THE PLACE

The Ascend National Cohort stands out because of the academic excellence and business credibility that come with the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. The university leads as a national research powerhouse, it is ranked No. 7 in the world powering global innovation, and No. 1 among public universities.
Foster’s commitment to underserved business growth reaches far beyond academics. Their approach integrates education, consulting, access to capital, and market opportunities to empower established companies ready to scale. The results speak for themselves, with participants achieving:
  • Essential skills in strategic planning, financial management, and leadership.
  • Practical application learning through real-world case studies and actionable insights.
  • Business Management Certificates emphasize hands-on approach.
  • Networking with industry experts, peers, and global leaders.
  • Strengthen resilience, adaptability, and internal processes for long-term success.

M3: SCALING SMALL BUSINESS

Ascend’s M3 strategy integrates business coaching, education from some of the world’s leading business faculty, and consulting from global consulting firms to enable high-performing companies to scale through three components:

Management:

Business owners and their leadership teams immerse themselves in a learning environment architected by business school faculty that focuses on scaling rather than growth.

Money:

As Ascend businesses develop and implement strategies to move from small business to mid-sized and large, new accounting and financial management systems are needed and new reporting and audit requirements are demanded by lenders and investors. Business owners and their finance teams engage with consultants from accounting firms, and work with lenders to ensure they understand the financing they can support and ways to strengthen their financial performance.

Markets:

As businesses improve their systems, they become more competitive. On average businesses that complete the Ascend National Cohort secure five new contracts and renew or extend seven contracts within a year of program completion.