Terms of use

Draft v0.1 · 30 Oct 2026

MHG Ascend (the "platform") is operated by Mason Harriman Group ("MHG") to administer executive coaching programs. By signing in you agree to use the platform as described here. If you are using the platform under a contract between MHG and your organization, that contract governs wherever these terms and the contract differ.

Where the platform is operated for a United States federal agency under a contract, order or blanket purchase agreement, the following apply notwithstanding anything else in these terms:

• The contract governs. These terms describe how an individual uses the platform. They do not bind the agency, create obligations for the agency beyond the contract, or modify the contract. Any clause requiring the agency to indemnify MHG, submit to a particular court or state law, pay costs not provided for in the contract, or accept automatic renewal does not apply to a federal agency.
• Federal law applies. Disputes involving a federal agency are resolved under the contract and the Contract Disputes Act, not under the governing-law clause below.
• Individual users do not bind the agency. A federal employee's acceptance of these terms is acceptance on their own behalf as a user of the platform, within the authority of their position, and is not a commitment of agency funds or authority.
• Records belong to the agency. The administrative record (participant identity, requests, matches, agreements, session dates and durations, hours, and acknowledged objective status) is maintained on the agency's behalf and is a federal record subject to the Federal Records Act, the agency's records schedule, and the Freedom of Information Act as applied by the agency. MHG returns or destroys it at the agency's direction at the end of performance, and certifies destruction on request.
• Privacy Act. Records about individuals maintained for the agency may be subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 and the agency's applicable System of Records Notice. MHG handles them as a contractor under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(m) and the contract's privacy clauses, and uses them only to perform the contract.
• Accessibility. The platform is maintained to conform with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and WCAG 2.1 AA. The current accessibility statement lists known limitations and how to request an accommodation.
• Incident notification. MHG notifies the agency's designated contact of any suspected or confirmed incident involving agency information within the time required by the contract, and in any case within one hour of discovery for incidents involving personally identifiable information, consistent with OMB Memorandum M-17-12 and agency direction.
• No endorsement. MHG is an independent consultancy. Use of the platform by a federal agency does not constitute endorsement of MHG by that agency or by the United States Government.

Coaching conversations are confidential between the participant and the coach, consistent with the International Coaching Federation Code of Ethics. The platform enforces this: session content, a coach's session notes, connection details for a session, individual assessment results and individual survey responses are readable only by the participant and the assigned coach. No administrative role, including MHG's own administrators and the client's program manager, can read them. The platform reports participation and progress toward objectives, never the content of coaching.

A coach may disclose information without consent only where required by law, or where there is a credible risk of serious harm to the participant or others, and will tell the participant when that happens unless the law prevents it.

• Your account is for you alone. Do not share your password, your authenticator, or your recovery codes, and do not sign in on another person's behalf.
• Multi-factor authentication is required for every account and cannot be disabled by the user.
• Tell MHG at once, through the Help page or the contact below, if you believe your account or device has been compromised.
• Accounts are provisioned by invitation from MHG or your organization's program manager and are deactivated when your participation ends or your organization asks.

Use the platform only for the coaching program you are part of. Do not:

• upload classified information, or controlled unclassified information beyond what the program requires;
• upload personal information about other people that the program has not asked for;
• attempt to access records, sessions or documents that are not yours, or probe, scan or test the platform's security without MHG's written authorization;
• use the platform to harass, discriminate against or retaliate against anyone;
• copy or redistribute program resources outside your organization where the resource says it is restricted.

Every sign-in, every change to a record, and every access to a participant's record or confidential material is written to a tamper-evident audit log. That log is available to the client agency under the contract and may be reviewed to investigate misuse.

You keep whatever rights you have in documents you upload. You give MHG the right to store, display and transmit them within the platform to the people the platform allows to see them, and for no other purpose. Uploads are scanned by file type and size and are stored encrypted in the United States.

MHG aims to keep the platform available at all times but does not promise uninterrupted service. Planned maintenance is announced in advance on the platform. Support is through the Help page; response targets are set out in the contract, or, where there is none, MHG responds to helpdesk tickets within one business day.

The platform, its design and its documentation are the property of Mason Harriman Group and are provided for use, not for copying, resale or reverse engineering. Program materials supplied by a client agency remain the agency's. Coaching frameworks referenced on the platform, including those of the International Coaching Federation, belong to their owners and their mention does not imply endorsement of MHG.

[Counsel to review. The draft below is a placeholder; for federal clients, liability is governed by the contract and this section does not apply.]

Coaching is a professional development service, not medical, legal, financial or psychological treatment. The platform is provided as is. To the extent permitted by law and except as the contract provides otherwise, MHG's total liability to a user arising from use of the platform is limited to [amount], and MHG is not liable for indirect or consequential loss.

MHG may revise these terms. Users are told on the platform at least 30 days before a change takes effect, and continuing to use the platform after that date is acceptance of the change. For a client agency, no change takes effect against the agency without a modification to the contract.

For users other than federal agencies and their employees acting in that capacity, these terms are governed by the laws of the State of [state] without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and disputes are heard in the courts of [county, state].

Mason Harriman Group · [postal address] · [legal contact email] · Help (signed-in users)

See also the privacy notice and the accessibility statement.

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