Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Fontenot
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I went to school at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. After beginning my four-year degree in 2010, I thought I wanted to pursue a bachelor’s in Business Administration. However, after landing an event planning internship with a local music festival (Worship in the City), I completely changed direction – I officially wanted to be in the hospitality and tourism industry and focus on event planning. I made the switch and enjoyed every second of this new focus, as it was much more relationship-oriented.
Throughout college, I worked part-time as the Marketing Director at our local Chick-fil-A location. Everything I learned about marketing, I learned hands-on in the restaurant – and I loved it. While working, I also completed several internships, trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do post-college. From the wine industry to the wedding industry to a three-month stint in New Jersey working for Wyndham Worldwide, I graduated in 2014 and decided to make the move to small-town Cleveland, GA, to help open a brand new Chick-fil-A restaurant and serve as their full-time Marketing & Events Director.
While in Cleveland, I learned that Chick-fil-A, Inc. sends corporate support to all new restaurants. After seeing their support in Cleveland, I decided I had to be a part of that world. For the next several years, I worked full-time for the new Chick-fil-A location and part-time for Chick-fil-A, Inc., helping open new restaurants across the country as part of the corporate Marketing Team.
Most recently, I held the position of full time New Restaurant Planner with Chick-fil-A, Inc., and it was a dream job. I got to travel across the country opening restaurants and planning all opening week activities – from 200-person Dedication Dinners to intimate Premier Nights, from First 100 Campouts to the Ribbon Cutting and First Dollar on opening day. All of that was great, but the BEST part of my job was the people management piece. I loved leading different teams of five or six people to open these restaurants. The culture was great, the people were great, and I was getting experience that would set me up for success in the future.
When the world changed in 2020, my contract with Chick-fil-A, Inc. happened to be coming to an end as well. I could either move to Atlanta or find a new path closer to my hometown, to which I had moved back by this time. I decided to see what else was out there so that I could, hopefully, start planting roots in my own backyard. I saw that New Hope Children’s Advocacy Center was hiring for a Marketing & Events Director just a few minutes from my driveway. I knew I could do the work, but I took a tour to make sure I could get behind the mission. Turns out, I absolutely could.
After learning how staggering the numbers were (we served 765 children last year alone), I wanted to be a part of helping these children who were experiencing abuse in my community. I started with New Hope in the summer of 2021 as Marketing & Events Director. I took over Development a year later, and now I am humbled to serve as Chief Executive Officer. I am grateful to the Board of Directors and to the community as a whole that they have chosen to place their trust in me to lead this organization and serve the must vulnerable children in our area.
I would not be who or where I am today had it not been for the people along the way who chose to give me chances, guidance, and who poured into me more than I could have asked for. My family, my mentors, my friends, and my sweet and wonderful husband…to say I am grateful is an understatement!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My story has had ups and downs. The one thing I can say that has been absolutely consistent is the grace and mercy of God and His hand on my life. I will be the first to say I do not “deserve” the good things I have been given, but I will accept them gratefully and work to be a good steward and to help others as often as I am able.
There was one specific time during college when I had returned to Chick-fil-A from my three-month internship in New Jersey and I was struggling financially. I knew I had to work for what I had, but I had never been explicitly taught healthy financial concepts and was having issues making a workable budget. I had just been involved in a fender bender (with a BMW), was told I had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for it, and truly felt like I was drowning. My then-boss saw my plight and offered to spend time with me sorting through my finances (literally going line by line through my bank statements) and helped me to understand where I was going wrong, changes I could make, and overarching principles I could start applying to help me down the line. (Insurance did end up taking care of the car issue, so all was well there.) Over time, I came to realize how much this meant. I still had my struggles, and it wasn’t an overnight fix, but I then had a solid foundation from which to make better choices.
That is a “small” exmaple of a challenge, but I think it’s one that is so important because it taught me the long-term importance of 1) handling finances in a responsible way, 2) asking for and accepting help, and 3) pouring into and mentoring others who come behind and alongside.
There will always be challenges (some much bigger and some much smaller), but if we view them as opportunities and ways for the Lord’s graciousness and sovereinty to be seen by those around us, they become a little less daunting and can be viewed as part of the journey.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
New Hope Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) provides all services needed to children who have experienced physical or sexual abuse.
We provide space for all professionals who are a part of the investigation to convene and provide a coordinated response to allegations of child abuse. Services such as forensic interviews, medical exams, advocacy, and therapy are provided in one place so the child only needs to recount the details of his or her abuse one time and in a way that is not re-traumatizing.
Before the CAC model, a child might have to recount the details of abuse to upwards of 15 different groups of people. Every time the story is recounted, the child is retraumatized. Now, New Hope houses thirteen staff members, Child Protecitve Services, and law enforcement (with space for all other involved parties), making case work as efficient as possible and lessening the amount of times children have to tell their stories.
New Hope is a not-for-profit agency, providing all services under one roof and at no cost to the family. We are the only Children’s Advocacy Center serving Blount County, and we served 765 children in 2023 alone. Our mission is to restore hope to abused or traumatized children and their families.
What matters most to you?
The 700+ children in Blount County who experience abuse are the reason we are here. They are most important. New Hope exists to give them a voice and to advocate on their behalf.
However, we could not do what we do without our team of staff and partners who are actually doing the work day in and day out. They are my personal focus. If they are taken care of, advocated for, and doing well, then they, in turn, will be able to serve at a high level and do justice for the children who needs us.
Pricing:
- $2,500 covers all expenses for our Facility Dog, Peyton, who sits with children as they tell their stories
- $1,400 funds one child’s need for New Hope
- $1,000 covers a year of prevention training for kids
- $250 sponsors one forensic interview
- $100 sponsors one CPIT meeting (Child Protective Investigative Team)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blountkids.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newhopecac
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewHopeCAC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@newhopechildrensadvocacyce2283
