chasity wells
Unapologetically Uplifting Women
You decompress in the car before you walk into your own home. The people who love you are learning to protect you from their own needs.
You did not get here by accident. You got here by building a record most people never take the time to see. I help you name it, claim it, and use it.
Does This Sound Like You?
- A new board arrived and shifted everything you built.
- You have been told you are "more of a generalist" or "not specialized enough."
- You need time to decompress before you can show up for the people you love.
- The people closest to you are protecting you from their own needs.
- You are navigating political dynamics no one prepared you to handle.
- You are early in your career and cannot see the record you are already building.
- You have no system for tracking and leveraging what you have accomplished.
- You are doing the work but no one has shown you how to position it.
- You are making high-stakes decisions completely alone.
- You are surrounded by people but cannot speak freely with any of them.
Resources
free download
What No Training Program, Campaign School, or Leadership Cohort Will Tell You…
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THE LEADERSHIP CATALYST
Issue 44
My Signature Methodology
The SCALE™ Framework
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The SCALE™ Framework for Public Sector Leadership™ is my signature methodology for women in elected and appointed local government leadership navigating political pressure, isolation, and the climb to the next level.
SCALE™ is a results-driven roadmap that cuts through self-doubt, generalist bias, and the noise of rooms that have not yet decided who belongs there. It helps you make high-stakes decisions with confidence and lead with a presence no one can question.
SCALE™ is your blueprint for building, naming, and using the record that already qualifies you to lead at the next level.
My Offer
The Catalyst Strategic Advisory Retainer ™
Four (4) Months · $10,000 · Limited Seats · Rolling Enrollment
You Have Worked Your Entire Career to Get to This Seat.
And right now something is threatening it. The political pressure is real. The isolation at the top is real. There are things you are carrying that cannot go on the agenda, into a staff meeting, or to a colleague who has her own position to protect.
The Catalyst Strategic Advisory Retainer™ is the private strategic partnership built for exactly this moment. This confidential four (4) month advisory engagement is grounded in the SCALE™ Framework and built entirely around your role, your community, and the pressure you are navigating right now. You bring the challenge. We build the strategy together. You leave every session with language and a plan you can act on immediately.
Four (4) months from now you will move through rooms that once felt threatening with calm authority. You will have language for situations that used to leave you searching for words. And no matter what changes around you, you will know exactly who you are as a leader.
Your Investment Provides:
- SCALE™ to Soar Leadership Assessment™ with a personalized written report
- Eight private 60-minute strategy sessions across four (4) months
- Voxer access between sessions with priority response for urgent situations
- Monthly Board Dynamics Brief™ in months two, three, and four
- Leadership Response Vault™ built from your real situations throughout the engagement
- A bound SCALE™ Leadership Guidebook™ delivered at the close of your engagement
What My Clients Say About Working With Me
"Working with Coach Chasity was a turning point in my leadership journey. After serving as Comptroller under five mayors, I was accomplished but hadn’t envisioned myself in the top role. Through her coaching, I gained clarity and the confidence to lead at a higher level. That shift empowered me, and today I serve proudly as a city manager."
— Elizabeth B., City Manager
"Chasity is a smart, steady voice. As a journalist and podcast host, I was looking for someone who could explain policy, leadership, and empowerment. Her lived experience and her career as a barrier breaking leader give her real credibility. She is the sounding board and coach you never knew you needed. She is authentic, and her perspective is hard won."
— Robin Hamilton, Journalist & Podcast Host, Democracy Does
"Chasity helped me launch a successful campaign for Illinois State Representative. She guided me during the creation of strategy and helped me leverage my strengths to broaden my networks. She is focused and tenacious while at the same time exuding encouragement and inspiration to those around her."
— Kate C., Former Illinois State Representative
“Working with Chasity has greatly boosted my confidence and ability to lead. I now communicate more effectively, participate actively in meetings, and handle conflict without shying away. This has enabled me to create better policies, set priorities for my team, and lead with greater confidence.”
— Barbara B., Municipal Department Director
"Chasity instills confidence and determination to pursue goals despite obstacles. Her commitment to an inclusive and supportive environment empowers women, particularly those of color, to excel in leadership. Chasity's leadership and mentorship exemplify the transformative power of diversity."
— Deborah W., Retired Village Administrator
"Before working with Chasity, I was not seeing my true worth and instead was dismissing many of the obstacles and challenges I had already overcome. She helped me to value myself more and challenged me to set boundaries that demonstrated that value. I now lead with more confidence at work and in my personal life."
— Leti H., Launch Manager
Strategic Leadership.
Crisis Management.
Stakeholder Engagement.
A solutions-focused leadership strategist with a record of leading congressional and municipal operations, navigating crises including environmental threats, civil unrest, and political turmoil.
Chasity Wells-Armstrong is a nationally respected leadership strategist, the first Black mayor of Kankakee, Illinois, and only the second woman ever elected to that seat.
With leadership experience spanning congressional staffer, city council member, school board member, mayor, and village manager, she brings a rare 360-degree perspective on the political, cultural, and operational forces shaping public leadership.
As a co-researcher with the Mayors Innovation Project and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Under Pressure study examined the threats and harassment facing women mayors nationwide. Research cited by POLITICO with direct implications for women’s representation and democratic stability. Creator of the SCALE™ Framework for Public Sector Leadership™, and a Mayors Innovation Project Steering Committee member since 2019, Chasity is also a proud member of the RepresentWomen network, advancing gender equity and women’s representation in public leadership.
Her work has been featured in Route Fifty, PBS Chicago Tonight, and the Daily Journal, and recognized by the Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. As a featured podcast guest, she has appeared on A Moment With Eric Fleming and Democracy Does: The Civic Power Playbook with Robin Hamilton, award-winning journalist and podcast host.
Today, Chasity serves as a strategic advisor to accomplished women in local government leadership who are ready to build their record, claim it, and use it to lead at the next level. Clients leave knowing what they have built, why it qualifies them, and exactly how to use it in the next room.
Through Catalyst Coaching & Transformation, a Woman-Owned Small Business, federal contracting capacity is being built in leadership development, workforce training, and strategic advisory services, while strengthening the ecosystem by partnering with Black business owners and women to create generational wealth through public sector opportunities.
Working With Teams and Organizations
Catalyst Coaching & Transformation delivers customized leadership development and workforce training for public sector teams, agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Areas of expertise include trauma-informed leadership, women-specific programming, executive leadership training, cultural competency, equity-centered organizational practices, and workforce development. Engagements include leadership and culture work with municipalities and co-designing and facilitating workforce development programming for community-based organizations serving individuals and families on the path to self-sufficiency. Available for government contracts, interagency partnerships, and organizational engagements.
Press & Featured Articles
- DAILY JOURNAL
- CHICAGO TONIGHT
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The Leadership Catalyst™ is where strategy meets reality for women in local government leadership. Each issue delivers unapologetic insights on navigating political pressure, building your record, and leading at the next level when the stakes are high and the playbook does not exist.
About Chasity
With leadership experience spanning congressional staffer, city council member, mayor, village manager, and private school board member, she has built a record most people never take the time to see, navigated hostile boards, and led through crises with no playbook. As the first Black mayor of Kankakee, Illinois, she led through COVID-19, national unrest, and rising public hostility while securing record infrastructure investment and advancing equity, public safety, and inclusion across her community.
Today, she serves as a strategic advisor to accomplished women in local government leadership who are ready to build their record, claim it, and use it to lead at the next level.