Meet Ayana
The story behind the resume.
Welcome! I'm Ayana.
I grew up watching money do strange things to people.
My dad was dirt poor. Oldest of 6 children. The kitchen floor was his bedroom. That’s why he hoarded money and also why he splurged on himself. My dad worked the same factory job for nearly forty years. He was brilliant in his own way — disciplined, hardworking — but no one had ever taught him what to do with what he earned. He survived, but he never felt safe. My mom grew up middle class and didn’t lack resources as a child. Yes, she was cared for but she also came from a completely different world than my dad. She never had to think about money until the day care stopped.
Both of them eventually filed for bankruptcy.
This isn't a story about blame. They were products of a system that wasn’t designed for their success, financially or otherwise. As a child, I decided I wasn’t going to wait for anyone else to figure out money on my behalf. I got my first job at fourteen and never looked back. Since then, I’ve been chasing clarity and helping others find it, too.
What I've learned along the way is this… Success can look like freedom and, at times, feel like prison. The most accomplished people I've ever worked with — high earners, high performers, household names — are often the least free. They’ve seemingly done everything right. And underneath it, they're unsettled, lonely, overextended, and performing instead of living authentically.
That's the gap I work in. Not the gap between not-knowing and knowing. The gap between knowing and doing. Glad you’re here with me for this journey.
Ayana
AYANA’S CAREER
Ayana built her corporate career inside some of the most demanding institutions in the world.
She got started in Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Kimberly-Clark, and Philips, then rose to global leadership as Senior Partner at Korn Ferry, where she led the firm's global commitment to diversifying the highest levels of leadership, and as Global Head of Retail, Consumer Goods, and Lifestyle Industries at the World Economic Forum, where she led discussions in Davos on the industries she knew best.
She co-founded Yardstick Management alongside her husband, Dr. Ebbie Parsons. Yardstick became the nation's leading Black-owned management consulting firm, recognized by Inc. Magazine as Best in Business in 2022, before being acquired by a private equity firm in 2023.
She is Co-Founder and General Partner of the Fearless Fund — the first venture capital fund created for women of color, by women of color — which has invested more than $30 million in over 40 companies. She has served on the cabinet of Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research.
What she learned inside all of those rooms is the same thing she sees in her clients today: the people who look the most free are often the ones quietly carrying the most weight.
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![Ayana Parsons as a child with her mother, father, and brother]()
CHILDHOOD
Ayana grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a ‘tale of two cities’—on one side, a national park and retirement paradise with lakes, mountains, and golf courses; on the other, entrenched poverty, violence, and segregation where she rarely saw Black success. This motivated her to become what she didn’t see growing up.”
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![Ayana Parsons as a high schooler in a newspaper article]()
HIGH SCHOOL
Ayana is a star point guard basketball player in the state and eventually earns a basketball scholarship to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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![Ayana Parsons as a teenager]()
1996
Ayana attends the Leadership, Education and Development (LEAD) program at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where she’s exposed to an exciting future in business.
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![Ayana Parsons with colleagues at an event]()
COLLEGE
Ayana transfers to Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry and graduated with a degree in Business.
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![Ayana Parsons with her husband Ebbie Parsons on their wedding day]()
2007
Ayana marries Ebbie Parsons.
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![Ayana Parsons with her first daughter]()
2012
Ayana’s first daughter is born.
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![Ayana Parsons with her husband Ebbie Parsons pointing to a sign that says Yardstick Management]()
2012
Ayana starts Yardstick Learning (later to become Yardstick Management) with husband and business partner Ebbie.
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![World Economic Forum logo]()
2013
Ayana serves as Global Head of Retail, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle Industries, World Economic Forum
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![Ayana Parsons at Luminary event]()
2016
Ayana serves as Co-Chair at Heidrick & Struggles
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![Ayana Parsons with her second daughter]()
2018
Ayana’s second daughter is born.
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![Ayana Parsons]()
2019
Co-founded the Fearless Fund
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![Ayana Parsons]()
2019
Senior Partner, Board & CEO Inclusion at Korn Ferry
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![Inc. 2022 Best in Business award]()
2022
Inc. Best in Business list Management Consulting Company for Yardstick Management
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![Ayana Parsons on Revolt Media's Power List for Business in 2023]()
2023
Featured on Revolt Media’s esteemed 2023 Power List for business.
