Susan Ashe served the Inland Northwest for 50 years in various leadership positions, from her public relations work at Kaiser Aluminum to working for the city of Spokane and as the founding executive director of the Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County. 

In all her endeavors, Ashe says she wanted to create a better community in Spokane, particularly when it came to pushing for projects and ideas that would have a positive economic impact in the region.

While her reputation as a public affairs leader was well known, and she says she was even approached by both political parties separately to gauge her interest in running for office at one point, she never sought the spotlight to highlight her work. 

“I like getting things done, behind the scenes,” Ashe says. “Seeking solutions to thorny issues was sort of something that I was good at and still am. I didn’t need the limelight. Didn’t want it, didn’t need it.” 

Instead, Ashe preferred to work in the background and mentor those around her to succeed. To that end, friends and colleagues describe Ashe as a humble leader whose generous spirit always sought to help others.

“She shared her knowledge and her support for people in the community her entire career,” says Marlene Feist, who worked alongside Ashe during her time at the city of Spokane. “She was a personal mentor, and she’s been that for so many people.” 

Dr. Francisco Velázquez, chairman of the HSSA, says that when he was new to Spokane, Ashe took him under her wing and mentored him on the idiosyncrasies of Spokane to help him succeed in his new role as a member of the board. 

“I appreciate that to this day,” he says. “I’m sure she did that for others, and I always hold her in my heart. I know I can always approach her; she was the biggest cheerleader.” 

Ashe grew up in Omak, Washington. Her mother was a nurse who worked until she was 80 years old, and her father was a carpenter and president of the local union. Both were involved in the community, and Ashe recalls growing up with her parents and having conversations about voting, laws, and events that were shaping her small town. 

“We certainly understood the importance of it and the importance of voting and participating,” Ashe says. “And I just carried that with me, I have all my life.” 

In 1978, she was a single mother when she began working at Kaiser Aluminum, where she moved up the ranks over her 24-year tenure. During her last 10 years at the company, she served as its regional public affairs manager for four aluminum production and manufacturing plants in Washington state, which had over 3,000 employees. 

In that role, she oversaw a $1.5 million annual regional public affairs effort, which included government and community relations. Ashe says everything she did was to maintain the viability of the plants, which produced well-paying jobs with great benefits that didn’t require a college degree. 

“They could make a great living and send their kids to college, which was their dream," she says. "That was important to me."

Feist points out that Ashe began working at Kaiser at a time when not many women had positions of leadership.

“She was meeting governors and advocating for legal changes at the state and federal level,” Feist says. “She busted a glass ceiling.” 

During her time at Kaiser, Ashe says a “feather in her cap” was leading a successful community effort that sought written guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency on windborne dust that impacted air quality in Spokane and identified the areas that could be controlled to improve air quality without unnecessary costs. Without the written guidance, Spokane would have been designated as a city with dirty air, a name that would have stuck forever, she says.  

She left Kaiser in 2002 and took a few months to think about the next chapter of her career. Ultimately, she decided to serve as the director of legislative affairs for the city of Spokane.

During Ashe's five-year tenure with the city, she helped to secure nearly $125 million in state and federal funding for infrastructure projects, including the Riverside Avenue extension, Fish Lake Trail, Monroe and Freya streets bridges, and design work for the University District Pedestrian Bridge. 

During Mayor Jim West’s term in office, Ashe worked part-time for the city so that she could lead a campaign for a $117 million bond to improve the roads, which passed. 

Feist says Spokane hadn't had a street bond measure passed in a long time and credits Ashe’s part-time leave of absence with helping pass the measure. 

“We talk a lot about Jim West sort of bringing back investment in our streets, but I would credit Susan Ashe for that as much as anyone,” Feist says. 

After Ashe left the city, she opened her own public affairs practice in 2008, Ashe Public Affairs, where she worked with both private- and public-sector clients. 

One of her clients was the budding HSSA organization, which had formed a nine-person board of directors and needed someone to lead the organization. HSSA is an organization that was created by the state legislature to support economic development in the biosciences and better access to care for low-income communities. Ashe took the role on a part-time basis for the first couple of years, and in 2012, she was formally appointed to the role. 

Nancy Isserlis, an attorney and HSSA’s founding chairwoman, says Ashe was responsible for creating the infrastructure, bylaws, and other pieces needed to start an organization from the ground up. 

“She did such a fabulous job, the board said, we need to hire this woman,” Isserlis says. 

Velázquez says when he first met Ashe, he assumed she had a background in life sciences and was impressed that even though she had no experience in the field, she had the skills to become an articulate advocate of the organization's mission. 

“She could hold her own,” he says. “She had the skill set needed to grow and succeed.” 

Ashe retired from HSSA in 2022. During her tenure, the organization invested over $6 million, which led to the creation of over 445 jobs through those investments and generated $100 million in economic activity. Before she retired, she worked with the state Legislature to reauthorize the work of HSSA for another 15 years. 

For Isserlis, what stands out the most about Ashe is the volunteer work she devoted herself to over the years. 

“You can talk about jobs that she’s had, that’s one thing,” she says. “But I always think the measure of a person, and particularly a woman, is what they give back to the community for which they don’t get paid.” 

During her decades-long career, Ashe has served on the Live Science Washington Board, the Association of Washington Business, the Spokane Public Schools Foundation, the University District Board, Greater Spokane Incorporated, and as board chair of the YWCA of Spokane. Ashe also served on Mayor David Condon’s transition team and was appointed by him to serve on the Spokane Civic Fund, established by Condon and his wife, Kristin. 

"She was one of three people that he (Condon) appointed to serve as one of the trustees on that fund," Isserlis explains. "It was a real feather in her cap to be chosen to do that work." 

Her volunteer work on these boards has also garnered accolades, including the AWP “Heavy Lifter” award in 2022; the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award for Community Enhancement; and the 2019 Pillar Award for her involvement in the successful End the Violence initiative. Ashe has also been selected to receive the Eastern Washington University Alumni Award for Service and was a nominee for the city of Spokane Citizen Hall of Fame. 

“I just think we have been very fortunate to have someone like Susan on our team for all these years,” Feist says.