CxO Ascent Celebrates Its Inaugural Executive Retreat in Asheville, North Carolina
Our first gathering brought CISO Ascent to the Blue Ridge Mountains. What began as an idea became a shared experience, and the beginning of lasting friendships.
The first retreat is where a vision gets its first chance to become a shared experience. Asheville gave us that beginning.
CxO Ascent has celebrated its inaugural executive retreat through CISO Ascent, bringing cybersecurity leaders together October 15–18, 2025, in Asheville, North Carolina, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Blue Ridge becomes our first gathering place
The forest trails, waterfalls, and fall color gave the retreat a remarkable setting. Members had time to get outside, enjoy the region, and spend several days together beyond the usual demands of executive leadership.
The experience gave people something in common before a conversation ever turned to work: a day on the trail, a landscape worth taking in, and time to get to know one another.
The people made the beginning meaningful
The most important part of the first retreat was seeing the community take shape. Cybersecurity leaders arrived with shared responsibilities and began getting to know the people behind the job titles.
There was room for laughter, conversation, and the feeling of being part of an experience together. Friendships began in the time between the planned activities, as much as during them.
That is what we hoped to create: a community people would carry with them after the retreat ended. The Blue Ridge gave us the setting. The members gave it its meaning.
Showing up for Asheville
Supporting the Asheville community during its recovery was part of why we wanted our first gathering to be here.
Our retreat brought people to local lodging, dining, and the surrounding mountains. We wanted to enjoy what makes this region special while remembering the people and businesses working toward recovery.
For CxO Ascent, giving back is part of the purpose. This gathering reinforced the importance of considering our host communities as carefully as we consider the experience of our members.
A first chapter worth celebrating
The successful inaugural retreat gave us an opportunity to see the mission in practice: connect, collaborate, and recharge through shared experiences.
It also gave us a foundation to learn from. Every first gathering teaches an organization something about the people it serves and what makes their time together valuable.
We are grateful to the members, board, crew, and partners who helped bring the first CISO Ascent retreat to life. Thank you for showing up, contributing, and helping turn an idea into a community.
The journey continues
Asheville will always be where we took these first steps together. We are excited to carry what we learned into the next chapter.
Read the story of CISO Ascent's inaugural gathering on the community's website.
Join the CISO Ascent community
Membership is completely free. Qualified cybersecurity executives can apply to become members. Once approved, we will send a retreat invitation.
Connect. Collaborate. Recharge.
Photo credits
Photographs from the CISO Ascent Asheville retreat collection, shared through CxO Ascent.
