About Ashley

Ashley Ward is the founder and CEO of W Talent Solutions, a national executive recruiting and talent strategy firm based in Grand Rapids, MI. She leads brand management, community impact, and national expansion efforts for the firm.

As a talent expert and executive recruiter by trade, Ashley is certified in several psychometric assessment tools, including talent optimization through Predictive Index, in which she facilitates large executive workshops. She has conducted over 20,000 professional candidate interviews within her career and has placed c-suite and president-level roles throughout the nation.

Ashley founded W Talent Solutions in 2017 with a mission to start a philanthropic business that gives ten percent of its profit to nonprofits that empower women and children in the communities the firm serves.

Prior to founding W Talent Solutions, Ashley was an executive recruiter for a boutique headhunting firm. She also worked for a freight brokerage business based in Cincinnati and recruited the founding team for their new Grand Rapids office, including twenty additional offices across the U.S.

Ashley received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and advanced through graduate coursework in counseling and human behavioral studies.

Ashley serves on several executive boards in the community. She currently serves on The City of Grand Rapids’ Downtown Improvement District Board, Wedgwood Christian Services’ Board of Directors, and the YWCA’s Fund Development Committee. She previously served on the Board for Safe Haven Ministries where she chaired their Corporate Impact Committee, the Grand Rapids Sister Cities Council, the City of Grand Rapids’ Mayor’s Next Gen Advisory Board, and as the Executive Director for Grand Angels, a venture capital angel investment group. She is also a Member of the Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentorship Program. Aside from board work, Ashley is an avid professional guest and keynote speaker.

Ashley is the proud recipient of awards such as Grand Rapids Young Professionals’ 2017 Community Advocate Award and 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year, Crain’s Grand Rapids 40 Under 40 in 2019, 2021, and 2023, Grand Rapids Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential Women in 2020, West Michigan Woman Tenacity Brilliance Award in 2021, and recognized as The Face of Talent by Grand Rapids Magazine in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Her firm, W Talent Solutions, has received such accolades as Local First’s 2018 Good for Grand Rapids Award, the 2018 and 2019 Startup of the Year at the American Business Awards in New York City, and West Michigan Woman’s Readers’ Choice Award for best recruiting services in 2022.

As an avid writer, she is a regular contributor to publications such as West Michigan Woman Magazine and Northern Michigan Woman Magazine regarding career advice and entrepreneurship.