Ashanti Washington (she/her), Program Director

Ashanti brings insights and expertise gained through more than ten years of science communications, strategic advisement and climate-focused public relations and public affairs to her role leading clean energy campaigns at Sunstone. She has worked in the private sector, on behalf of major NGOs and in government with a focus on strategic communications to create positive change.
Prior to joining Sunstone in 2024, Ashanti was a Director of Strategic Communications at Boundary Stone Partners, serving clients on campaigns related to renewable energy, supply chains and transportation, and led high-impact science-based communications for the Union of Concerned Scientists from her perch in Washington DC. She developed considerable expertise in governance and grid issues while serving as a strategic advisor to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner and got her start in science communication while working as a researcher and writer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Ashanti received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and was a fellow at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute in Washington DC. She serves on the board of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association and is an avid community gardener and bookstore devotee. She currently resides in Illinois after many years in the nation’s capital, but her heart will always be back home in Tennessee.