Speaker

Ashika is a lifelong Austinite, an educator, and a fierce advocate for our community.

Born and raised in West Austin to immigrant parents, Ashika learned the values of public service, education, and leadership from a very young age. Growing up, Ashika gravitated toward roles where she could affect positive change for those around her, and felt called to begin her career as a 5th-grade teacher in Austin ISD.

As a teacher, Ashika saw the everyday struggles that her students and their families were dealing with outside of the classroom — childcare, affordability, or reliable public transit — and the impact those issues had on their stability, happiness, and ultimately their success.

Throughout her five years in the classroom, Ashika worked to be a voice for her students and community but felt compelled to advocate for greater change and have a broader impact. As a result, Ashika made the difficult decision to leave the classroom and pursue that change through public policy.

Ashika has since earned a Master's degree in policy, worked in early childhood program coordination at the University of Texas, led extensive efforts to advance childcare policy in Washington, D.C., and most recently as the Legislative Director for Representative John Bucy at the Texas Legislature. Her work at the Capitol has been rewarding, but also frustrating. During the 88th legislative session, Ashika found herself fighting for equitable legislation amidst attacks on inclusion efforts, LGBTQ+ rights, school finance, voting rights, local control, and much more. These experiences propelled her towards her new mission: advocating for her community at City Hall.

Throughout her diverse roles, Ashika's perspective remains the same: she evaluates policy issues through the lens of her community and their needs, whether her students, their parents, her family, or neighbors. This unwavering commitment to her community's welfare has guided her journey from the classroom to the Capitol and now to City Hall, where she aspires to be an informed voice for a better Austin.