Accelerating Female Leadership for Enterprise and Board-level Impact

Ascent Accelerator is a nine-month leadership experience for high-potential female credit union leaders ready to operate at the enterprise and board level.

Apply for 2026 Cohort
Nominate for 2026 Cohort

Ascent Accelerator Launch Video

You’re Leading at a High Level. But Are You Operating at the Enterprise Level?

Many senior female leaders are highly capable yet still operating within their function. Not at the level required for top leadership roles.

You’ve built credibility. You deliver. You’re trusted. But enterprise and board-level leadership demands a fundamentally different operating system — one that most organizations don’t deliberately build.

Here's the truth: You don't have a competence problem. You have a readiness gap.

And readiness isn't built by doing more. It's built by becoming more. More clear on who you are as a leader. More confident in your strategic voice. More visible in the spaces that matter.

Ascent Accelerator closes that gap.

From Qualified
to Undeniable

The Ascent program doesn't just prepare you for the CEO role.
It transforms how you see yourself, how you lead, and how others experience your leadership.

Before Ascent

  • Leading below your strategic ceiling

  • Respected but feel underestimated for enterprise-level roles

  • Question whether you're "ready enough" to pursue the position

  • Operate from capability, but not yet confidence

After Ascent

  • Lead with unshakeable clarity on who you are 

  • Visible, positioned, and board-ready

  • Step into enterprise opportunities without hesitation or self-doubt

  • Operate from a fully formed identity, not just aspiration

This isn't theory. It's transformation
you can feel. And others will see.

A Tailored Experience for Every Leader

Through personalized executive coaching and CEO mentor partnerships, the Ascent program is intentionally tailored to meet each leader exactly where they are.

Your experience is calibrated to your current leadership altitude and next-level aspirations.

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The Ascent Leader Enterprise Blueprint™

Your personalized roadmap to leadership elevation, enterprise influence, and board-level impact.

A proprietary executive leadership acceleration framework designed to help high-potential leaders strengthen their confidence, expand their strategic altitude, elevate their visibility, and increase their impact across their organization, industry, and beyond.

The Ascent Leader Enterprise Blueprint™ Includes

  • A sharp, strategic outline of the leadership role you are targeting (C-Suite/CEO/Board Impact) defining the expectations, capabilities, and enterprise-level impact required at that altitude.

    Stop guessing and start aiming with precision.

  • A grounded, strategic reflection of your leadership starting point in the program - clarifying strengths, gaps, mindset patterns, confidence barriers, and visibility edges.

  • A strategic portfolio of leadership stories - spanning transformation, culture, and enterprise impact - articulated with clarity, precision, and leadership-level altitude.

  • Tools, experiments and behaviours that identify and dismantle imposter syndrome, neutralize self-doubt and create grounded internal confidence. Inner elevation → outer impact.

  • A strategic approach to raising your leadership profile inside your credit union and across the national system. You become visible, legible, and undeniable.

  • A refined understanding of who you are at CEO altitude: your differentiators, value drivers, superpowers, and leadership essence. You shift from "qualified" to "compelling."


  • A suite of crisp, memorable CEO-level soundbites you can deploy in interviews, presentations, board conversations, and sector events. This becomes your personal PR engine.

  • Define the essence of your leadership identity: your superpowers, value proposition, and differentiators. Shift from “qualified” to unmistakably operating at enterprise and board-level altitude.

  • Demystifies executive and CEO selection and turns it into a strategic advantage. Understand how senior leadership decisions are really made, from recruiter dynamics and board expectations to informal influence pathways.

    Position yourself not just as a candidate, but as the leader they’ve been waiting to find.

Ascent participants architect their path to the role and rise into it with confidence, presence, and precision.

What 2025 Cohort Participants Are Saying

  • "One of the most powerful aspects was the community of women executives. The shared experiences and meaningful dialogue fostered growth through mutual encouragement and collective wisdom. I now have a trusted circle of peers I can lean on, learn from, and collaborate with beyond the program."


  • "The value of this program goes far beyond the investment—it's reshaped how I lead and how I see myself as a leader."

  • "The Ascent program was truly transformative. It deepened my understanding of what it means to lead as a high-impact CEO and gave me the mindset, strategies, and confidence to say, 'I'm ready.' I now see the CEO role not as a distant goal, but as a challenge I'm fully prepared to embrace."


  • "This program challenged me to think like a CEO and start to truly envision leadership skills needed. It helped me understand my inhibitions and self-imposed barriers, to see what I was afraid to address. I'm coming out a better leader because of this program."

  • "For any woman considering this journey, it's more than professional development. It's a catalyst for personal and leadership evolution. You'll leave with renewed purpose, practical tools for impact, and a network that amplifies your leadership."


