
Ashleigh Axios is an international speaker, strategic creative, and an advocate for design’s ability to break barriers and create positive social change. She is a national board member and Executive Committee Chair for AIGA, the professional association of design.
At Automattic, a technology company on a mission to democratize publishing and commerce, Axios formed and led the in-house creative agency for marketing, communications, and brand identity solutions. Prior to her role at Automattic, Axios served as the creative director and a digital strategist for the Obama White House, bridging two presidential terms in the Office of Digital Strategy. She is also the president emeritus of AIGA Washington D.C., where she formed DotGovDesign, an initiative connecting and empowering government designers with regular meetings, a yearly conference, and online course.
Axios and her work has been featured in Print, Essence, How, Net, GDUSA, and Offscreen magazines as well as various online publications. She was named one of GDUSA’s People to Watch, featured in Essence Magazine as one of the 29 most powerful black women in the Obama administration, and received the DCFemTech Award for being a powerful woman designer on multiple occasions.
Axios is a graduate from, and an alumni advisor to, Rhode Island School of Design. She lives and works in Washington, DC.