Speakers
Irvin Ashford Jr., serves as Senior Vice President of External Affairs and the National Director of Financial Education for Comerica Bank.
In his role, Ashford manages community development and external affairs for Texas, Arizona and Florida in addition to leading Comerica’s nationally-recognized financial education initiatives.
For the third year in a row, Comerica Bank received the Financial Capability Innovation Award, presented by Nasdaq and EverFi for the institution’s significant efforts to improve the financial capability of adults and children through unique digital learning initiatives. Ashford spearheaded the expansion of the bank’s Money $ense program for local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers. The program has reached over 2,000 students within Comerica’s footprint who have completed 5,300 learning modules since the 2014-15 school year.
Ashford’s civic and community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for The Webb School, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, The PeopleFund, Kym’s Kids, University of Dallas Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business Advisory Board, Focus on the Teens and the Texas Women’s Empowerment Foundation.
The New York native has garnered several awards and honors for his work in the community during his 17-year tenure at Comerica. This spring, The Dallas Assembly invited Ashford to join its elite Class of 2017 because of the exceptionalism and service he has demonstrated in civic life, business and education.
Last year, Ashford became a two-time winner of the Dallas Business Journal Minority Business Leader Award. He also earned the accolade in 2008 for his outstanding leadership in the business community.
In 2015, Ashford was the recipient of the Individual Achievement DiversityFirst Award from the Texas Diversity Council and the Change Happens! Community Hero as well as the Driving Diversity Advocacy Award for Outreach from the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
The National Association of Black Accountants and the National Black MBA Association also have recognized Ashford for his leadership and support of programs benefiting low-to-moderate income individuals and communities in Dallas.
Ashford was named to the United States delegate class of the British-American Project in 2007. He also is a Woodrow Wilson International Studies and Public Policy Fellow, an American Marshall Fellow and a Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und gerd Bucerius Fellow.
A graduate of The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., and Oberlin College in Ohio, Ashford, earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dallas.