About Ascent Board Advisory
An independent advisory firm built for residential boards.
We bring commercial-grade oversight to HOA and condo boards — turning volunteer service into confident, strategic leadership.
Our Story
Ascent Board Advisory was founded on a simple premise: residential board members should feel empowered. Too many dedicated trustees are left guessing on budgets, buried under the demands of protecting their community's value, and exhausted by work that was never meant to be a second full-time job.
We believe that being on a board shouldn't require a master's degree in governance or 40 hours a week of unpaid labor. We exist to turn the tide for your association.
Replacing Guesswork with Strategy: We take the fear out of budgeting for operations and reserves, ensuring your financial plans actually support your community's long-term goals, investment, esthetics, and longevity.
Demanding Accountability: We are the force multiplier for the Board. We ensure that property management companies are doing the work they are paid for.
Aligning Bylaws: We move your association beyond administrative gridlock. We help draft fair, practical bylaws that protect the community as a whole, keep individuals responsible without burdening the community and dipping into reserves, and keep board focus where it belongs—on asset value, not internal friction.
Protecting Your Investment: We ensure every dollar—from the smallest expense to the largest capital project—is spent to maximize your community's long-term value.
Restoring Your Confidence: When obstacles arise, you don't have to figure it out alone. We provide the expertise to navigate the logistics, resolve disputes, and ensure every homeowner knows they made a sound investment.
You bought into this community because you cared. We're here to make sure you have the time to enjoy it, the tools to maintain it, and the team to sustain it.
Meet the Founder
Dianna J. Gimmelfarb Founder
My approach to Ascent Board Advisory is built on over a decade of experience across financial analysis and commercial office property management. My career has been defined by bridging the gap between two worlds: the rigorous, data-driven standards of institutional commercial real estate and the deeply personal, practical realities of residential property ownership.
I began my career as a financial analyst in government contracting—where I learned that every dollar must be accounted for and every process must be bulletproof. From there I spent five years managing commercial office buildings—budgeting for the entire property, overseeing multi-million dollar capital improvement projects from initial procurement to final milestone enforcement, and managing the vendor relationships that keep a building's equipment and systems serviced. Managing a commercial building is, in many ways, the closest training ground there is for board advisory: you are stewarding a shared property on behalf of its owners, accountable for the whole building's budget, and holding vendors to their contracts. That experience has given me a unique lens on what a community needs to truly thrive.
Beyond the numbers, I have spent years cultivating a vetted network of trusted specialists—from pavers and roofers to HVAC technicians and market-savvy realtors. This allows me to provide boards with more than just advice; I provide the right people to get the job done correctly the first time, based on deep insights into what actually drives property value in our market.
I started Ascent Board Advisory because I’ve watched too many friends and family members feel handcuffed to management groups that collect fees while offering little in return. I’ve seen firsthand that board members aren't "incapable"—they are simply exhausted, lacking the specialized tools or time to manage what has become a grueling, thankless second job.
My mission is to change the industry standard. I believe that associations deserve an advisor who empowers them to be successful, self-managed, and strategic—rather than a group that simply hands over the keys and waits for the next invoice. I’m here to be your advocate and your bridge to a community that is well-run, financially sound, and truly feels like home.