Ashonna Tubbs

Ashonna Tubbs is a mother, educator, and systems leader whose work is grounded in a deep commitment to how people learn, grow, and belong. She often says that motherhood has been her most relentless teacher the place where theory meets reality and love demands practice. Through parenting she has come to understand regulation, repair, boundaries, surrender, and fierce tenderness in new ways, shaping how she approaches leadership, responsibility, and justice in every part of her life and work.

With more than twenty years of experience in education, Ashonna has served as a teacher, coach, scholar, and senior leader focused on the human dimensions of learning inside complex institutions. Her doctoral studies in mind, brain, and teaching, alongside her training as a yoga teacher, have deepened her interest in the relationship between the body, cognition, perception, and ethical decision-making. She is especially passionate about supporting leaders in cultivating clarity and steadiness so they can design and lead in ways that remain connected to their values, their bodies, and the people they serve.

Ashonna is drawn to work that holds curiosity, rigor, and compassion together. She often shares that she would rather “build slow than break fast,” believing that thoughtful leadership creates spaces where people and communities can return to alignment with their deeper knowing. Through the Acosta Institute Fellowship, she looks forward to learning alongside others who are asking similar questions about leadership, embodiment, and systems change—and to exploring how healing-centered approaches can support leaders and communities in building institutions that reflect who they truly are.