Montez Ashley

Montez Ashley serves as an Equal Employment Specialist within the Eastern Region USDA Forest Service, ensuring compliance with federal equal employment opportunity and affirmative action requirements across all procurement and workforce activities. In this role, Ashley integrates civil rights and diversity mandates into the agency’s acquisition lifecycle, advising on contractor obligations, workforce development goals, and inclusive sourcing strategies. While not a contracting officer, Ashley plays a critical advisory role in shaping procurement policies to align with Title VII, Executive Order 11246, and other federal equity frameworks, particularly in support of infrastructure, land management, and environmental services contracts. Though no specific contractor relationships are currently documented, Ashley collaborates closely with contracting officers and program managers to ensure vendor compliance with EEO reporting, affirmative action plan requirements, and workforce diversity benchmarks. Their engagement typically occurs during solicitation development, source selection, and contract administration phases, where they evaluate contractor labor practices and promote equitable hiring and subcontracting practices among vendors serving federal lands. Ashley exhibits a strong, consistent commitment to socioeconomic equity in contracting, with 100% of their assigned acquisitions designated as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize opportunities for small businesses, including 8(a), HUBZone, and SDVOSB concerns, ensuring that federal investments in forest stewardship directly benefit underserved entrepreneurial communities. The agency’s procurement activity under Ashley’s oversight is exclusively focused on NAICS 512110—Motion Picture and Video Production—indicating a specialized need for documentation, public outreach, and educational media related to forest conservation, wildfire prevention, and ecological restoration. Ashley’s expertise lies in ensuring these media contracts not only meet technical specifications but also reflect inclusive storytelling and equitable representation in content development and production partnerships.