Program & Curriculum — Ascend Management Academy

Format

How the program works

Built for working managers. No career breaks, no fluff — just a clear weekly rhythm.

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Weekly live sessions

90-minute interactive classes every Tuesday evening with faculty and your full cohort. Recorded if you miss one.

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Accountability pods

You're placed in a pod of 4–6 managers who meet weekly to pressure-test ideas, practice skills, and keep each other honest.

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Applied projects

Every module ends with a real-world assignment you run in your own job — so your employer sees results before you graduate.

Your 12 weeks

A journey with a clear arc

Each phase builds on the last — from personal effectiveness to leading teams to driving organizational change.

1 Weeks 1–3 · Foundations

Lead yourself

Strategic thinking, prioritization, decision-making under uncertainty, and building your personal leadership brand.

2 Weeks 4–7 · People

Lead your team

Coaching, feedback, difficult conversations, delegation, hiring, and building trust on high-performing teams.

3 Weeks 8–10 · Business

Lead the work

Financial acumen, metrics and data storytelling, cross-functional influence, and running effective operating rhythms.

4 Weeks 11–12 · Impact

Lead change

Change management, conflict and negotiation, resilience — and a capstone project presented to executive coaches.

Curriculum

Every module, in detail

Twelve modules across four disciplines. Each includes live instruction, a playbook, and a workplace application project.

Strategic Thinking

Prioritization frameworks, vision-setting, and turning ambiguous goals into a credible plan.

STRATEGYPLANNING

Leading High-Performing Teams

Psychological safety, role clarity, and the operating cadence that makes teams predictable and fast.

TEAMSCULTURE

Influential Communication

Persuasive writing, executive presentations, and running meetings people actually want to attend.

COMMSPRESENTING

Coaching & Feedback

A repeatable coaching framework, feedback scripts, and how to develop each person on your team.

COACHINGGROWTH

Data-Driven Decision Making

Choosing metrics that matter, running small experiments, and making calls with incomplete information.

METRICSANALYTICS

Financial Acumen

Reading a P&L, budgeting with confidence, and building a business case that gets funded.

FINANCEBUSINESS CASE

Change Management

Leading transformation with a playbook: stakeholder mapping, comms plans, and momentum that survives week three.

CHANGETRANSFORMATION

Conflict & Negotiation

Navigating difficult conversations, mediating team friction, and negotiating resources and priorities.

CONFLICTNEGOTIATION

Delegation & Execution

Delegating outcomes, not tasks; setting clear expectations; and holding people accountable with grace.

DELEGATIONEXECUTION

Cross-Functional Influence

Getting things done without authority — stakeholder management and building alliances across the org.

INFLUENCESTAKEHOLDERS

Resilient Leadership

Sustainable performance, managing your energy, and supporting your team through pressure and change.

WELLBEINGRESILIENCE

Capstone Project

A live leadership challenge from your organization, solved end-to-end and presented to a panel of executive coaches.

CAPSTONECERTIFICATION

Faculty

Learn from operators, not lecturers

Every faculty member has led real teams at scale — and teaches the playbooks they actually used.

Marcus Chen

Program Director · ex-COO, Brightline

Twenty years building and scaling operations teams. Marcus teaches strategic thinking and execution.

Elena Vasquez

People Leadership Lead · ex-VP HR, Atlas Logistics

Former HR leader who has coached hundreds of managers through their hardest people decisions.

David Okafor

Change & Strategy Lead · ex-Partner, Meridian Consulting

Led 40+ transformation programs across three continents. Teaches change and business acumen.

Cohorts

Upcoming start dates

Three cohorts per year, capped at 40 participants each to protect coaching quality.

● Applications open

Spring 2026

📅 Starts March 2, 2026 ⏰ Tuesdays · 6:30–8:00 PM ET 🎓 In-person retreat: May 15–16

Apply Now

● Applications open

Summer 2026

📅 Starts June 8, 2026 ⏰ Wednesdays · 6:30–8:00 PM ET 🎓 In-person retreat: Aug 14–15

Apply Now

✕ Applications closed

Fall 2025

📅 Ran Sep 8 – Nov 28, 2025 ⏰ Tuesdays · 6:30–8:00 PM ET 🎓 96% completion rate

Join Waitlist

FAQ

Questions, answered

Everything managers ask before they apply.

Who is this program for?+

New managers in their first 1–3 years, high-performing individual contributors about to be promoted, and experienced managers who never received formal training. If you lead people or projects, this is for you.

How much time does it require each week?+

About 4–5 hours: a 90-minute live session, a 60-minute pod meeting, and 2–3 hours of reading, practice, and applied work. All live sessions are recorded.

Will my employer pay for it?+

Many do. We provide a one-page business case template for your manager, and 60% of participants receive full or partial employer sponsorship. Team pricing makes it even easier.

Is the certification recognized?+

Yes. The Ascend Certified Manager credential is recognized by more than 200 partner employers and appears on your LinkedIn profile with a verification link.

What if I miss a live session?+

Every session is recorded and posted within 24 hours, with the full workbook included. Pod leaders help you catch up, and you can attend a make-up session in the following cohort.

Twelve weeks. Four disciplines. One leadership identity.