Strategic Consulting & Training
Practical solutions for real organizational challenges.
Organizations don't always need another off-the-shelf program. Sometimes they need someone who can listen, identify what's really happening, bring the right people to the table and build a solution that works.
Ascend Strategic Consulting & Training helps businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, corrections and law-enforcement organizations strengthen their people, improve their practices, engage their communities and turn strategy into action.
Bring us the challenge. We'll help build the solution.
Request a training or consultationBased in Georgia. Serving organizations nationwide. Virtual and in-person engagements available.
People + Organizations
Strengthen People.
Improve Organizations.
Create Impact.
Leadership discussions, staff training, strategic planning, community conversations and stakeholder engagement — in the room, with the people who do the work.
When the challenge doesn't fit in a box
You don't have to diagnose the problem before you call us.
You don't have to know what the solution is.
Bring us the challenge.
We'll help determine what comes next.
Organizational assessments; strategy development; policy and SOP development and modernization; organizational communications; curriculum and training-material development; program development; customer and client experience improvement; community and stakeholder strategy; organizational change initiatives; project implementation; ongoing advisory support.
Leadership and professional development; communication and team effectiveness; customer service and client engagement; people-first language; organizational culture and accountability; public speaking and presentation skills; train-the-trainer programs; reentry and justice-impacted populations; digital literacy and workforce readiness; community engagement; customized programs.
Need something that isn't on the list? We'll build it.
Strategic-planning sessions; executive and leadership retreats; board retreats; staff listening sessions; focus groups; stakeholder sessions; community conversations; program-planning sessions; sensitive organizational discussions; cross-functional planning.
Our role isn't simply to keep the agenda moving. It's to help the people in the room get somewhere.
Community outreach strategy; stakeholder identification and engagement; partnership development; listening sessions; focus groups; public-facing initiatives; justice-impacted community engagement; community-informed program development; stakeholder communications; facilitated community conversations; translating community input into organizational action.
Specialty Practice
Strengthening People. Practices. Performance. Community Relationships.
Services may include staff and leadership development; people-first language and professional communication; reentry education; working effectively with justice-impacted populations; policy and SOP review and modernization; organizational assessments; leadership and supervisory development; community engagement and trust-building; customized curriculum; facilitation; program strategy; and implementation support.
Ascend brings a distinctive combination of professional, operational, community and lived expertise to help agencies bridge systems, staff and communities while strengthening organizational effectiveness.
Discuss an agency training or projectBuild the leadership, processes and customer experience your growth depends on.
Strengthen programs, staff capacity and the community relationships behind your mission.
Modernize policy and practice, and train staff who serve the public every day.
Develop leaders and staff, improve practices and build community trust.
Solutions designed around actual challenges, people, environment and objectives.
Assess, strategize, design, implement, measure and refine.
Close the gap between leadership intent and frontline reality.
Professional, operational, community and lived perspectives.
Understand the people, problem, environment and desired outcome.
Develop a practical path forward.
Build customized solutions, curriculum, processes and tools.
Bring leadership, employees, stakeholders and communities into the process.
Support implementation, organizational change and emerging challenges.
Focus on meaningful outcomes, measure progress and refine as needed.
Don't just recommend change. ASCEND through it.
On Stage
Powerful Perspectives. Meaningful Conversations. Lasting Impact.
Customized keynotes available
Book Chay to speak
Practice Leadership
Director of Strategic Consulting & Training
Strategist · Trainer · Facilitator · Speaker
Chay McFarland brings a distinctive combination of strategy, training, communications, operations, community engagement and lived expertise to organizations seeking practical solutions to complex challenges. Known for translating complex issues into practical, accessible solutions, Chay develops customized engagements designed not simply to inform — but to move organizations from conversation to action.
Chay McFarland, J.D. is a strategist, trainer, facilitator, speaker and organizational consultant whose career spans law and policy, communications, operations, workforce development, training, community engagement and justice-system initiatives. With a Juris Doctor and an academic foundation in journalism and communications, Chay combines analytical rigor with an ability to translate complicated issues into language that connects with diverse audiences.
Her professional experience includes developing and delivering training, creating curricula and educational resources, coordinating community initiatives, developing stakeholder partnerships, supporting organizational strategy, facilitating conversations, developing programs and helping organizations move ideas into implementation. Her professional expertise is complemented by lived experience with the justice system, providing an uncommon perspective on the intersection of institutional systems, organizational practices, frontline realities and the experiences of the people and communities those systems serve.
What needs to change — and what will it actually take to make that change work?
Experience Includes
CoreCivic · Southern Center for Human Rights · Georgetown Law / AIR · Georgia Department of Corrections · The Ladies of Hope Ministries · Center for Employment Opportunities · MLK Sr. Community Resources Collaborative · National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers · National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA) · Correctional Management & Communications Group, LLC (Clermont, FL)
Selected organizations represent Chay McFarland's professional, training, facilitation and community-engagement experience. Inclusion should not be interpreted as an endorsement of Ascend Consulting Services.
Flexible Engagements. Customized Scope.
Direct Contracts
Subcontracting Opportunities
Strategic Partnerships
Tell us what's happening. We'll start there.
You don't have to know whether you need a consultant, trainer, facilitator or organizational strategist before contacting us. Tell us what's happening. We'll start there.
Request a training or consultationGeorgia-based. Nationwide availability. Virtual and in-person engagements.