During her time at CC, Ashley Ndir ’06 constantly worked to build and support her community. She was a member of the Women’s Basketball team and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and served as an Economics FYE Mentor. Since graduating, she has continued her drive to serve and better the world. She is now the Senior Commercial Liaison to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In her role, Ndir advises U.S. companies on opportunities to engage with the AfDB projects in the 54 countries across the continent. The AfDB is the foremost multilateral development finance institution on the continent and provides financing to African governments and the private sector operating across Africa while addressing some of the greatest challenges of our time.
“The United States is the second largest shareholder in the institution and thus we want to see more U.S. companies engaging with the work the Bank is doing across the continent,” says Ndir.
Ndir sits on the U.S. Executive Director’s team at the AfDB and she represents the Department of Commerce on the Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire’s leadership team at the US Embassy in Abidjan. In her role as the Commercial Liaison, she works to establish innovative methods to engage the U.S. private sector to do business in African markets. Through this work, Ndir recently launched the Strategic Partnership on Digital Transformation.
“With 70 percent of the population under 30, innovation and digital connectivity are essential to the expanding opportunity and economic growth across the continent,” says Ndir. “We’re focusing on leveraging leading U.S. tech companies’ expertise and experience to the expansion of digital infrastructure, emerging technologies such AI and cloud computing, improving the access to workforce development programs at national levels and addressing the regulatory environments at a national and continental level that will permit ethical, inclusive access to technological transformation.”
While there are plenty of challenges in the role, Ndir still finds great passion and excitement in her work. “I absolutely love the interactions I have with people from incredibly diverse backgrounds,” she says. “Having the opportunity to listen to and engage with visionary thinkers who consistently work to foster a more just world is incredibly motivating.”
Above all, it’s the impact she sees her work having on an individual level that drives her every day. “My ‘why’ is to see the lives of individuals I deeply care about improved while addressing the individual development challenges on an institutional basis,” Ndir says. “This is why I am so passionate about representing the US at the African Development Bank, I believe the institution improving social and economic progress across the continent and globally.”
Looking back, Ndir holds a big place in her heart for her time at CC, both personally and professionally. It was while sitting in an accounting lab her senior year that she got to talking with a fellow student about what brought them to CC and their future goals. That conversation not only started her trajectory to her current career, but it was that other student, Abdou Ndir ’06, who is now her husband and the father of their two children. Professionally, she points to the foundation that her time on campus provided as pivotal in her success.
“Being a diplomat requires the ability to adapt in varying and challenging environments, to learn quickly, to think broadly and critically. These are all aspects that CC challenged us to confront,” she says. “The Block Plan taught us to process information quickly, to ask questions and seek a multitude of perspectives, and to reflect on our own individual values and align our work with these values.”
As for her future goals, Ndir dreams of reaching the Senior Foreign Service as a Minister Counselor for the Department of Commerce. She says, “I desire to serve and represent our country abroad in a manner that builds positive, enduring relationships of trust and collaboration while moving our world to a greater common future.”