Ashley Bell is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Redemption Holding Company, a Black-owned holding company that purchased Utah-based Holladay Bank and Trust. This historic transaction marked the first time in American history that an existing commercial bank became a Black-owned Minority Depository Institution (“MDI”).
Ashley is also the Founder and CEO of Ready Life, the new financial technology company that is disrupting the mortgage industry by pioneering a new path to homeownership that eliminates the need for credit scores.
As a corporate finance attorney hailing from the world’s largest law firm, Dentons, LLP, Ashley is committed to furthering the growth of entrepreneurs, and has worked closely with venture capital funds, opportunity zone funds, and traditional lenders to leverage public and private resources to support economic growth. As the youngest black lawyer listed in the “Red Book” of America’s top municipal bond attorneys, Ashley has guided over a billion dollars in successful bond transactions to help revitalize urban areas.
Ashley serves as co-founder and General Counsel for the National Black Bank Foundation (NBBF) and the $250 million Black Bank Fund. In this role, he facilitating the refinance of a $35 million construction loan for the Emory Sports Medicine Complex with a syndicate of 11 Black-owned banks, followed by a $45 million transaction featuring two Black-owned banks to develop The Trade hotel in Milwaukee.
Previously, Ashley served as the White House Policy Advisor for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and a Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he played an instrumental role in the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Ashley has been named a 2020 Georgia “Super Lawyer Rising Star” (first named in 2017) and is a recent graduate of the 50th Anniversary Class of Leadership Atlanta for 2020, having previously completed Leadership Georgia in 2012. He is one of the 2016 “Top 40 Young Lawyers” in the country by the American Bar Association, and a 2016 “Lawyer on the Rise” by Georgia’s leading legal journal, “The Daily Report,” recognizing Georgia’s top 25 lawyers under 40.
Ashley began his career as a public defender before becoming a celebrated trial attorney, and at age 27, he was one of the youngest commissioners ever elected in the State of Georgia. Ashley is a graduate of Valdosta State University, where he was President of the Student Government Association and founded the school’s chapter of lota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. In 2019, Ashley received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts & Sciences and joined the VSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
Ashley obtained his law degree from Louisiana State University and has an honorary doctorate from Lighthouse College. Ashley was a 21st Century Leadership Fellow at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and currently is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship, a Partnership of ADL and The Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
