About AG² // Commander’s Intent
Two principals. One standard.
Meet clients where they are — and stay with them until they get wherever they’re headed.
Be the first partner organizations call to turn vision into strategy, strategy into leadership, and leadership into operations — with lasting results.
Code of Conduct
Six values. No exceptions.
Command · Founder & Principal Consultant
Aaron Garofola, MBA, FACHE
Leadership forged under pressure.
Aaron’s approach was shaped long before the executive suite — as an infantryman deployed to Bosnia and Afghanistan, where decisions carried real consequences. He brought that discipline into two decades of executive leadership, including roughly fifteen years as a CEO across hospitals, healthcare organizations, and multi-site operations, where he became known for stepping into hard situations, aligning leaders fast, and converting strategy into measurable results.
- Service
- Indiana Army National Guard · Operation Joint Forge (Bosnia) · Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)
- Decorations
- Combat Infantryman Badge · Meritorious Service Medal · Army Commendations
- Credentials
- MBA · Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE)
- Recognition
- Health Care Heroes Leader of the Year (2024) · WLKY Bell Award (2025) · 40 Under 40 · Twice-commissioned Kentucky Colonel
- Built
- A fine-dining concept from the ground up · Co-founder of a 501(c)(3) · Veteran-services board leadership
Command · Founder & Principal Consultant
Ashlea Garofola, MBA
Where storytelling meets strategy.
Ashlea is a marketing and content strategist and editorial leader who turns ideas into platforms that move people — and organizations — to act. She leads The Agency as an outsourced marketing leader for businesses and nonprofits, and brings nearly a decade supporting executive leadership inside large international manufacturing organizations. Her conviction: marketing only works when it serves the organization’s financial, operational, and strategic priorities.
- Editorial
- Managing Editor of a regional magazine reaching 20,000+ readers
- Education
- MBA, Indiana Wesleyan University · BA English, Indiana State University
- Built
- Co-founder of The Backwards Backpack, a 501(c)(3) — nearly 200 sensory backpacks deployed across three Kentucky counties
- Recognition
- Commonwealth Ambassador · Kentucky Colonel · Leadership Shelby, Class of 2026
Ownership
A Veteran & Woman Owned Company.
Founded by a combat veteran and a marketing executive who happen to be married — and who built this firm to bring both skill sets to every client.
AG² Strategies
Veteran Owned
Founded and led by a combat veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan.
AG² Strategies
Woman Owned
Co-founded and co-owned by Ashlea Garofola, MBA.
Report In
Meet the command team.
Free 30-minute consultation. Both principals available for AG² engagements.