Meet the Mastermind

Ashley lynn priore

Founder & CEO

Ashley Lynn Priore is an American chess player, coach, entrepreneur, and strategist who harnesses the revolutionary power of chess to cultivate agency, develop leadership, and drive measurable impact. She is the Founder, President, and CEO of Queens Gambit, a national nonprofit using chess to build the next generation of leaders, and the Founder & CEO of Queenside Ventures, a woman-led consulting firm leading a tactical revolution where the chess board is a canvas for expansive thinking.

Ashley’s mission is to help individuals map out their personal chessboard - unlocking potential, embracing bold decisions, and discovering possibilities beyond imagination. Her groundbreaking work has earned national recognition in Forbes, Fox Sports, Katie Couric Media, and Elite Daily.

Through Queenside Ventures, Ashley advises national influencers across media, sports, politics, nonprofits, and corporations - developing strategies for leadership, engagement, communications, brand development, and intergenerational collaboration. The visionary behind chess-infused strategic development, her client roster includes top CEOs, entrepreneurs, and NFL powerhouses such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

A lifelong social impact entrepreneur, Ashley founded and led seven organizations and startups before age 25 - focused on economic empowerment, advocating for Supreme Court term limits, training and placing youth on nonprofit boards, launching the country’s first youth-led campaign strategy firm, boosting civic engagement in the federal government, and building mission-aligned brands.

Ashley rose to fame as a young chess phenom, competing professionally for over a decade and teaching by age eight. At 14, she launched Queens Gambit to make chess more accessible and reimagine it as a tool for leadership and personal growth. Today, the organization reaches over 2,000 students annually and is nationally recognized for using chess to foster critical thinking, community, and opportunity, positioning Pittsburgh as a rising chess hub.

A respected civic leader and trusted advisor for building intergenerational teams, Ashley currently serves as Board Chair of City of Bridges High School, Secretary of the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services, and Director for Life’sWork of Western PA, Women and Girls Foundation, and Western PA Bleeding Disorders Foundation. In 2023, she was appointed by Governor Josh Shapiro to serve on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Next Gen Engagement.

A fierce advocate for youth voice in government, Ashley led the national push for a White House Youth Policy Council under the Biden Administration, authoring The Playbook for Youth Engagement to guide the federal integration of youth perspectives. During the pandemic, she contributed to Ms. Magazine on women’s rights and public health. In 2019, she made history as one of Pennsylvania’s youngest candidates for public office.

An in-demand speaker, Ashley also hosts Queen Me!, a podcast spotlighting the journeys of influential changemakers who, in their own ways, declared “queen me” and changed the world.

Her many honors include being named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30. In 2021, she was featured alongside Hoda Kotb, Tyra Banks, and Bobbi Brown in The Epic Mentor Guide: Insider Advice for Girls Eyeing the Workforce from 180 Boss Women Who Know. She is also a 2024–2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader and a 2021 Clinton Global Initiative Fellow.

Ashley earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022. She is currently authoring a children’s book and a second title exploring how chess empowers individuals to unleash their inner queens. A champion for investing in women’s chess, she also leads Project d4—a bold global initiative aiming to teach one million women to play chess and develop the strategic skills essential to lead, thrive, and drive change.