Who are We?

Ross Riley began his career on Wall Street at Salomon Smith Barney before moving to UBS Investment Bank to join their M&A group. Subsequently, he worked in Private Equity at Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (BSMB), before eventually discovering a love for teaching in 2006. Since then, Ross has amassed over 10,000 hours of front-of-the-class training time, leading both live and hybrid instruction for companies all over the world.

Ross founded Ascendant Training in 2025, after almost two decades of teaching, to re-focus on what makes teaching great: bringing real-life experience into the classroom and connecting with students to aid them on their journey of success. In teaching over 25,000 participants, he understands that students learn in different ways, and the curriculum of Ascendant is geared to be inclusive of all students and their learning paths.

smiling woman in white and black checkered dress shirt

Our mission

Ascendant is on a mission to re-establish best-in-class training practices and put them into action in the corporate classroom. We believe that students need to learn from practitioners who have done the job, blending academic knowledge with real-life excellence in corporate finance. Only through this blend of real-world experience with theory will students become both knowledgeable and desk-ready.

Our vision

We aspire to teach and train as many graduates in Excel, finance, and accounting as are willing to learn. We believe that it's never too early to begin preparing yourself for the real-world, and we intend to bring the same corporate training skills to classrooms on college and high school campuses. We know that the world is ever-changing and that students should be prepared to change with that world, whether that means learning new software systems, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their workflows, or simply preparing for a new role, and Ascendant is there to partner with students on their journey.

Our team

Our strength lies in our individuality. Set up by Esther Bryce, the team strives to bring in the best talent in various fields, from architecture to interior design and sales.