Leading With Clarity, Courage, and Connection
Ashley is the Principal and Founder of Civica Studio. Her approach is shaped by lived experience and an anthropological lens. Navigating her daughter’s cancer diagnosis fundamentally reshaped how she understands communication, trust, and what it means to feel seen when decisions matter most. That experience sharpened her belief that clarity is not a luxury. It is essential, especially for organizations asking people to engage, give, participate, or believe.
Civica Studio is a strategy-led studio that partners with organizations navigating complexity, change, and public trust. Civica listens first to understand people deeply and surface perspectives that are too often unheard. Through empathy-led research and thoughtful inquiry, the studio helps organizations define purpose, align vision, and communicate with clarity.
This approach has clarified direction and driven measurable growth for organizations including the Town of Glocester, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Brewers Association, and Ella Stein Fine Jewelry. Ashley leads Civica with the belief that clear strategy, human understanding, and a willingness to ask deeper questions are what build trust, inspire action, and create organizations people believe in and rally behind.
Our Approach to Partnership
Civica Studio exists to help communities and organizations tell stories that move people; stories rooted in empathy and purpose. We stay curious, connecting the dots others might miss. We look at your mission, your audience, and your community, finding the patterns, motivations, and values that link them together. Then we ask questions, listen deeply, and explore the stories beneath the surface and craft it into a message that resonates. Because when people understand how your work connects to what they care about, that’s when real engagement happens.
Working with Civica Studio means having a support team that helps you understand your story, set clear goals, and create a message for reaching your audience.
Our process reveals exactly where you are and what comes next. Maybe you’ve done the groundwork but aren’t sure of the next steps. Perhaps you have a strategy but need help bringing it to life. We meet you where you are, whether that means creating your brand from the ground up or activating an existing plan. Either way, you’ll feel supported every step of the way.
Our Process
Empathy → Insight → Strategy → Clarity → Relevance → Engagement → Connection → Aligned Brand Experience
Our Core Collaborators
Our collaborators come from worlds of branding, law, policy, economic development, project management, and design. More importantly, our collaborators are people who care deeply about how systems and stories shape one another. Each collaborator brings a human perspective and lived experience that strengthens the work we do.
Interested in collaborating with us?
Tuni Schartner
Founder, Tuni Schartner Consulting
Tuni brings together deep expertise across sectors to strengthen communities and amplify their stories through thoughtful marketing strategy, executive leadership and brand innovation.
Amy Caracappa, UXC
Founder, Hugeish Studio
Amy brings clarity to complexity, turning layered systems into intuitive experiences that feel effortless and drive meaningful action.
Troy Peck, Esq.
Attorney & Public Policy Consultant
Troy translates complex policies into practical actions that empower leaders to create change and inform their communities.
Rooted in the woods of Rhode Island, serving clients everywhere.
We may serve clients everywhere, but we stay rooted here. In the quiet. In the trees. In a place that keeps our work honest, empathetic, and built to last.
Improving Healthcare Communication: 3 Lessons from a Rare Cancer Parent
