Antonesia "Toni" Wiley
Senior Director, Congressional Advocacy, National Urban League
Ashanti is a Policy Analyst in the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
Antonesia “Toni” Wiley is a dynamic movement builder and catalyst for institutional change. As Senior Director of Congressional Advocacy at the National Urban League (NUL), she spearheads national campaigns and leads grassroots activations to advance the organization's ambitious federal policy agenda. Toni also directs the NUL Congressional Advocacy Program, an initiative dedicated to training and empowering citizen advocates and previously produced and co-hosted the "For the Movement" podcast.
Her strategic approach is deeply informed by a lifelong dedication to empowering communities to become their own most powerful advocates. Toni’s unique insight into tackling complex challenges for communities in need was shaped by her prior roles managing regulatory compliance for American Red Cross Blood and Disaster Services and working as a Community Health Advocate in the Alabama Black Belt region at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Toni extends her dedication to public service as a Commissioner on the D.C. Commission on Human Rights and as a board member for The Undivide Project, an organization that operates at the critical intersection of climate justice and the digital divide. She has been recognized with awards from the Points of Light Foundation and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Toni holds a Master’s degree in Public Health Administration from The George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in Theology and Pre-medicine from Georgetown University. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, good food, documentaries, and cheering on her favorite sports teams.