Our Story
The journey that led to Bloom Together Collective — rooted in service and community.
Service as a Calling
Service has been a central pillar in Ashley Blanco’s life since she was a little girl, and she has felt called to dedicate her life to serving communities in under-resourced regions since she was fifteen years old.
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DR: Asking the First Questions
Her journey in international development began to take shape in 2021, when she volunteered on clean water projects in the Dominican Republic. What initially felt like a desire to help quickly became a series of deeper questions — questions that would ultimately shape her life’s work.
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While working alongside local communities, Ashley became deeply aware of the connection between access to clean water, sanitation, and education. She noticed how frequently children were absent from school, how illness disrupted daily life, and how long walks to collect water and unsafe sanitation made stability difficult to maintain. Over time, it became clear that these challenges were not isolated — they were deeply interconnected and sat at the root of the cycle of poverty affecting entire communities.
East Africa: Listening More Closely
This understanding ultimately led Ashley to East Africa. From the moment she arrived, she was deeply moved not only by the need, but by the leadership already present. Local leaders, women, and families were actively working to support their communities despite limited resources.
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Living and working alongside community members allowed Ashley to see daily realities that are often overlooked — especially the ways time, distance, and access shape opportunity.
Redefining Sustainable Access
Even when clean water sources existed, they were often located far from home. Families — particularly women and girls — spent hours each day walking to collect water, often at the expense of education, work, health, and safety.
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These experiences reshaped Ashley’s understanding of what sustainable water access truly means. It became clear that solutions addressing only part of the problem — without considering proximity, safety, and daily burden — could unintentionally leave the cycle of poverty intact.
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This realization is why Bloom Together Collective commits to water projects only when they can provide direct, household-level access. By bringing clean water directly to the home, Bloom aims to reduce time poverty, improve health outcomes, and create the conditions necessary for education and long-term stability — addressing the root of the challenge, not just a single piece of it.
From The Girls' Stories
While spending time in East African communities, Ashley also began hearing stories directly from girls — stories about missed school days, shame, and limited access to menstrual hygiene products. For many, menstruation was not simply a health issue, but a barrier to education and opportunity.
She came to understand that period poverty, much like water insecurity, quietly but powerfully shapes a girl’s ability to stay in school and participate fully in daily life. Without access to menstrual hygiene education, safe sanitation, and reliable products, girls are often forced to fall behind — reinforcing cycles of inequality.
This realization made it clear that improving access to clean water alone was not enough. Addressing menstrual health was essential to creating environments where girls could learn, grow, and thrive.
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Creating Solutions
These experiences became the foundation of Bloom Together Collective — not as a solution imposed from the outside, but as a partnership rooted in community leadership, trust, and long-term commitment.
Bloom works alongside local partners in Uganda and Zanzibar to implement clean water systems that bring water directly to homes, while also supporting menstrual hygiene education and access for girls. Together, these initiatives address the root causes that keep children out of school and families from thriving — not just one piece of the problem.
Looking Ahead
Today, as Executive Director of Bloom Together Collective, Ashley leads programs that center dignity, sustainability, and local ownership — building pathways to education, health, and opportunity while honoring the voices and strengths of the communities served.
She will be relocating to Zanzibar, Tanzania in 2026 to further the organization’s work on the ground.
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