Chief of Staff to Illinois Senate President Don Harmon
Ashley is the first Black woman to serve as a chief of staff for any legislative caucus in Illinois. She started officially in January. She’s worked for the Senate for a long time.
As a little background, in Illinois if you work for any of the four caucuses (House Dems, House GOP, Senate Dems, Senate GOP), you are employed by the respective Speaker, President, or Minority Leader and work with members for the leader. In practice, you personally staff 1+ members/committees depending on your specific position, unit, etc. In all of the caucuses, the Chief of Staff is the chief executive officer/staff director of the caucus. Ashley is not only the director of all the Senate Democratic caucus staff members (leadership staff, legislative assistants, budget analysts, legal analysts/attorneys, administrative staff, Senate Secretary’s staff and operations), she is also the chief staffer for the Senate President himself.
Ashley is a lawyer and her background is working on legal matters in the Senate, analyzing bills and legislation, developing bills and legislation, serving as committee legal staff and parliamentarian, serving as floor parliamentarian when the Senate is in session etc. Ashley was honored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus at the annual Black History Month Soiree. She was critical to a variety of reforms the Black Caucus developed and got passed into law in 2020 and 2021.
We not only congratulate you Ashley Jenkins-Jordan but we celebrate your professional prowess that is paving the way for others who aspire to attain such leadership. We applaud and support you! Keep moving the needle!