Ascencio is a member of American Library Association (ALA), Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and the District of Columbia Public Library Association.  He has served as Chair of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Jury, member of the ALA Council Committee on Legislation, and member of the ACRL Government Relations Committee.  He is also a member of the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered Roundtable and holds memberships in various ethnic library associations, including the American Indian Library Association, the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.  In July 2009, he will begin serving a one-year term as Chair of the ALA Council Committee on Legislation.  In addition, Ascencio is a candidate for ALA Council, you can vote for him March 18 - April 24, 2009.

Ascencio is active with various on- and off-campus community projects and services.  At GMU, he worked closely with the Office of Diversity Programs and Services and the Hispanic Student Association (HSA); having served as the HSA Co-Faculty Advisor in 2003-2004.  Off-campus, he has participated in national lobbying efforts for American libraries and led the REFORMA Legislative Committee from 2004-2006.  In 2002, he was appointed by Washington, DC Mayor Anthony Williams to serve on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, an advisory group to the mayor regarding federal Title V funding for youth services and programming.  In 2001, he served as a consultant on Libraries for the Future MetLife Foundation Reading America program, a national book and film discussion series for teens and families.

Ascencio has presented lectures, keynote addresses, workshops, and media interviews throughout the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama on various subjects including InfoDiversity, Libraries and Civil Societies, Web 2.0 Technologies in Libraries, and Library Services to Latinos and Spanish-Speakers.

Ascencio holds a B.A. in Art History and minor in Italian from California State University, Northridge.  He received his MLIS in 1999 from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  He served as a member of the Honorary Committee for the UCLA Library & Information Studies 50-Year Celebration.  In addition, he is part for the first ALA Emerging Leaders cohort and a 2008 Library Journal Mover & Shaker.