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![Ayana Parsons speaking at the 60th anniversary of March on Washington]()
2023
Speaker at March on Washington 60th Anniversary
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![Ayana Parsons at the 2023 National Action Network Awards]()
2023
Honored at 2023 National Action Network (NAN) Awards, Triumphant Woman of the Year
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![Ayana Parsons]()
2024
One of Time Magazine's 18 “Closers”, dedicated to addressing and alleviating the racial wealth gap
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![Ayana Parsons and Arian Simone]()
2024
Blueprint Capital Advisors Power 100, advocating for more diverse, equitable and inclusive venture capitalism.
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![The Root 100 2024's most influential Black Americans award]()
2024
Recognized as 2024's most influential African Americans by The Root
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![Ayana Parsons National Women's History Leadership Honoree]()
2025
National Women’s Leadership Honoree, Career Mastered
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![Ayana Parsons with a group of students]()
2026
Ayana continues to help others see what is possible with exposure, access, courage and opportunity.
2024
Blueprint Capital Advisors Power 100, advocating for more diverse, equitable and inclusive venture capitalism
2024
Recognized as 2024's most influential African Americans by The Root
2025
National Women’s Leadership Honoree, Career Mastered
2023
Honored at 2023 National Action Network (NAN) Awards, Triumphant Woman of the Year
2024
One of Time Magazine's 18 “Closers”, dedicated to addressing and alleviating the racial wealth gap
2023
Speaker at March on Washington 60th Anniversary
2019
Senior Partner, Board & CEO Inclusion at Korn Ferry
2023
Featured on Revolt Media’s esteemed 2023 Power List for business.
2022
Inc. Best in Business list Management Consulting Company for Yardstick Management
2012
Ayana starts Yardstick Learning (later to become Yardstick Management) with husband and business partner Ebbie.
2013
Ayana serves as Global Head of Retail, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle Industries, World Economic Forum
“When the World Economic Forum called, I almost said no because I was so locked into this idea of climbing the Fortune 500 ladder. But stepping into that role changed everything.
My ‘clients’ became Fortune 500 CEOs and board chairs, and I realized I was actually built for professional services — serving leaders, shaping the future of industries, and opening doors for people who’d been overlooked. That experience at the Forum, and then later in executive search, showed me that my real work wasn’t becoming the CEO on the magazine cover; it was transforming who gets to sit in those rooms in the first place.”
COLLEGE
Ayana transfers to Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry and graduated with a degree in Business.
2007
Ayana marries Ebbie Parsons.
2012
Ayana’s first daughter is born.
2019
Co-founder, Fearless Fund
2016
Ayana serves as Co-Chair at Heidrick & Struggles
2018
Ayana’s second daughter is born.
“I grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a ‘tale of two cities’—on one side, a national park and retirement paradise with lakes, mountains, and golf courses; on the other, entrenched poverty, violence, and segregation where I rarely saw Black success. This motivated me to be what I didn’t see growing up.”
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HIGH SCHOOL
Ayana is a star point guard basketball player in the state and eventually earns a basketball scholarship to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
1996
Ayana attends the Leadership, Education and Development (LEAD) program at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business introducing a possible exciting career path.
2026
Continuing to help others see what is possible with exposure, access, courage and opportunity.
“As I look ahead, my universal message — and really what I stand for — is freedom and being CEO of our own lives. When I was doing the work with Fearless, yes, it was one of the biggest civil rights cases, but I’ve always known I’m a different kind of freedom fighter — I’m the person who is all about, ‘Let’s empower ourselves… build your own damn table.’ You don’t get free until you own your power.”
AYANA’S MISSION
Financial freedom isn’t a side conversation. It’s the foundation.
Without financial freedom, every other choice — career, health, relationships, time — is built on ground that can shift underneath you.
Most financial advice treats this as an information problem. It isn't. People already know what they should do. The gap is between knowing and doing. That's Ayana's work — not motivation, not inspiration, but structure, accountability, and truth. A real map, through the Seven F's, that moves clients from Knowing to Being to Doing.
She's building this for high earners tired of smoke and mirrors, for professionals who did everything right and still feel behind, and for those never handed the rulebook. And she's building toward a world where financial freedom isn't a privilege or a performance — where wealth is built, and kept, quietly.
WORK WITH AYANA
Consulting and Coaching
If you’re looking for a thought partner to help you translate conviction into action, Ayana works selectively with leaders, teams, and organizations through advisory, consulting, and executive coaching engagements. From reimagining talent and culture strategies to operationalizing equity and inclusion in real time, she partners with clients to clarify direction, navigate complexity, and move with intention. If you’re interested in exploring a potential engagement with Ayana for yourself, your leadership team, or your organization, you can reach out.
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