The story of Yardstick Management begins 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 sustainable impact on communities and societies around the world.
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 being able to shape 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!”
It was at this point that 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. Through this lens, we inform clients with relevant research, data, and customized strategic solutions for their Management, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Talent business needs.
Today, Yardstick Management is proud to serve some of the biggest names in the world–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 the internal capacity of our clients so that they can enhance their ability to deliver extraordinary results to their constituents.
Our mission is to help maximize the capabilities of organizations 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 with 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 the unique perspectives and boundless talents of our diverse team 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 the success of our organization.
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 the full breadth of our global societies internally in order 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 works to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.
Dr. Ebbie Parsons, III, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Yardstick Management. A seasoned business executive with a passion for intentional impact, has been applauded for his strategic thinking, engaging leadership and results orientation throughout his successful career. After working at Fortune 500 companies including Intel, Medtronic and American Express, Dr. Parsons, III, made the decision 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 the inner-workings of America’s public education 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 and 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 Human Capital function of the organization. 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 their two consecutive most profitable years in the company’s 14-year history while simultaneously leading the company to their 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 now become a world thought leader and powerhouse in providing specialized Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Talent consulting services to renowned mission-driven brands and organizations across the globe. Yardstick is committed to building the internal capacity of their clients so that they can enhance their ability to deliver extraordinary results to their constituents.
He holds a BS 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 at 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 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. He has a passion for the arts and serves on the Board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and previously served on the Metropolitan Opera Guild Board. He is also a Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, kayaking, and most of all rooting for his favorite hometown team, the Michigan Wolverines. Go BLUE!!!
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