizations that scaled to $30M+ in revenue while maintaining profitability—prioritizing a values-driven culture, operational excellence, and inclusive innovation.

She served as the Creative Director and Digital Strategist in the Obama White House, leading high-impact digital initiatives that made government more accessible, responsive, and effective. Later, she co-established and led a government-focused digital consultancy, partnering with public-sector organizations, foundations, and nonprofits to modernize services and expand social impact. Under her leadership, teams, programs, and initiatives earned national recognition for innovation in government contracting and workplace culture.

Beyond government, Ashleigh has collaborated with mission-driven foundations, nonprofits, and civic organizations committed to advancing social good. She also founded DotGov Design, a nonprofit initiative that connects and empowers government designers, and launched the DotGov Design Conference to foster knowledge-sharing among public-sector creatives. In addition to her executive work, she serves on boards and advisory committees that support innovation in design, education, and mission-driven leadership.

Alongside her work in civic innovation and public-sector transformation, Ashleigh is passionate about building and leading businesses that challenge standard practices, align with strong values, and prioritize people-first approaches that benefit both society and the environment. She frequently shares insights on scaling impact-driven companies, ethical leadership, and sustainable growth, sparking conversations with fellow leaders who are shaping the future of business and public service.

Recent Article & Illustration

“‘The American public needs us now more than ever’: Government designers steel for regime change”
November 26, 2024
Categories: Analysis, Democracy

Select Accolades

Trailblazer AWard Finalist

ACG National Capital
2023

ACG National Capital recognizes executives who challenge the status quo to drive innovation in all facets of business to drive results, and who represent the next generation of leadership, for their contributions to the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area’s business community.

Select Interviews

MagazineS &
Online publications

• Nasdaq in 2022, “Crafting Creative Solutions That Elevate Human Needs”

• Offscreen in 2018, “The creative director of Obama’s White House calls on designers to tackle the biggest challenges of our time.”

• 28 Black Designers in 2018

• The United State of Women in 2016

• FastCompany: “How Designers Can Help The Black Lives Matter Movement” in 2016

Podcasts

• Cheers & Tiers: Design Leadership Tales Retold with Erik Cargill and Rachel Elnar in 2025

• Clever Podcast with Amy Devers in 2022

• The Reflex Blue Show
  with Donovan Beery in 2020

• The Design of Business | The Business of Design
  with Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand in 2017

• Giant Thinkers Podcast
  with Ram Castillo in 2017

• Revision Path
  with Maurice Cherry in 2016

Ashleigh Axios brings a dynamic, deeply human voice to stages across design, government, technology, and civic leadership. She shares her journey — with its successes, challenges, and hard-won lessons — to reveal what’s possible when equity, creativity, and public good are at the center of the work. Through keynotes, panels, and workshops, she explores themes like leadership under pressure, value-driven innovation, inclusive design, and the intersection of culture and technology.

She has delivered talks at global conferences, major universities, and leading organizations, including:

Select Speaking Highlights

Conferences

• AIGA Design Conference

• The D&AD Festival

• HOW Design Live

• DesignThinkers

• 99U

• 3% Conference

• AIGA Design Leadership + Advocacy Conference

• NextGen Government

• Design Observer

Universities

• Harvard University

• Yale University

• Parsons School of Design

• Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

• School of Visual Arts (SVA)

• Wesleyan University

Companies

• IBM

• Oracle

• Mattel Inc

Speaking Announcements

Interested in inviting Ashleigh to speak?