Leadership and career development
Strengthen your judgment, confidence, influence, and ability to navigate the next stage of your career.
The Experience
Two Days to Strengthen What Comes Next
Ascension is not built around passive attendance. It is a two-day progression through learning, reflection, connection, and application—designed to help you leave with clearer priorities, practical strategies, and relationships that continue beyond the weekend.
What you'll explore
Six Connected Learning Tracks
The final program will bring together sessions across six connected learning tracks:
Financial wellness and wealth building
Make more intentional decisions about money, opportunity, security, and long-term financial growth.
The Healthy Leader
Build practices that support sustained leadership without ignoring the physical and emotional demands of the work.
Sponsored by Mt. Carmel
Personal brand, influence, and professional relationships
Communicate your value, build authentic visibility, and develop relationships that support meaningful growth.
Entrepreneurship and business growth
Move ideas forward with stronger strategy, systems, financial discipline, and market clarity.
Leadership through complexity
Lead difficult conversations, change, uncertainty, and high-stakes decisions with greater clarity and courage.
Signature sessions
Signature Sessions and Speakers
The strongest conference sessions begin with a real leadership or professional challenge—and end with something useful. As speakers and sessions are confirmed, this section will show what each experience helps attendees understand, practice, or carry back into their work.
The challenge
The leadership or professional problem each session addresses.
The experience
What attendees will examine, discuss, or practice together.
The takeaway
The practical tool, perspective, or next step attendees leave with.
Confirmed speakers and sessions will be announced here as the program is finalized.
The arc of the weekend
Your Ascension Weekend
Saturday
Learn, connect, and expand
The Summit opens with a shared leadership frame before moving into signature conversations, breakout learning, and the Life By Design Luncheon. The afternoon continues with practical sessions and intentional relationship-building. Saturday evening brings the community together for a reception and the 2027 Ascension Catalyst Awards Dinner, recognizing leaders whose impact is moving organizations and communities forward.
Sunday
Restore, apply, and move forward
Sunday creates space for wellness, specialized development, and a leadership brunch before the Summit closes with application and next steps. The goal is not to send you home with more information than you can use. It is to help you identify what matters now—and what you will do with it.
Exact session times will be published once the final run of show is approved.
Logistics
Plan to Attend
Summit details
- Dates
- January 2–3, 2027
- Venue
- Cherry Valley Hotel, Newark, Ohio
- Format
- Two-day public leadership conference
- Registration
- Current options available through Wild Apricot
Under $200
Two days of high-quality professional development, signature experiences, and included meals. Visit the official registration page for current rates, deadlines, processing fees, ticket types, hotel instructions, and room-block information.
Registration includes
- General sessions
- Breakouts and workshops
- Life By Design Luncheon
- Catalyst Awards Dinner
- Sunday brunch
Hotel and room block
Stay at Cherry Valley Hotel
The Summit is held at Cherry Valley Hotel, and a discounted block of rooms is held for attendees. Booking inside the block keeps you on site for the full two days — including the Saturday evening reception and the Sunday brunch.
- Hotel
- Cherry Valley Hotel
- Address
- 2299 Cherry Valley Rd SE
Newark, OH 43055 - Phone
- 740-788-1200
- Book by
- December 10, 2026
Booking by phone? Ask for the AALA room block. The link above opens the block directly with the dates already set.
Employer approval
Make the Case to Your Employer
Most organizations hold professional-development or tuition-reimbursement funds and will approve a request that ties the learning to the role. Ascension is an easy case to make: registration is under $200, the Summit runs Saturday and Sunday so it costs no working days, and what participants bring back is practical rather than inspirational.
What your organization gets
- Applied leadership development at a fraction of the cost of comparable external programs.
- Learning that returns to the team — judgment, decision-making, and difficult conversations.
- Cross-sector perspective the employee cannot get inside your organization alone.
- A visible investment in a leader you are trying to develop and retain.
- No lost working days, and no conference-season travel budget.
What you get
- Strategies you can put to work the week you return.
- Clarity about your professional and leadership priorities for the year.
- New tools and approaches for the challenges already in front of you.
- Relationships across sectors that outlast the weekend.
