Our History

Helping individuals and organizations become all they aspire to be since 2011

If necessity is the mother of invention, then that’s how Aspire was born.

In 2011, after leading a restructuring and then working himself out of a job at a senior living system, Aspire’s founder Chris McNiven had a deadline and a ticking clock to finish his years-long pursuit of a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. In order to allow time for that to happen as well as earn an income, he began offering his organizational development services as a consultant to his professional network. Through a series of mutually agreed upon six-month stints between Chris and Jennifer McNiven to try this experiment, Aspire was born, and Chris completed his degree.

Over the years, Aspire has played different roles to different organizations. We have morphed from a training and development firm to a full-service organizational development firm to a strategic planning and affiliation firm to a coaching firm. Now, Aspire is all those things.

Aspire would not have the story it does if it were not for the consultants (partners) who have chosen to work with us. Their experience and expertise are invaluable to providing the authentic and insightful services for which Aspire is known. Each has areas of specialty, and all bring unique gifts that make Aspire what it is.

The Future of Aspire

The story is not over. After 10 years of business, Aspire entered a new part of the business life cycle and needed a different kind of leadership skill set. A leadership skill set that Jennifer McNiven possesses and has honed over years of working with and for entrepreneurial organizations. While Jennifer’s ability to foresee organizational needs and build the right system or processes to meet it have been the backbone of Aspire for years, it is her capacity to create space for people to engage authentically; her ability to hear past the noise, taking strong thinking from multiple perspectives and weave it into the best solution; and her focus on the end user’s experience (whether an Aspire team member or client) that truly positions Aspire for future success. And so, after 10 years, Aspire started a new phase with a new President, Jennifer McNiven.

We’ve grown and adapted to needs and are proud that, just as we encourage our clients, we have flexed with the times and served in a way that has been meaningful and impactful. We are excited for what lies ahead and invite you into the story.