Daniel O. Ash

Daniel O. Ash is president of the Field Foundation, a private and independent foundation that supports community power building in Chicago through strategic investments in civic infrastructure, the cultural sector, local news outlets, and organizers. Through its grantmaking, the Field Foundation collaborates with funding partners to distribute more than $11 million annually to nonprofit organizations and leaders, focusing primarily on the city’s South and West Sides.

Prior to his current role, Daniel was associate vice president of Community Impact for The Chicago Community Trust, and he previously served as the Trust’s chief marketing officer. Before that, Daniel spent ten years as vice president of Chicago Public Media.

Daniel earned his M.P.P. from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Economics from Oberlin College. He completed a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at Princeton University.

Daniel was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow in 2023. He was recognized as a Crain’s Chicago Notable Leader in Philanthropy in 2025.