Yardstick Management’s story began in the heart and mind of a young, committed entrepreneur, Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, who by the age of only 11-years-old was identifying lucrative and innovative business service solutions. His eyes were always on the prize with the long-term vision to exponentially grow and make a sustainable impact on communities and societies worldwide.
Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, founded Yardstick Management in 2012 in response to a call-to-action from his mother, a Detroit Public School educator, and his wife, a global brand executive. When he complained about the lamentable state of education in America, his mother said, “If you’re so upset about it, then DO something about it!”
His mother’s comment prompted his enrollment in a doctoral program in education at the University of Pennsylvania and work in the charter school space. He soon grew frustrated with merely bringing others’ visions to fruition rather than shaping the visions themselves – particularly as he saw minority students being underserved. His wife said, “If you’re not happy with how they’re helping kids, then DO something about it!”
At this point, he decided to leverage his wealth of experience in business and education to launch Yardstick Management, offering strategy consulting services to the education sector at the start and rapidly expanding the breadth of clientele to include global non-profit, government, and corporate partners. At the core foundation of our business is education, and it continues to guide the comprehensive strategy solutions we provide. We inform clients with relevant research, data, and customized strategic solutions for their Management, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Executive Search business needs through this lens.
Today, Yardstick Management is proud to serve some of the world’s biggest names–such as Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, LinkedIn, Prudential, Medtronic, and more. It has serviced over 100 companies, government agencies, municipalities, and higher education institutions in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Yardstick has a proven track record of successful transformation from conception to realization, and we are trusted by the largest companies in the world.
Dr. Parsons, III, and the Yardstick team are committed to building our clients’ internal capacity so that they can enhance their ability to deliver extraordinary results to their constituents.
The Yardstick team is committed to building our clients’ internal capacity so that they can enhance their ability to deliver extraordinary results to their constituents.
Our mission is to help maximize organizations’ capabilities to change the world by providing the roadmap to get there. We believe that organizations should do well while doing good.
At Yardstick Management, we practice what we teach, boasting a global team of diverse talent and consultants that deliver purpose, measurement, and results. Management consulting is in our DNA, helping us deliver customized consulting solutions as we cater to each of our client’s specific needs with extraordinary attention to detail, data, and final results that propel comprehensive business excellence.
At Yardstick Management, diversity is at the heart of everything we do. We actively champion our diverse team’s unique perspectives and boundless talents as we support a continually expanding portfolio of national and international partners. Diversity includes, but is not limited to, the respect and appreciation of race, skin color, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical abilities, age, parental status, work, and behavioral styles. We are committed to creating and maintaining a culture where all team members are included and intentionally engaged in contributing to our organization’s success.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging are the most important cornerstones of our principles of sound business management and strategic initiatives. Each leader at Yardstick Management knows that we must accurately represent and celebrate our global societies’ full breadth internally to effectively speak with professionals and members of all communities in their entirety. We will celebrate our unique differences and embrace the matters we have in common.
At Yardstick Management, we always strive for a diverse coalition that makes sure everyone’s voice is heard.
Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Yardstick Management. A seasoned business executive with a passion for intentional impact, he has been applauded for his strategic thinking, engaging leadership, and results-oriented mindset throughout his career. After working at Fortune 500 companies including Intel, Medtronic, and American Express, Dr. Parsons, III, decided to transition from a promising career in business in 2007 to join the prestigious Broad Residency Program in Educational Leadership. The Broad Residency was his first introduction to America’s public education’s inner-workings, where he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Hartford Public Schools.
Championing the overhaul of the district’s school funding methodology, he negotiated the state’s first pay-for-performance teacher union contract. He led the redistricting of the city to an “All-Choice” system of schools. Following his time in Hartford, Dr. Parsons, III, was on the founding team of the groundbreaking Relay Graduate School of Education, where he led the organization’s Human Capital function. Following Relay, he took on a new challenge to serve as the Chief Operating Officer of the third-largest Charter Management Organization in the U.S., Mosaica Education, Inc. At Mosaica, Dr. Parsons, III, managed over 80 schools across eight states, Washington, D.C., the Middle East, and Asia. He led Mosaica to its two consecutive most profitable years in its 14-year history while simultaneously leading the company to its highest academic performance results in years.
Leveraging his wealth of experience and expertise in business and education, he launched Yardstick Management with a vision to become a leader in transforming and impacting the global landscape of the management consulting industry. Less than a decade later, Yardstick has become a world thought leader and powerhouse in providing specialized Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Executive Search consulting services to renowned mission-driven brands and organizations worldwide. Yardstick is committed to building its clients’ internal capacity to enhance their ability to deliver extraordinary results to their constituents.
He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Florida A&M University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota, and a Doctorate in Educational and Organizational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as a Faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. Dr. Parsons, III, has extensive board leadership experience, including serving on the boards of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Lighthouse Academies, Children’s Orchestra Society, the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Urban Ministries, Inc., the Atlanta Music Project (an El Sistema Program), The Winans Group and the Finance Corps. Dr. Parsons, III, is a Fellow with the Pahara Institute and the Aspen Institute and is a Member of the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Dr. Parsons III resides in Atlanta, GA, with his wife, Ayana, and their adorable daughters, Ebbie Noelle, aka “Noey,” and Noohra Celeste. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, kayaking, and, most of all, rooting for his favorite hometown team, the Michigan Wolverines. Go BLUE!
Ayana Parsons is an award-winning leadership expert, Board & CEO advisor, public speaker and serial entrepreneur on an unwavering mission to drive global change through inclusive leadership and economic freedom. Her mission in life is to empower generations to reach their full potential, both professionally and personally. Ayana envisions a world where there is a level playing field for all, a world where historically disadvantaged, underrepresented, and marginalized people can rightly take their places in the leadership ranks of business and have equal access to the best quality of life.
Ayana has over two decades of experience as an organizational consultant, venture capitalist, corporate executive, and entrepreneur. She leverages her deep expertise in consumer markets, business strategy, general management, enterprise leadership, board and top team effectiveness, and diversity, equity, and inclusion to help catalyze and drive peak performance in leaders, boards, and enterprises.
Her body of work includes co-founding Yardstick Management alongside her husband, Ebbie, and co-founding Fearless Fund, the first venture capital firm for women of color by women of color. Over the years, Ayana has also held global leadership roles at the World Economic Forum, Korn Ferry, Heidrick and Struggles, Procter and Gamble, and Kimberly-Clark.
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