Ashley Simms leads public relations efforts for education and state and local government initiatives at Amazon Web Services (AWS). In her role, she manages the full cycle of media relations programs—from developing creative pitches to obtaining coverage in top-tier media, education and government trade publications, and broadcast stations.

Prior to AWS, Ms. Simms was a Vice President at FleishmanHillard (FH) where she spent more than six years managing large-scale, integrated marketing campaigns from strategy to execution. She led a variety of public education campaigns for federal government and consumer clients with a specialty in military and veterans’ affairs, public health, cybersecurity communications, youth advocacy and public education initiatives.

Along with client management, Ms. Simms served as a diversity and inclusion leader at FH where she led the Alfred Fleishman Diversity Fellowship program in the DC office to advocate for a more diverse public relations industry. She was named Outstanding Young PR Professional at the 2017 Diversity Distinction in PR Awards by PR Week and the PR Council. She was also featured in the Huffington Post as one of the Top 25 African American PR Millennials to Watch and recognized as a 2018 Rising Star by PRNews.

Ms. Simms received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in journalism and public relations. She obtained a master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. Ashley is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.