The Center for Executive Development

What The Center for Executive Development does

The Center for Executive Development (CED) is a privately held professional services firm founded in 1998 by Dr. Melanie Anne Taylor and headquartered in the Annandale / greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The firm designs and delivers customized leadership development programs, executive and management coaching, team development and team coaching, and organizational development consulting to public- and private-sector organizations worldwide. Its faculty comprises doctoral-level, ICF-certified executive coaches supported by veteran program managers; together they operate as a referral-driven practice serving Fortune 500 enterprises, U.S. federal agencies (including NSA, NASA, CIA, FBI, IRS, Social Security Administration, and the Department of State), multilateral institutions (World Bank, IMF, UN agencies, NATO), and non-profits across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania.

CED's underlying technology is its proprietary coaching methodology stack rather than a software platform. The firm has codified three differentiated processes — The Shadow Process (direct workplace observation of executive behavior), The Verbal 360° Process (structured constituent interviews), and the Assess Challenge and Support Model (ongoing goal-focused feedback) — and pairs these with a comprehensive suite of over 40 certified third-party assessment instruments (including EQi, MBTI, Hogan Leadership Series, FIRO-B, Campbell Leadership Index, Denison Organizational Survey, Leadership Versatility Index, WorkPlace Big Five, and DiSC), all administered by certified staff. No hardware, software platform, mobile app, or API surface is offered.

The business model is custom engagement-based professional services. All programs are designed per client needs assessment, with multi-year contracts and quote-based pricing; no standardized tiers are published and a free consultation serves as the lead-capture mechanism. Revenue is generated through leadership development workshops, individual coaching engagements, team coaching programs, and organizational consulting — each billed as a fee-for-service engagement. Marketing is relationship- and referral-driven, supported by a corporate website, with no disclosed paid digital channels or intermediary distribution. The firm has 11-50 employees, no external institutional investors, and has remained founder-led since inception.

Name

The Center for Executive Development

Legal name

The Center for Executive Development

Website

https://centerforexecutivedevelopment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Executive Development is a privately held, founder-led professional services firm founded in 1998 in the Washington, D.C. area that designs and delivers customized leadership development programs, executive coaching, team coaching, and organizational development consulting to Fortune 500 enterprises, U.S. federal agencies, multilateral institutions, and non-profits worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Education and Leadership Development Consulting

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

C-Suite & Senior Executive Coaching (EDABANAA)

Keywords

• Executive coaching services
• Leadership development programs
• Team coaching consulting
• Organizational development consulting
• Leadership assessment instruments

Headquarters

HQ city

Annandale

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Leadership Development Programs: Customized leadership development workshops and programs delivered to client organizations at all levels. These are fee-for-service engagements, typically custom-designed per client needs assessment.
2. Executive & Management Coaching: Individual coaching engagements for senior executives, mid-level managers, and team leaders, typically billed per engagement or as part of a broader program contract.
3. Team Development and Coaching: Team coaching and team development program delivery for intact work teams, including team diagnostics and workshop facilitation.
4. Organizational Development Consulting: Organizational consulting engagements including culture assessments, change management, process management, and strategic planning for mergers, start-ups, and turn-arounds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Center for Executive Development (CED) designs and delivers customized leadership development programs, executive and management coaching, team development and team coaching, and organizational development consulting for public and private sector organizations worldwide. Engagements are custom-built after a free consultation and rely on a faculty of doctoral-level, ICF-certified executive coaches using 40+ certified assessment instruments and proprietary methodologies such as The Shadow Process, The Verbal 360° Process, and the Assess Challenge and Support Model.

Product overview

The Center for Executive Development (CED) offers a comprehensive suite of leadership development services organized around four interconnected offerings. The core Leadership Development Programs provide customized workshops and experiential learning for managers at all organizational levels. This is complemented by Executive & Management Coaching Services, which delivers personalized one-on-one coaching to foster self-awareness and leadership growth. Team Development and Team Coaching extends these capabilities to the group level, creating alignment and improving team performance. Organizational Development Consulting addresses broader organizational challenges including mergers, culture change, and learning organization development. Together, these services provide an integrated ecosystem for leadership and organizational excellence serving Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, non-profits, and multilateral institutions worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Leadership Development Programs Customized workshops and learning programs for people managers, non-managers, and staff at all organizational levels, built on feedback-intensive and experiential approaches and research-based best practices. Delivered to enterprise, government and non-profit client organizations worldwide.
• Executive & Management Coaching Services One-on-one executive and management coaching that fosters self-awareness through surveys, assessments, workplace observation, stakeholder interviews, individual development plans, and targeted interventions designed to help executives develop leadership skills.
• Team Development and Team Coaching Team-focused interventions that create clarity of purpose, roles and responsibilities, build commitment, and increase team efficiency through team diagnostics, coaching, and development programs for intact work teams.
• Organizational Development Consulting Organizational consulting that develops learning organizations and helps them adapt to marketplace dynamics through organizational assessment, process management, and organizational simulations, including support for mergers, start-ups, turn-arounds and major culture change initiatives.

Named customers54 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Wilson Learning: A global leadership and sales training organization delivering customized leadership development and learning solutions to multinational clients. Comparable in customized enterprise leadership training delivery and global reach.
• BTS: A business transformation services firm specializing in leadership development, strategy execution, and experiential learning for Fortune 500 clients. Comparable in customized executive development programs and Fortune 500/government client base.
• Blanchard (The Ken Blanchard Companies): A leadership training and management education company known for situational leadership and other leadership development programs. Comparable in delivering leadership development workshops and coaching to enterprise and government clients.
• Center for Creative Leadership: A global leadership development research and education nonprofit that delivers executive coaching, leadership programs, and assessments. Multiple CED faculty members previously served on CCL faculty, and CCL is the most direct comparable in the executive leadership development space.
• Linkage (a SHRM company): A leadership development company offering customized leadership programs, executive coaching, and summit-based learning experiences. Comparable in delivering customized leadership development programs and summits to enterprise clients globally.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): A leadership and talent management firm offering executive coaching, leadership development programs, and assessments to Fortune 500 clients globally. Directly comparable in service mix, target buyer (HR/L&D), and Fortune 500/government client base.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: A global organizational consulting firm with a substantial leadership development and executive coaching practice alongside its larger executive search and HR consulting businesses. Comparable in Fortune 500 leadership development offerings but operates at much greater scale and scope.
• FranklinCovey: A global leadership and effectiveness training company offering standardized leadership development programs, workshops, and content to enterprise clients. Comparable in leadership development delivery but uses more productized/copyrighted content versus CED's fully customized model.
• Heidrick & Struggles: A global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a leadership advisory practice offering executive coaching, team effectiveness, and culture assessment. Comparable in executive-level leadership advisory services but primarily known for search.

Emerging players

• Marshall Goldsmith Partners: An executive coaching firm focused on C-suite and senior executive behavior-change coaching. Comparable as a premium executive coaching provider, though more narrowly focused on individual leader coaching than CED's full program suite.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-executive-development

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Center for Executive Development