Ashley Najar Roura is an attorney, currently working as an Assistant Public Defender and the Director of Mental Health, Social Services and Problem Solving Courts for the Honorable Sara Mollo, Public Defender of the 6th Judicial Circuit. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology and then from Stetson University College of Law. Ashley started her legal career as an Assistant Public Defender at the 13th Judicial Circuit in 2008. She quickly developed her passion for the Forensic and Civil Mental Health Systems by advocating for Baker Act clients, working with Jail Diversion Programs, and assisting in the creation of both Adult and Juvenile Mental Health Courts. Ashley was initially inspired by the principles of the Red Tent Women’s Initiative after reading the namesake novel by Anita Diamant as it symbolized the sacred bonds of women, the need to share stories, confide fears and to lift and support one another. She joined the Initiative in 2022, recognizing the crucial support system the Red Tent creates for her incarcerated clients. Ashley resides in St. Petersburg with her husband, Miguel, and their twin boys, Cameron and Carson.