  • "This program accelerated my leadership growth and connected me with an extraordinary circle of high-performing women. Through expert-led sessions, SuperPower hours, female CEO Mentorship and personalized coaching, I gained the clarity and confidence to lead at a whole new level of impact."

  • "The program has given me meaningful space to grow, recalibrate, and lead with purpose, helping me become more intentional about my path in the credit union sector. Erin has created a truly phenomenal program in both content and delivery."

  • "It's been an incredible experience connecting with such a talented cohort and participating in a well thought out program. It's inspired a lot of reflection and growth."

Are You the Right Fit for Ascent?

The Ascent Accelerator is designed for high-potential women leaders in the Canadian credit union sector who meet the following criteria.

If this is you, we would love
to see your application.

You currently hold:

  • A Vice President, Senior Vice President, or C-suite position within a Canadian credit union

  • At least two years of experience in the Canadian credit union sector

You're ready to:

  • Expand your impact to the enterprise and board level

  • Engage in deep, reflective coaching to accelerate your growth

  • Commit fully to a nine-month cohort-based journey (including monthly coaching, workshops, and peer learning)

You bring:

  • Openness to feedback, coaching, and peer collaboration

  • High self-awareness and emotional intelligence

  • Values-based, purpose-driven leadership aligned with cooperative principles

  • A genuine commitment to both learning from and contributing to the collective wisdom of the cohort

You have:

  • Endorsement from your current CEO or Board Chair to participate

  • Organizational support for the time and investment required

Apply Now
Nominate for 2026 Cohort

A Nine-Month Journey from Inner Foundation to Outer Impact

Ascent is an immersive, cohort-based leadership development experience that blends executive coaching, CEO mentorship, peer collaboration, and expert-led learning.

The Program Includes
Six High-Impact Modules

Each module builds on the last, progressing from inner transformation to outer influence:

Module 1: Leadership Identity
Discover the leader you are at your best.

Module 2: Strategic Altitude
Elevate your perspective and think like an enterprise leader.

Module 3: Leadership Influence
Elevate your perspective and think like an enterprise leader.

Module 4: Executive Visibility
Become known for the value you create.

Module 5: Board & Enterprise Impact
Create and align your impact at the highest levels of leadership.

Module 6: The Next-Level Leader
Prepare for your next chapter of leadership.

Monthly 1:1 Leadership Coaching

Personalized coaching sessions to accelerate learning, fuel growth, and tackle personal leadership roadblocks head-on.

Cohort Mastermind & Leadership Workshops

Monthly peer learning sessions where connection becomes collaboration, support becomes strategy, and trust accelerates growth.

Dedicated Female CEO Mentor

Each participant is matched with an experienced female credit union CEO who provides real-world insight, guidance, and advocacy.

Superpower Hours

Expert-led workshops featuring leaders from across the credit union sector and beyond, offering unique insights on topics like CEO recruitment, digital intelligence, board chair perspectives, and leadership with purpose.

Time Commitment

Approximately 8-12 hours per module, intentionally designed to fit alongside a full executive schedule. What matters most is presence, curiosity, and the courage to invest in your own leadership.

2025 Faculty

  • Erin Harris

    Program Facilitator

  • Launi Skinner

    First West CU

  • Jay-Ann Gilfoy

    Meridian CU

  • Alison Hoskins

    Integris CU

  • Shelley McDade

    Sunshine Coast CU

  • Marie Mullally

    CUA

  • Lisa Colangelo

    YNU

  • Lisa Loughery

    Brunswick CU

  • Rhonda Taylor

    HMECU

The Investment

$16,800
A strategic bet on the leader you're becoming and the organization you'll one day lead.

What You Gain

Nine months of intensive preparation built around you—your strengths, your gaps, your path forward. Monthly executive coaching. A dedicated female CEO mentor who's been in the seat. A CEO Blueprint™ that becomes your roadmap. A national network of women who understand exactly what you're navigating. And the confidence to step into the role when it's yours.

What Your Credit Union Gains

A leader who thinks, speaks, and operates at enterprise and board-level altitude. Right now, not years from now. Stronger board relationships. Sharper strategic thinking. Reduced succession risk. And an internal candidate who already knows your culture, your members, and your mission.

Ready to Rise?

The Ascent Accelerator runs once per year, with cohorts limited to 8 participants to preserve depth, intimacy, and meaningful connection.

If you're a high-potential woman leader in the Canadian credit union sector who is ready to close the gap between where you are and where you're headed, we want to hear from you.

Don't wait until you've ticked every box. That's the trap. If this resonates in your gut, apply.

The 2026 cohort will be announced in March. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Apply for the 2026 Ascent CEO Accelerator
Nominate for the 2026 Ascent CEO Accelerator