[2] Born to parents who left Iran, she is an advocate for American support for refugees, and was named in Washingtonian's list of the 500 most influential people in Washington, DC, in 2022.

[5][6] Both her parents emigrated to the United States as students, expecting to return home after her father completed his Ph.D., but decided not to go back to Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

[12] She was also a visiting policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, where she focused on aid effectiveness and political and economic reform in the Middle East.

[6] Welcome.US advocates reform of the US asylum system with an emphasis on the role of non-governmental organizations in "building civil society partnerships on behalf of Afghan newcomers".

[9][18][19] In April 2022, Ash was a key speaker at Accenture's 2022 Women's Leadership Forum alongside Amal Clooney, Judith McKenna, Julie Sweet, amongst others.