Title: Chief of Staff
Company: The Leadership Academy
Location: Henderson, Nevada, United States
Ashley Fortner-Dominguez, EdLD, Chief of Staff at The Leadership Academy, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in Educational Leadership and Administration.
Dr. Fortner-Dominguez is a dedicated professional in educational leadership, whose career is marked by progressive experience and a reputation for building collective trust by designing effective systems and translating complex ideas into actionable strategies. Since 2024, she has served as the chief of staff at The Leadership Academy in New York, where she is responsible for developing and leading the implementation of the organization’s five-year strategic plan. In this capacity, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez meets with external stakeholders, clients and partners to understand their collaborative needs, works closely with the chief executive officer and cabinet to define the organization’s vision, and hosts meetings across all departments to ensure clarity and support for executing the strategic plan. She also collaborates with the head of talent management to build systems that foster trust, psychological safety and effective execution throughout the organization.
From 2023 to 2025, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez participated in the City Hall Fellow Leadership Development program through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During this period, she also contributed her expertise in knowledge management and communications at the National Math and Science Initiative from 2023 to 2024. As an Education Pioneers Fellow in 2023, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez accepted a contract with the National Math and Science Initiative, focusing on internal communications and systems development.
Dr. Fortner-Dominguez’s tenure with the Dallas Independent School District from 2015 to 2022 was particularly impactful. As a manager of leader recruitment, selection and pipeline systems from 2021 to 2022, she designed a comprehensive leader-tracking system from inception. This innovative system enabled the district to identify talent at every level, highlight areas where talent was underrecognized, indicate where additional support was needed, and monitor specific skill sets, including certifications and prior experience outside education. Dr. Fortner-Dominguez’s collaboration with developers and executive leadership led to significant improvements in recruitment and selection processes, resulting in higher educator retention rates than in previous years.
Hired by the Dallas Independent School District in 2015, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez worked her way up from a bilingual teacher to a campus instructional coach in 2018, assistant principal in 2019 and coordinator of leadership development in 2020. Each position allowed her to further develop her expertise in educational leadership while directly impacting student outcomes.
Dr. Fortner-Dominguez’s international experience included appointments at The American University in Cairo as an instructor from 2012 to 2014, followed by a Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship between 2013 and 2014. Her foundational roles included researcher at Arab Studies Institute from 2012 to 2013, lead instructor at SABIS Network International School of Choueifat in 2012, and learning and development specialist and instructor at Islamic Cultural Society Islamic Educational College, starting in 2011. Dr. Fortner-Dominguez’s initial introduction into academia was as an English as a second language instructor to non-faculty staff at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, from 2010 to 2011.
Possessing a rich educational background, Dr. Fortner-Dominiguez earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations with a concentration in global studies focused on the Middle East, along with minors in philosophy, women and gender studies, and Arabic from the University of Richmond in 2011. She soon after completed a Master of Arts in Near and Middle Eastern studies at The American University in Cairo in 2014, a Master of Education in educational leadership with an urban school specialization, summa cum laude, from Southern Methodist University in 2019, and a Doctor of Education Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2025. Dr. Fortner-Dominguez is recognized for her fluency in Spanish, English, Arabic, French and Portuguese.
In addition to her formal education, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez obtained international TEFL and TESOL certifications through Ascentis. She also earned core subjects certification, bilingual education supplemental certification in Spanish, principal certification from the Texas Education Agency, a cultural intelligence and unconscious bias certified trainer designation from the Cultural Intelligence Center, and a work management core certification from monday.com.
Dr. Fortner-Dominguez’s professional affiliations include the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, the Association of Hispanic School Administrators, and AASA, The School Superintendents Association. She also remains active with several honor societies. Civically engaged, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez has volunteered as an interpreter for a criminal immigration law firm and has contributed time as a church volunteer.
In light of her achievements, Dr. Fortner-Dominguez received several accolades, such as the Pursuit of Excellence Award from the Association of Hispanic School Administrators in 2022. She also received a fellowship from Education Pioneers and participated in a four-month leadership program for executive directors.
Dr. Fortner-Dominguez attributes her success to strong support systems and perseverance. Her initial career path was rooted in international affairs. However, after living abroad for approximately five years, she began researching children’s experiences in schools overseas. These experiences inspired Dr. Fortner-Dominguez to return to Dallas, where she shifted her focus toward education. Now focused on expanding the impact of her national nonprofit organization, which operates across approximately 40 states, her ongoing commitment centers on supporting adult learners while developing future leaders within education.
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