Ashley Comans:

Fighting for the People

Ashley Comans is a passionate community advocate who has been a resident of Wilkinsburg, PA, for most of her life. A product of our public schools, she’s a graduate of Woodland Hills High School and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Clarion University.

Growing up in House District 34, Ashley never thought she would one day run for office. A full-time working mom, Ashley and her husband are raising their two young children in Wilkinsburg, where they are both active in the community. Ashley understands that change only happens through action, and stepped up to run for office in 2017.

As a newlywed with future plans to start a family, she ran for school board so her own children would one day be able to receive the best public school education possible. Called to action, Ashley knew she needed to do more for her community that show up to vote and was successful in her run for public office.

In December of 2017, she was sworn into her first elected role as a School Board Director for the Wilkinsburg School District, where she has been a fierce advocate for public education, teachers, and fully funding Pennsylvania’s public schools. That year she was named the Project Coordinator for the Hill Youth Partnership for Enrichment (HYPE), focused on out-of-school time programming in the Hill District.

Ashley has catalyzed transformative change during her time on as a School Director, including restructuring the district’s elementary schools and lowering taxes in Wilkinsburg. These actions were crucial to align the education of students in early childhood and intermediate structures across the district. It was during this time Wilkinsburg also saw an increase in student enrollment.

The district began renovations to Turner Elementary school in 2018, the same school Ashley attended as a child. The school renovation was successfully completed before the end of her first term in December 2019. She was honored to bring her newborn daughter to the ribbon-cutting ceremony to share in the experience.

During this time Ashley had the opportunity to work with the Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School (APOST), a grant-funded initiative through the United Way, where she worked on system-building efforts for after-school programs in the Hill District. Through her time with APOST over $10,000 was awarded to students in the Hill District.

Through APOST Ashley also fought for more financial support for after school programming, leading to the Our Kids Our Commitment ballot measure. Although the measure didn’t pass, it did lead to a new county department dedicated to children that was officially created in 2021.

Ashley has continued to be a voice to speak out and stand up for the communities she has lived in all her life, communities which are often counted out. Her work serving on boards such as Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, and UNITE! has allowed her to help effect change from a community level.

She is currently the Media & Government Relations Manager for Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Healthy Start, where she works to address maternal health disparities in our communities.

Ashley is now running to represent the Pennsylvania 34th State Legislative district to bring bold leadership by representing working families, those in need of healthcare justice, reproductive justice and care infrastructure, such as paid family and sick leave — fights that need to continue on, and be won, in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Ashley and her husband, Dontae, are raising their two young children in Wilkinsburg where Dontae was elected Mayor in 2021.