
Ascend National Cohort
University of Washington Foster School of Business + Morehouse College
Contacts: Mayte Manzo (Foster) + Danita Harris (Morehouse)
The application for the 2025-2026 Cohort is now open.
Ascend National Cohort melds Management skills development for senior leadership teams, ensures access to Money through loans and investments, and grows Market access for firms through strategic partnerships with corporations.
What drives Ascend National Cohort´s success?
94% of the participants ranked Ascend´s management education as having a high impact on their business
88% of the alumni say that Ascend´s peer network of business owners had a high impact on their business
Faculty
Benefits for Corporate and Large Private Company Partners
Corporations and large middle-market firms across industries use Ascend as a core tool to grow suppliers and contractors. May partners send supplier and contractor companies that need to grow to a regional, national, or global footprint to better their sponsor’s requirements. Other partners send supplier and contractor firms increased opportunities as they improve operations, increase efficiency, broaden their management team, and/or develop succession and sustainability plans.
The companies our partners send win larger contracts, expand their customer base, grow revenues, and secure additional loans and investments within a year of program completion.
Benefits for Participating Businesses
Businesses accepted into the Ascend National Cohort enter with a defined opportunity/challenge that, when addressed, will lead to increased profitability. Over the 6 months of the cohort program, businesses access a fantastic set of resources that address the opportunity/challenge they have identified, including:
Business coaching from a successful entrepreneur
Assistance from a business student
Consulting sessions from Accenture, EY, JP Morgan Chase, RSM, and others
Six days of in-person instruction at the University of Washington OR Morehouse College
Virtual instruction and small group work on operational excellence, B2B marketing, and organizational leadership
While most business development programs focus solely on the business owner or CEO, the Ascend National Cohort is dedicated to building a strong executive leadership team. The CEO, plus two C-Suite-level colleagues from each company, can attend in-person and virtual sessions.
Hubs
University of Washington Foster School of Business
In Seattle, WA
Focusing on businesses doing B2G and B2B
Industry agnostic
Morehouse College
In Atlanta, GA
Focusing on businesses doing B2G- specifically in federal sector
Industries: Professional Services, IT Support Services, and Manufacturing
Roadmap
The Impact
“The Ascend program has helped me and Johnson Security achieve significant breakthroughs, more specifically, winning new business with three opportunity partners. Our team is gaining momentum and confidence as we pursue larger contracts. We are hiring new team members as we expand our services to one notable global corporation by 250 percent.”
-Jessica Johnson-Cope, CEO and President of Jonhson Security Bureau
Ascend NYC & National Cohort Alum ‘23
Our Partners
If you represent a corporation, there are many ways to collaborate and to benefit from Ascend National!
Our current list includes-