Director of US Corporate Responsibility
Novartis
Ashley L. Atkins, Ph.D. is Director, US Social Impact, Philanthropy at Novartis where she is responsible for the company’s philanthropic strategy in the US, including the Novartis US Foundation’s 10-year partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which focuses on changing the story around access to innovation for patients and reimagining workforce pathways for all students. She joined Novartis in 2018 following 16-years at Johnson & Johnson as part of the company’s Global Community Impact Team, where she led local community-based partnerships related to education, food security, urban green space, arts & culture, and community health. Ashley is committed to driving social change through a collaborative systems approach.
Ashley holds degrees from Duke University, University of Massachusetts, and Rutgers University, where she received a Ph.D. in art history. She recently published the white paper “Arts, Health, and Well-being Across the Military Continuum: White Paper 2.0 – 2020 and Beyond” for Americans for the Arts. The paper chronicles the achievements of the National Initiative for the Arts & Health in the Military and articulates the need for an increased focus on how to serve the most underserved military-connected communities, using arts interventions to create better health outcomes. She lives in Central NJ with her husband and 2 sons.