John/Akintola Howard Ashford Jr. was raised in Chicago. At the age of 13 he attended Precious Blood Seminary for 8 years. He graduated from Rockhurst Jesuit University with a BA in Communication and French. He studied a year abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France and studied Sacred Geometry in Northern Spain. Most recently He has become a Certified Facilitator in Access Consciousness.

He has worked in the NW for over 30 years with youth and their families. Presently he has been a Juvenile Court Counselor for over 27 years for Multnomah County. He was on GRIT(Gang Resource Intervention Team) which was the first gang unit for Multnomah County. While working for Multnomah County, he was the Lead Worker for the Save Our Youth Program which dealt with conflict and violence, GOALS Day Reporting Center, Community Detention Program. He has worked with SoValti Men's group for Fatherhood and Domestic Violence

Find out more: www.beingjohnashford.com