alison westerlind, M.ED.

With over 15 years of administration and counseling experience, Alison brings expertise and care to her clients in individual coaching and leadership team development. She is a certified Myers-Briggs and Working Genius practitioner and was a member of The Table Group’s CAPA Pro group of consultants.

As principal consultant for leadership team development and one on one coaching, she brings energy, perspective, and engaging sessions to the teams and individuals she serves. She works with non-profit and for-profit businesses of all sizes. Helping teams and leaders lead with clarity and care is the focus of Alison’s work.

Her workshops are lively, enriching, and teams leave with a greater understanding of each other and the work they are committed to doing

debbie rickey, ph.d.

Debbie brings over 40 years of teaching and administration experience in K- 12 and higher education to the Ascent group. Her love of a continuous improvement mindset has become foundational with her work with her own teams and schools and with varied institutions as a consultant and speaker. Her work as a high school teacher, principal, higher education faculty member, director, and associate dean has given her rich opportunities to support leaders and teams through continuous improvement.

Debbie’s style of work can be characterized by the term critical friend. Her relational style of coaching resonates with people and teams where her care and concern are balanced with supportive recommendations and honest feedback. Her desire is to help move teams to where they want to be and create an environment where they can and will continue to grow, improve, and see how their challenges can become opportunities.

Her involvement in education has also been marked by involvement in state and national boards and organizations, most recently serving as a commissioner for AAQEP, Association for the Advancement of Quality in Educator Preparation, a national teacher education accreditation body. A speaker and workshop facilitator in the areas of change and transitions, data-informed decisions, systems improvement, continuous improvement culture, and action research, Debbie also co-authored with Richard Sagor the book The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence: Lessons from a Transformational Leader.