Ashley Swearengin is president and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation, a charitable foundation serving the six counties of Central California and providing over $110 million in funding to over 650 community benefit organizations over the last decade. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as mayor of Fresno from 2009 through 2016. As mayor, she focused her efforts on improving distressed neighborhoods, revitalizing the downtown and urban core, promoting business and job growth, securing the city’s long-term water supply, addressing chronic homelessness, and stabilizing the city’s financial position. Before becoming mayor, Swearengin led a number of community and economic development initiatives in the Central Valley, including the Governor’s Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development, and the Central Valley Business Incubator. She sits on numerous boards of organizations dedicated to economic empowerment and educational attainment in the Central Valley and throughout California, including the College Futures Foundation, Urban Institute, Secure Water Future Advisory Board, Northern CA Grantmakers, J.B. McClatchy Foundation, and New America. She is also the Co-Chair of California Forward. Swearengin holds MBA and BS degrees from California State University, Fresno.
