Going Places 

Informing the public about what’s going on in the world has been Ashley Forest’s (MA ’21) goal since she was a ninth grader taking broadcasting classes in her Memphis, Tennessee, high school. It has led to a dynamic career in communications—from chaotic television newsrooms to a politically charged state attorney general’s office and now, at Denver International Airport, where she tells the public what they need to know about one of the busiest airports in the world.

A 2021 graduate of the communications management master’s degree program, Forest is also a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion, serving as DEI ambassador for the airport and on University College’s DEI Steering Committee. Recently, she became an adjunct faculty member at University College, teaching communications classes in two programs.

Here's what she has to say about her journey.

In my high school, every classroom had a television. My freshman year, I had to do a speech for homecoming on camera—and the broadcasting teacher, who was also a well-known radio host, saw it and said to me, “I want you to be part of the telecommunications program.” I was the first freshman to join the program and did television and radio studies all four years.

I had my own radio show in college. I majored in mass communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff—an HBCU—and had a show on the school radio station about campus life. During that time, a shooting of an African American made national headlines, and we began covering it every day, in every segment, even though it was a jazz station. It was my first real taste of hard news—and the importance of knowing what your audience wants.

Television news was great—until it wasn’t. I fell in love with the rush of television—the fast pace and the high level of functioning it took. But after a decade, I had become very desensitized to death and destruction. If I saw a body at the scene of a shooting, I would say, “There’s a body, move the camera,” and not be affected. While working in Las Vegas, the Route 91 Festival mass shooting—the deadliest in U.S. history—took place. After that, I knew I wanted a sense of a more normal life, a sense of balance.

I had been looking at University College for a while. I knew I needed to enhance my knowledge and skills for whatever job came next. I started my master’s in 2020 and, when I became deputy communications director for the Nevada attorney general, I immediately started using everything I was learning—persuasion and rhetorical techniques, strategic thinking and planning. It helped me connect with community members and break things down in a way that people could understand, which was very helpful during the pandemic and the 2020 election.

DEI has always been part of my world. As a Black woman who grew up in the South, there have always been times when justice has not prevailed. Even in television, there are lots of inequities— for example, I’ve always advocated for being equitable in how we describe and report about suspects on air. At the attorney general's office, after the death of George Floyd, I helped create a panel series with state leaders called “Justice and Injustice.” I’m happy to say that I was also part of an administration that got some key legislation passed, including one bill that limits no-knock warrants.

It’s great being part of an airport that's changing aviation. We have an African American CEO who is very upfront about our DEI processes, and we have a center solely focused on equity and excellence in aviation. A lot of our shops and restaurants are local and small businesses as well as minority- and women-owned businesses. We’re bringing in more international airlines. And we keep growing—100 million annual passengers are expected within the next couple of years.

I have been dubbed the Snow Queen. I’m continually surprised by snow—not because it is unpredictable, but because every time I am the public information officer on call in the winter, it snows. And not a just a trace—the kind that causes delays and cancellations.

My advice for students is explore. There are many avenues in communications that most people do not explore. Every organization needs someone to communicate to the public. And it may be a world that you don’t know until you step into it and learn it. I did not know aviation—and now I do.