Ashley Pirani was born and raised in Mishawaka, IN, but has called Bloomington home for the past 15 years. She lives there with her husband, two children, four cats, and one chinchilla. She currently works as an independent insurance agent as Shine Insurance. In her day job, she strives to make insurance simple for her clients.
Ashley became politically involved in 2016. When the election results rolled in, she decided it was time to roll up her sleeves. This led to convening a National Organization for Women (NOW) Chapter in Monroe County. After their convening year, Ashley served as President for two years, while also taking on leadership positions at the state and national levels of NOW.
In 2018, Ashley threw her hat in the ring to run for County Council in District 3. She decided to apply to be caucused in because there was no Democratic candidate running in the race. She gave the western part of Monroe County a choice on the ballot, and while she was not elected, she learned a great deal and solidified that western Monroe County is indeed purple.
Ashley has also worked on several campaigns to help women get elected to office. In 2019 she served as Chair for Jean Capler for City Council, and, in 2020, she was on the Executive Team for Shelli Yoder for Senate as well as Campaign Chair for April Hennessey for Monroe County School Board. All these experiences provided her an opportunity to be on the Training Committee for the Democratic Women’s Caucus where she can help bring her passion to other women. Additionally, she currently serves as the Secretary for the Monroe County Democratic Party.
Service is near and dear to her heart as well. She has been a Board member of Beacon, Inc. since 2019 and has served as Co-Chair of the Development Committee for the last two years. In this time, Beacon, Inc. has had to provide some unexpected services such as an Isolation Shelter and the creation of a temporary winter shelter due to COVID-19. Beacon, Inc. works with individuals experiencing extreme poverty and homelessness. Ashley believes in a housing first approach and would like more policy written to address the issues surrounding of lack of housing not only in our local and state communities, but nationwide as well.
When not engaged in politics or service, you can find Ashley taking a hike with her family, reading a book, buying copious amounts of antiques, or taking up a baseball game.