- Time to start the year with focus and renewed capacity.
Request template — edit the highlighted parts and send
Subject: Approval request — Ascension Leadership Summit, January 2–3, 2027
Hi [Manager],
I would like to attend the Ascension Leadership Summit on January 2–3, 2027 at Cherry Valley Hotel in Newark, Ohio, and I am requesting approval to use available professional-development funds for registration.
Ascension is a two-day applied leadership program built around six learning tracks: leadership and career development; financial wellness and wealth building; The Healthy Leader; personal brand, influence, and professional relationships; entrepreneurship and business growth; and leading through complexity. The format combines general sessions, breakout workshops, and structured relationship-building with leaders across sectors.
What I expect to bring back:
- Practical strategies I can apply directly to [name a current project, team challenge, or goal]
- Sharper judgment and clearer priorities for the decisions ahead of me this year
- Perspective from leaders in other organizations working on comparable problems
- A written summary and two or three specific recommendations I will share with the team
What it costs:
- Registration is under $200 and includes all sessions, workshops, and meals
- The Summit runs Saturday and Sunday, so it requires no time away from work
- Travel is limited to [local mileage / one night at the $129 room-block rate]
I am glad to share the agenda in advance and to debrief the team afterward.
Thanks,
[Your name]
AALA Fellows and alumni
Come Back Home
Ascension remains a meaningful gathering place for AALA Fellows and alumni—even as the Summit expands its reach. Return to the relationships that shaped your experience, see how the community has grown, and connect with leaders across cohorts and sectors.
The 2027 AALA Alumni Round Up takes place Friday, January 1, at Cherry Valley Hotel. It is a separate, optional, separately ticketed alumni experience. Ascension registration does not include admission to the Alumni Round Up.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be an AALA Fellow or alumnus to attend?
No. Ascension is open to professionals who are ready to invest in their development and expand their leadership impact. Attendance does not provide admission, preference, or special consideration for the AALA Fellowship.
Who should attend?
Ascension is designed for advancing professionals, executives, managers, people leaders, entrepreneurs, nonprofit and civic leaders, talent and workforce professionals, and AALA Fellows and alumni. Organizations may also send multiple employees or teams.
Can my employer reimburse my registration?
Often, yes. Many employers support external professional development when the learning is relevant to an employee's role or growth plan, and Ascension is a straightforward request: registration is under $200, the Summit runs Saturday and Sunday so it requires no time away from work, and participants return with practical strategies rather than inspiration alone. Start with your organization's professional-development or tuition-reimbursement process, and use our request template — it is written to be edited and sent.
What does registration include?
Registration includes Summit general sessions, breakout workshops, the Life By Design Luncheon, the Catalyst Awards Dinner, and Sunday brunch. See the official registration page for the current ticket details.
Is the Alumni Round Up included?
No. The January 1 AALA Alumni Round Up is a separate, optional, separately ticketed experience for AALA alumni. Select the combined ticket option or purchase the Alumni Round Up ticket separately if you plan to attend both.
When will speakers and the complete agenda be announced?
Confirmed speakers, signature sessions, and schedule details will be added as the program is finalized. Follow AALA and Ascension communications for new announcements.
Where can I find current pricing and hotel information?
The official registration page contains the current rates, ticket types, deadlines, hotel instructions, room-block information, and processing fees.
Can organizations send more than one employee?
Yes. Ascension is relevant for individuals, colleagues, and cross-functional teams. Organizations interested in sending several participants may contact AALA with registration questions.
What accessibility or dietary accommodations are available?
Please identify accessibility or dietary needs during registration when that option is available, or contact the AALA team before the Summit so the team can discuss reasonable accommodations.
Who should I contact with questions?
Email summit@leadersthatascend.org or call 614-245-0451.
Next step
Your Next Leadership Investment Can Start Here
Start the year with practical learning, broader perspective, and relationships that can help you move forward with greater clarity.
At a glance
- Dates
- January 2–3, 2027
- Venue
- Cherry Valley Hotel, Newark, Ohio
- Includes
- Sessions, workshops, luncheon, dinner, brunch
- Registration
- Under $200