Ashley Smith abruptly resigned this week as Capital Pride’s board president. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Ashley Smith, who since 2017 has served as president of the board of the Capital Pride Alliance, which played a lead role in organizing WorldPride 2025 in D.C., abruptly resigned from his position on Oct. 18, according to a statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.
The brief statement sent to the Washington Blade says Smith “stepped down as Board President” after the organization became aware of a “claim” regarding Smith and it has opened an investigation, but it provided few further details.
“Recently, CPA was made aware of a claim made regarding him,” the statement says. “The organization has retained an independent firm to initiate an investigation and has taken the necessary steps to make available partner service providers for the parties involved,” it says.
“Anna Jinkerson (she\her\hers) has been named interim Board president,” the statement continues. “To protect the integrity of the process and the privacy of all involved, CPA will not be sharing further information at this time,” the statement concludes, with no additional information.
Smith did not immediately respond to a request by the Washington Blade for comment.
Smith’s LinkedIn page shows he had served as the board president for Capital Pride Alliance since 2017 and prior to that he served on the board as CPA treasurer since March of 2016.
It says he has been involved with the D.C.-based LGBTQ national advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and HRC Foundation in a number of different positions, including on the foundation’s board of directors and national co-chair of the HRC Board of Governors. He has also served on the board of the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community, according to his Linked-In page.
His LinkedIn page also says he has worked professionally in the field of hotel management since the early 2000s and that he has served as general manager at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington since May 2022.
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