What does more successful look like?
Institutions Making Decisions That Matter in Decades
See the sunrise, not just the slide deck
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Ascension Associates works with organisations that are built to last — family enterprises, regulated businesses, and purpose‑driven organisations that carry the weight of legacy and the pressure of what’s next at the same time. We focus on the part of strategy that determines whether plans actually happen: the leadership, governance, and human dynamics inside the institution.
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Our clients think in decades instead of quarters. They know that the quality of their decisions depends on the quality of their conversations — and that both are harder than they look from the outside. They leave knowing what to decide, how to lead it, and why it will stick.
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We were built with a headhunter's eye — trained to read what goes unsaid, find real fit, and spot risk before it surfaces. That same lens sits underneath everything we do: strategic foresight, team dynamics, and senior leadership advisory.
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We stay lean deliberately, so we can stay close to the work and move quickly when you need an efficient partner — and say no to briefs that aren't ours so we can say a better yes to the ones that are.
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One straight-talk partner. Bringing you perspectives with humour and directness.​
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Hong Kong–based. Global reach.​​
What if we can approach hiring and talent management differently?
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This question asked by our founder Larraine back in 2017, laid the foundation of what would become Ascension Associates today. The sunrise pictures you see were taken by her in a Gold Coast, Australia hot air balloon ride. Where do you focus? On the sun or the landscape?
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From the ground, everything felt fragmented; once the balloon lifted, the whole landscape snapped into view—roads linking districts, houses sitting quietly under the same strip of sky.
That experience shaped our see the whole picture philosophy: lift just high enough to see how everything connects, notice what is really driving tension or confusion, then come back down to earth and decide what to do next.
No mysticism, just perspective. (We like to add a sense of humour too :)
Before building Ascension, Larraine spent years in executive search — placing senior leaders inside regulated industries across Asia. That work taught her about the gap between a good plan and a good outcome is almost always a people problem in disguise.
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She founded Ascension in 2018 to work on that gap directly — with family enterprises, regulated businesses, and leadership teams navigating decisions that compound over decades.
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She is based in Hong Kong and works across the region. Outside of work you will find Larraine volunteering, visiting museums and jazz bars.
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You can download official bio of Larraine here.
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CEO
Larraine Chang
On paper, Ascension is a business.
In practice, we sign on to initiatives like the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and take on selected pro bono work because inclusion and leadership are not abstract topics for us; they show up in real people’s lives.
If you like to know more about our work with refugees and women in minority, get in touch.