Volunteer Highlight — Ashley Gerner
Volunteer: Ashley Gerner
Volunteering Since: 2019
Site: Wahpeton-Breckenridge, ND
Meet Ashley Gerner!
Ashley is our Site Director at our BIO Girls site in Wahpeton-Breckenridge. Ashley is dedicated to seeing the girls in her community thrive. She has a strong desire to advocate for the girls in her community and teach them the power of kindness, having a positive inner voice, and understanding their emotions. We are so grateful for all she does for the BIO Girls mission.
“Ashley has willingly stepped into the role as a Site Director for two different locations both to help start a program in one community and now to allow a program to continue in another community. Ashley has a passion for the BIO Girls mission and creating change within a community.”
— Anna Marohl, BIO Girls Programming Team
We asked Ashley a few questions about her involvement with BIO Girls:
What do you do for work?
“I am a financial advisor at Edward Jones.”
Name one-way BIO Girls has impacted you personally?
“It made me a better mom and a much more compassionate and empathetic person in general. The timing of everything validated the importance of the program as a whole. The impact it had on my daughter and the conversations we were able to have were so much more in-depth just reinforced the need.”
In one sentence, how do you summarize what BIO Girls provides participants?
“It fills their toolbox with the tools they need to face all of life’s challenges.”
What do you think girls would be missing without BIO Girls?
”The tools that BIO Girls gives young girls to face so many of the situations life throws their way is invaluable — not just to their development now, but as they go throughout life. I only wish I would have had such a program at that age.”
Do you have a vivid memory or story that stands out to you from your time volunteering?
“Part of the reason I initially got involved with BIO Girls was that I wanted my daughter to be a part of the program. She was a part of the 2019 Wahpeton site — and not only was it so great for her at the time, but as 2020 proved to be a year filled with challenges — I repeatedly saw her using the tools she learned from BIO Girls to help not only her but her little brother, through the challenging time. On multiple occasions, I would overhear her saying to him, “Don’t let your emotions get the best of you….”
Ashley —
The BIO Girls team, the participants you have made an impact on, and the Wahpeton-Breckenridge community sincerely thank you.
TAKE ACTION.
Ready to get involved?
Apply to Lead a Program or Apply to Volunteer as a Mentor
Need more information?
Register for our next Virtual Lunch and Learn to get a program overview and Q&A.