The CARA Group

What The CARA Group does

The CARA Group, Inc. is a privately held human performance consulting firm headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, founded in 2002. The company delivers three core professional service offerings to Fortune 500 organizations: Custom Learning (design and development of tailored learning content), Change Management (stakeholder analysis, change communication, readiness assessments, and sustainment support), and Technical Communication (documentation and technical writing services). All three service lines are delivered through consultant-led, project-based engagements initiated via direct enterprise sales.

The firm's underlying technology is human-authored methodology rather than software platforms. Notable proprietary components include the PURE Service Program, a quality framework that evaluates consultants quarterly on Professionalism, Understanding, Responsibility, and Excellence based on client feedback, and the AF2F (Asynchronous Face-to-Face) communication methodology. For eLearning development, consultants use Articulate 360, an industry-standard third-party tool. CARA does not operate a software-as-a-service platform, API, or proprietary technology product; revenue is generated entirely through professional services engagements.

CARA's go-to-market is sales-led, targeting Fortune 500 enterprises through direct engagement, thought leadership content (CARA Chronicles blog, articles, case studies, Eolas newsletter), industry event sponsorships, and professional association memberships (ASTD/ATD, ACMP, HRMAC, STC). Pricing is custom and quote-based per project, with multi-year contract structures. Documented clients include a global banking institution (40,000+ employees, $500B+ in assets, 15+ projects) and AbbVie (pharmaceutical, multiple engagements including leadership development). The firm employs 101-250 people and has no disclosed outside investors, parent company, or funding rounds, indicating founder/management ownership.

Name

The CARA Group

Legal name

The CARA Group, Inc.

Website

https://caracorp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The CARA Group is a private human performance consulting firm serving Fortune 500 organizations through Custom Learning, Change Management, and Technical Communication services. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, the firm delivers project-based consulting engagements via its 101-250 person consultant bench.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Performance Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Change Management & Transformation Consulting (BPAHAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Organization Design & Change Management Consulting (BPAHACAD), Performance Management & Productivity Consulting (BPAHAGAL)

Keywords

• Custom learning solutions
• Change management consulting
• Technical communication services
• Human performance consulting
• Workforce development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Oak Brook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Learning Solutions: Design and development of customized learning content for organizational performance improvement. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements with enterprise clients.
2. Change Management Consulting: Helping organizations successfully adapt to business change through stakeholder analysis, change communication, readiness assessments, and training support. Project-based professional services.
3. Technical Communication Services: Closing user knowledge gaps on information, products, and services through documentation and technical writing services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The CARA Group is a human performance consulting firm that designs and develops customized learning content, delivers change management consulting (stakeholder analysis, change communication, readiness assessments, sustainment), and produces technical documentation and communication solutions. Services are delivered by experienced consultants working on-site with large enterprise clients, supported by the proprietary PURE Service Program quality framework.

Product overview

The CARA Group is a human performance consulting firm that offers a portfolio of professional services rather than a unified software product. The core service offerings include Custom Learning (customized learning content design and development), Change Management (helping employees adapt to business changes), and Technical Communication (closing user knowledge gaps). These services are delivered by consultants who work on-site with clients, augmented by methodologies like the PURE Service Program. The company does not appear to offer a standalone software product, API, or cloud-based platform—its offerings are service-based consulting engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Learning Design and development of customized learning content for better organizational performance outcomes. Targeted at enterprise/Fortune 500 organizations that need tailored training programs aligned to specific business objectives.
• Change Management Helping employees successfully adapt to business change through stakeholder analysis, change communication, readiness assessments, and post-implementation sustainment activities. Targeted at large enterprises undergoing IT, regulatory, process, or organizational transformations.
• Technical Communication Closing the user knowledge gap on information, products, and services through technical documentation, technical writing, and communication solutions. Targeted at enterprises that need to document complex products, systems, or processes for end users.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20% increase in efficiency in sales reporting activities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) MidwestcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2014CARA is a proud sponsor of the 2017 ACMP Midwest Change Connect Conference, with CARA consultant Michelle Davies presenting a breakout session titled 'Team of One: Set Up for Success by Working Smart'.
• Motorola SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2013CARA co-sponsored a case study presentation with Motorola Solutions at the 12th Annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference on building virtual environments for geographically dispersed teams.
• ASTD (now ATD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association alliance providing access to industry standards, research, and networking opportunities. CARA participates in ASTD events and sponsors initiatives.
• Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association alliance for change management professionals. CARA is a proud sponsor of ACMP Midwest Change Connect Conference and Michelle Davies presented at the 2017 conference.
• Human Resources Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association alliance for HR professionals in the Chicago area, providing networking and thought leadership opportunities.
• Society of Technical Communication (STC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional association alliance for technical communicators. CARA maintains active involvement with STC-Chicago and STC Wisconsin chapters.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Prosci: Prosci is the benchmark change management consultancy and research firm (ADKAR). It directly competes with CARA's Change Management practice, selling methodology-anchored change advisory to enterprise change leaders — the same buyer persona CARA targets.
• BTS Group: BTS is a global custom learning and leadership development consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients, with content design, simulations, and capability-building engagements that overlap directly with CARA's Custom Learning offering and Fortune 500 buyer base.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): DDI sells leadership development, selection, and learning solutions to large enterprises globally. It overlaps with CARA's leadership program and custom learning work for organizations like AbbVie, and operates at a similar enterprise HR/L&D buyer level.
• The Ken Blanchard Companies: Blanchard sells leadership and learning programs (SLII, etc.) plus custom learning/change services to enterprise customers. It competes for the same leadership-development and custom-learning budgets CARA pursues.
• Wilson Learning Worldwide: Wilson Learning offers customizable sales, leadership, and change learning solutions to global enterprises. It is closely comparable to CARA in custom learning content development and global Fortune 500 delivery.
• Lane4 (formerly Lane4 Consulting): Lane4 is a change and performance consultancy providing custom learning, leadership, and change management services to enterprise clients in the UK and globally — a comparable services mix and methodology-led approach to CARA.
• Absorption Partners: Absorption Partners is a boutique change management consultancy; one of its arms focuses on the ACMP-aligned methodology used by smaller change management firms competing with CARA for enterprise change mandates.

Broad incumbents

• GP Strategies: GP Strategies is a publicly traded, larger learning and performance consultancy delivering custom content, change, and technical training worldwide. It competes in CARA's niche from a much bigger platform with broader service lines.
• Acendre / Cornerstone OnDemand (Learning Services): Cornerstone's content and learning services arm provides custom content development and learning strategy offerings that overlap with CARA's custom learning practice, but on a much broader platform combined with their LMS product.

Emerging players

• Management Diagnostics Inc. (MDI): MDI delivers change, project management, and business transformation consulting to enterprise and public-sector clients; it overlaps meaningfully with CARA's transformation practice but at a smaller scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/caragroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/caragroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-cara-group-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The CARA Group