Staff
Program Director - Ashley Simpkins
Ashley Simpkins is the Program Director of Del Mar Community Connections. Ashley supervises the rest of the staff, manages communications, plans activities, oversees grant projects, coordinates volunteers, and much more. Before joining DMCC in 2017, Ashley worked in pharmaceutical sales and served on charitable boards in her free time. She earned her BA in Psychology from Binghamton University in 2004.
Ashley lived in 5 states before she was 10 years old, but her family eventually settled in Syracuse, NY. When Ashley decided she didn’t want to live anywhere that has winter weather, she moved to the San Diego area, which offered the additional benefit of being the adopted home of her older sister.
Ashley and her adorable rescue mutt Mojo love to walk the hills in her Oceanside neighborhood, or alternatively, cuddle up and read a book. She loves to travel, cross stich, and stand up paddleboard.
Assistant Program Director - Kara Adams
Kara grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she graduated High School and attended her first two years of college at Kirkwood Community College. At the age of 20 she moved out to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she completed her Bachelors in Photography from Santa Fe University of Art and Design. After graduating in 2014 she moved to San Diego. She worked for the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay for a short time and then decided to move on to a job with the Coronado Historical Association as the Museum Associate Coordinator. In December of 2020 she received her Masters in Nonprofit Administration and Management from North Park University.
Kara has always had a love for volunteer work since volunteering at the Special Olympics at an early age. She has also volunteered for the Humane Society and Comic Con International. Kara moved to San Diego in 2014 and lives with her husband Matt and their two dogs, a Belgian Malinois named Bane and a little mutt named Harley. When Outside of her day job Kara works for the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park coordinating children's birthday parties and giving tours of the museum to kids. When she isn't busy she loves to go on hikes with her dogs, read a good book, or spend time in the kitchen baking.