Founded in 2007 with one purpose: help organizations identify critical gaps in their plans, policies, and procedures before a real incident does. Nearly two decades later, that mission hasn't changed.
Support your preparedness by delivering on your needs — every time.
Ascenttra fosters continuous growth and improvement by understanding your unique requirements and delivering results that make a measurable difference. We scale our services to align with your needs and resources. We engage with individual stakeholders to understand their specific challenges. We provide actionable results grounded in real-world doctrine.
We are not a large consulting firm with hundreds of generalists on staff. We are a focused team of experienced emergency management practitioners — former EOC directors, law enforcement officers, firefighters, hospital emergency managers, and exercise professionals — who have spent careers in this field and bring that depth to every engagement.
When you call Ascenttra, a person answers. When you email, our staff reads it. The same people who run your exercises design them. That's not a marketing claim — it's how we operate.
Year Ascenttra was founded — nearly two decades of emergency management expertise
U.S. states served, plus 4 territories and the District of Columbia
Countries with Ascenttra past performance
Customized training and exercise events designed, conducted, and evaluated annually
Derek Rowan founded Ascenttra in 2007 with a straightforward idea: preparedness exercises should be rigorous enough to find the gaps before a real incident does — and the people designing them should be the same people who have worked real incidents.
That founding principle shaped everything that followed. Ascenttra built its staff from the field, not from academia. Our exercise designers have run EOCs during real disasters. Our instructors have commanded fire scenes and responded to mass casualty events. Our planners have written the plans that other organizations exercise against.
It also shaped our approach to technology. Starting in 2007, Ascenttra began investing in its own software — building tools that didn't exist because the commercial market hadn't built them for emergency management specifically. That investment became PRAXIS, ASTRID™, the Ascenttra News Network, and the Destination Disaster® game series.
Nearly two decades later, Ascenttra has supported organizations across 47 U.S. states, 4 U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and 43 countries — federal agencies, state and local governments, healthcare coalitions, hospitals, airports, utilities, universities, and private sector organizations. The work has changed in scale and sophistication. The mission hasn't.
"Preparedness exercises should be rigorous enough to find the gaps before a real incident does — and the people designing them should be the same people who have worked real incidents."
Derek Rowan establishes Ascenttra with a focus on HSEEP-aligned exercise design, conduct, and evaluation. In-house software development begins from day one.
Ascenttra expands to support federal, state, and local clients across the United States — including some of the country's largest full-scale exercises — while developing proprietary tools for exercise management and simulation.
Ascenttra deepens expertise in healthcare coalition coordination, hospital emergency management, airport preparedness, and critical infrastructure sectors.
Ascenttra launches the Destination Disaster® serious game series and ASTRID™ — Ascenttra's Secure Technical Resource Intelligence Delegate — purpose-built AI for emergency management.
47 states. 4 U.S. territories. The District of Columbia. 43 countries. 100+ events annually. PRAXIS, ASTRID™, and Destination Disaster® continue to evolve — all built and maintained by Ascenttra's in-house U.S.-based team.
Every Ascenttra staff member is HSEEP-certificated. Most hold Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP) credentials — the field's highest practitioner standard. Our instructors are internationally recognized practitioners, not academics.
Dedicated project and deputy project leads on every engagement. Plans-to-Practice Analysis. Evaluator Reference Guides. CATS. Bulletproof AARs. We deliver more detail at every stage of the preparedness cycle than any other vendor.
Remote-first model with no fixed real estate costs. Local staff when you need boots on the ground. No overhead passed to clients. Scalable to your budget with no long procurement processes.
Ascenttra has invested in proprietary software since 2007 — PRAXIS, ASTRID™ AI, Destination Disaster®, and the Ascenttra News Network — all built by U.S.-based Ascenttra employees, not purchased off the shelf.
A person answers when you call. Our staff reads your emails. Your dedicated project lead knows your organization, your plans, and your history — not just your current project. That continuity is rare in this industry.
Our staff come from the field — EOC operations, law enforcement, fire, EMS, healthcare, and public health. We don't teach preparedness from a textbook. We design exercises based on what actually happens during real incidents.
Ascenttra staff hold credentials across every discipline relevant to emergency management — from national exercise certifications to sector-specific qualifications earned through years of field experience.
I don't think in all of my career have I ever seen the high level of kudos going on as I am seeing now with this exercise.
Ascenttra has by far the best instructors I have ever encountered — and I have attended and presented many, many classes over twenty years in police, fire, and emergency management.
I just wanted to express my gratitude for all your work on our planning project. You made things very easy. I really appreciate the professionalism and expertise that you and Ascenttra brought to our county.
www.ascenttra.com · @Ascenttra