About
Transforming Governance Through Values-Based Leadership
ChalkForge was founded on a simple but powerful belief: effective governance changes everything. When boards operate from clear values and strategic focus, organizations don’t just survive challenges—they emerge stronger, more unified, and better positioned to serve their communities.
Our Founder’s Journey
Aaron Salt’s path to governance consulting began around a dining room table with just four parents who shared a vision for educational excellence. What started as helping to found a new school in his community evolved into a decade-long commitment to transforming how boards operate across the public sector.
Salt has served as both board member and board president across three distinct public organizations: two boards of education and his local library district. His leadership was tested during some of the most turbulent times in modern governance—navigating widespread societal tensions, budget crises, book challenges, and the complex dynamics that can either fracture or strengthen organizations.
Through each challenge, Salt discovered that organizations guided by clear values and strategic alignment not only weathered storms but emerged more effective and focused on their core mission. This experience became the foundation for the Values-Based Governance framework that drives ChalkForge’s work today.
Our Philosophy
At ChalkForge, we believe that “Leadership is doing the right thing, especially when it’s hard.” This principle, coined by Salt during his board service, captures the essence of effective governance. It’s about maintaining integrity and consistency regardless of external pressures or political winds.
Values-Based Governance isn’t just theory—it’s a practical framework born from real-world experience in community boardrooms, tested through crisis situations, and refined through successful organizational transformations.
What Makes ChalkForge Different
Real-World Experience: Our approach isn’t academic theory. It’s built from the ground up through actual board service during challenging times, including periods when Salt was “booed, cheered, and haggled by Satanists and religious zealots” while maintaining focus on student outcomes and organizational effectiveness.
Proven Results: Every organization Salt served emerged stronger and more effective. These weren’t personal accomplishments, but collective transformations achieved when boards align around values and operate with strategic focus.
Practical Tools: We provide concrete, actionable frameworks that boards can implement immediately. No abstract concepts—just proven strategies that work in real community settings.
Values-Driven Approach: We help organizations identify and align around their core values, then build governance practices that consistently reinforce those principles in every decision.
Our Mission
ChalkForge exists to equip citizens with the tools needed to serve effectively on public boards and make lasting differences in their communities. We believe that strong governance is the foundation of thriving educational institutions and vibrant communities.
We’re not here to make governance easier—we’re here to make it more effective. Because when boards operate with clarity, consistency, and values-based focus, they can accomplish extraordinary things for the students and communities they serve.
Why “ChalkForge”?
The name ChalkForge reflects our dual commitment to education and transformation. Like a blacksmith’s forge that transforms raw metal into useful tools, we help forge governance practices that transform organizations. The chalk represents our deep roots in educational leadership, while the forge symbolizes the deliberate, skillful work required to create lasting change.
Our Commitment
Every engagement with ChalkForge is guided by the same principle that drove Salt’s board service: doing the right thing, especially when it’s hard. We’re committed to helping your organization discover and live its values, even when—especially when—the path forward is challenging.
Because that’s when effective governance matters most.