Ashley Z. Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C was appointed the first Chief Innovation Officer of the City of Kansas City, Missouri by Mayor Sly James in January 2013 and the first female municipal CIO in the country.

Ashley Z. Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C is Co-founder and Partner of Cityfi, an urban change management practice. A licensed architect and urban sustainability professional, Ashley advises across sectors on the future of smart cities and new mobility in an era of rapid change.

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From disaster recovery in New Orleans to urban sustainability in Skid Row Los Angeles, to new mobility, smart cities, and public policy, I have sought ways to expand my understanding as someone working to create positive change.

Ashley Z. Hand has a diverse work experience that spans various organizations and roles. Starting in 2006, they worked as a Land Assembly & Development Intern at ACORN Housing, focusing on affordable housing redevelopment strategies in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.

Mar 11, 2025 · MARC has announced Ashley Z. Hand will serve as the new director of the MARC Local Government Services Department. Previously, Hand served as the Chief Innovation …

Nov 12, 2019 · Prior to her work in LA, Ashley served as the first Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Missouri and the first female municipal CIO in the nation, creating the most comprehensive smart city in North America among other civic innovation projects.

Apr 17, 2017 · Ashley Z. Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C is co-founder of the smart city advisory firm CityFi. Previously, Ashley developed a transportation technology strategy, Urban Mobility in a Digital Age, for the City of Los Angeles that proposes public policy, an action plan and pilot programs for shared mobility and automated vehicles and served as the first ...

Ashley (center) attended the World Urban Forum in Katowice, Poland in June 2022 with colleagues from the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC).

This website, like me, is a work in progress. I am excited to share a little about my experience and work for equitable outcomes in our cities. Thanks for stopping by! Let's get started “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” — Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities