In Her Own Words: Ashley Lynn Priore Featured in Bizwomen for Her Work Empowering Women Through Chess

When you grow up thinking several moves ahead, life looks different.

Our Founder & CEO Ashley Lynn Priore was recently featured in Bizwomen for her powerful perspective on how chess can be a blueprint for leadership - and a tool for women’s empowerment.

In the feature, titled “In Her Own Words: Ashley Lynn Priore empowers women through chess,” Ashley reflects on her journey from chess prodigy to nonprofit founder to strategic consultant, sharing how she’s turned a childhood passion into a national movement.

“Chess is more than a game - it’s a framework for life, a blueprint for leadership, and a catalyst for change.”

What began as a love for the game at age 4 evolved into a mission by age 14: to break open the male-dominated world of chess and create a space where girls could lead, thrive, and change the rules. That mission sparked the launch of Queens Gambit, a national nonprofit that uses chess as a platform to build leadership skills and community power - particularly for youth traditionally excluded from the game.

Through Bizwomen, Ashley shares not only her early challenges navigating nonprofit leadership as a teenager, but also the critical connection she discovered between chess and real-world strategy: adapting to pressure, staying agile, and always thinking three moves ahead. These lessons now power her work at Queenside Ventures, where she helps organizations and individuals unlock their full potential through strategic consulting.

One of Ashley’s most ambitious efforts to date is Project d4, a global initiative aiming to teach 1 million women how to play chess - and lead. The project is more than about moves on the board. It’s about equipping women with the mindset to navigate any room, negotiate with confidence, and own their decisions.

From corporate boardrooms to classrooms, from athletes to activists, Ashley’s message remains clear: every woman deserves to say, “Queen me.”

Whether you’ve followed Ashley’s journey since Queens Gambit, are tuning in to her podcast Queen Me, or are part of the growing Queenside Ventures ecosystem - this Bizwomen spotlight affirms what we already knew: chess, in the right hands, isn’t just a game. It’s a movement.