Ashley Harding
Ashley Harding, founder of North Star Academics, is a fourth-generation educator and Los Angeles native dedicated to advancing educational equity. She holds a B.S. from the University of Southern California and an M.A. in Child Development from Tufts University, with additional study in education reform at NYU and as a Graduate Fellow in the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact program. With more than a decade of experience, Ashley has supported students and families in private and independent schools, helping to bridge cultural, academic, and relational gaps. She previously served as Director of External Engagement for a national school network, where she oversaw initiatives reaching more than 6,000 students and co-authored research on systemic disparities affecting Black and Latino students. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and in academic publications with Dr. James Jennings of Tufts and Harvard University. Ashley also serves as President of the Board for the Black Education Advocacy Network (BEAN) and on CHADD’s National Board of Directors, where she advances initiatives that promote academic equity, representation, and culturally responsive practices for all learners.
Current Workshops
Neurodiversity, Co-Regulation, and Family Systems: A Yearlong Professional Learning Series with Ashley Harding
Students who are neurodivergent do not fail to thrive in schools because they lack capability. They struggle because the systems around them — academic, relational, and familial — are not designed to accurately read what they are communicating. Behavior that looks like defiance is often a nervous system that has run out of options. Avoidance is frequently anxiety that has nowhere else to go. Shutdown is not disengagement — it is a student who has exceeded their capacity to cope and has no other tool available. Educators engaged in this ongoing program will have not just new knowledge, but a genuinely different lens — one they will use every time they sit across from a student who is struggling to show them what they need. The program’s structure is unique, including live online learning spaces, office hours, curated, asynchronous coaching, and access to a curated digital implementation hub.
Past Workshops
Neurodiversity x Co-Regulation: A Two-Part Series
This two-part series is designed to equip teachers with research-based frameworks and ready-to-use tools so that they can respond to stress and anxiety with confidence, compassion, and consistency.