chasity wells
Unapologetically Uplifting Women
I work with the barrier breakers of local government leadership—the ones navigating political chaos, team dysfunction, and rising public hostility with no playbook and relentless scrutiny.
Your team's culture is your municipality's reputation.
Aligned teams deliver better service, make smarter decisions, and strengthen public trust.
When leadership works, your whole community wins.
The Municipal Transformation Package™
Most municipal problems aren't policy problems—they're culture problems.
Public hostility is rising. Federal support is disappearing. Frontline staff are absorbing the damage, and when your team isn't aligned, performance fractures and public trust collapses.
The Municipal Transformation Package™ equips municipal teams to rebuild morale, strengthen accountability, navigate public incivility with professionalism, and protect your municipality's reputation.
This isn’t training. It’s transformation.
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…
free Newsletter
THE LEADERSHIP CATALYST
Issue 44
My Signature Methodology
The SCALE™ Framework
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The SCALE™ Framework is my signature methodology for municipal executives nationwide navigating political pressure
and isolation, with deep specialization in Illinois. It's designed
for executives and teams working to rebuild performance
and accountability.
The SCALE™ Framework is a results-driven roadmap that cuts
through board conflicts, communication breakdowns, and toxic dynamics.
It helps executives make high-stakes decisions with confidence and teams strengthen culture, align operations, and deliver service excellence under pressure.
SCALE™ is your blueprint for high-stakes leadership designed to strengthen decisions, rebuild culture, and protect public trust.
My Offers
The SCALE to Soar™ Leadership Assessment
Your Investment: Now included in the retainer packages
Designed for municipal executives and rising leaders navigating real workload demands. Municipal leaders carry invisible weight—managing hostile council dynamics while maintaining composure at public meetings, over-functioning to prove competence when new to the leadership table, absorbing political pressure while protecting your team. This pressure quietly drains energy, erodes boundaries, and threatens leadership longevity before you even realize it’s happening.
The SCALE™ to Soar Leadership Assessment gives you clarity on where you’re losing energy, which strengths to leverage instead of over-functioning, and concrete priorities to protect your leadership sustainability.
Grounded in the SCALE™ Framework, it’s a self-guided diagnostic that fits your schedule and delivers insight, strategy, and a concrete path forward.
Your Investment Provides:
- A comprehensive, self-guided diagnostic grounded in the SCALE™ Framework
- A personalized leadership report with concrete insights into your core strengths and pressure points
- Targeted priorities to protect and fortify your leadership, boundaries, and longevity
- A 30-minute strategy call to unpack your results and map strategic next steps with support
Signature Offer for teams: The Municipal Transformation Package™
Your Investment:
$10K-$15K | Large-Scale: $18K-$35K
A high-impact intensive that strengthens culture, protects your municipal brand, and improves front-line service delivery.
City and village managers know the stakes. When staff morale drops and communication breaks down, public hostility rises. Service delivery suffers and so does your reputation.
The Municipal Transformation Package™ interrupts that pattern and equips your team for performance, alignment, and trust. Grounded in the SCALE™ Framework, it strengthens staff capacity to manage incivility, honor your municipal values, and build leadership longevity across the organization.
Your Investment Provides:
- SCALE™ Framework team assessment to identify culture, communication, and service gaps
- 4-hour customized onsite facilitation addressing your municipality's real operational challenges
- Curated leadership resource suite for daily application and sustained leadership capacity
- 90-minute post-workshop virtual integration session to measure progress, address barriers, and reinforce strategies
- The Catalyst Leadership Brief for executive review with key findings, performance insights, and actionable recommendations
The Catalyst Power Retainer ™
90 Days · Maximum Four Women Accepted · Rolling Enrollment
You Are Not Navigating This Alone Anymore.
Private strategic advisory for women in elected and appointed local government leadership who are navigating political pressure, hostile dynamics and the specific isolation of leading at the top.
The Catalyst Power Retainer™ is a confidential 90 day private engagement grounded in the SCALE™ Framework. Built entirely around your role, your community and what you are carrying right now.
Your Investment Provides:
- A comprehensive, self-guided diagnostic grounded in the SCALE™ Framework
- Two 60-minute private strategy sessions each month
- Voxer access between sessions for real-time support (48-hour response)
- The SCALE™ Leadership Guidebook + Leadership Response Vault™, including curated scripts, strategy worksheets, journal prompts, and ready-to-use response templates
- Ready to explore whether this is the right fit? Enter your information and let's talk.
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
“Coach Chasity helped me develop a stronger leadership presence and prioritize the most important tasks and goals in my life. Our work together has helped me work toward what matters to me and greatly influenced my confidence in speaking up for myself at work and in my personal life. I now have the ability to lead with more authenticity in my roles.”
— Shiwanna T., Entrepreneur/Medical Aesthetician
"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
FORMAL BIO
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.
She is a co-researcher with the Mayors Innovation Project and the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the Under Pressure study, examining the threats and harassment facing women mayors nationwide.
Research cited by POLITICO with direct implications for women’s representation and democratic stability.
She is the creator of the SCALE™ Framework for Public Sector Leadership™. She has served on the Mayors Innovation Project Steering Committee since 2019 and is 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.
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. Her clients leave knowing exactly what they have built, why it qualifies them, and how to walk into every room already knowing.
Press & Featured Articles
- Country Herald
- DAILY JOURNAL
- CHICAGO TONIGHT
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The Leadership Catalyst is where strategy meets reality for municipal leaders. Each issue delivers unapologetic insights on navigating political pressure, rebuilding team culture, strengthening accountability, and protecting public trust when the stakes are high and the playbook doesn’t exist.
About Chasity
Chasity Wells-Armstrong is a former mayor and village manager who has lived the isolation, political retaliation, and impossible decisions Illinois municipal executives face every day.
With 25+ years spanning congressional staffer, city council member, school board member, mayor, and village manager, she has navigated hostile boards, rebuilt dysfunctional teams, 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 a nationally recognized rebrand.
Today, she provides strategic counsel to municipal executives and partners with teams to strengthen accountability, rebuild culture, and protect public trust when the stakes are highest.