About
At Tagoras (pronounced tah-GOR-us), we bring nearly two decades of experience helping trade and professional associations use learning to strengthen member value and generate sustainable revenue. We advise CEOs, executive teams, and boards on the strategy choices that matter most—grounded in market insight and focused on improving reach, revenue, and impact.
Tagoras was founded in 2007 by Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele. From the start, our work has focused on how organizations create value through lifelong learning—where strategy, markets, products, pricing, and credibility meet. Over time, we’ve built deep expertise in the association learning landscape and have applied it across a wide range of engagements with trade and professional associations.
Through consulting as well as our Leading Learning publications and events, we aim to be a trusted source of insight and practical guidance for leaders who want learning to be a stronger engine of member value, relevance, and sustainable revenue.
Three words have long guided our work—and they’ve never been more relevant.
Reach
Reach is about reaching more of the right people and making learning central to the entire member experience—engaging broader, more diverse audiences and reinforcing long-term relevance.
Revenue
Revenue comes from aligning learning interactions and educational offerings with mission and margin—turning learning into a strategic, sustainable growth engine.
Impact
Impact means delivering meaningful, measurable change for learners, their employers, and their communities—making learning not just a service, but core infrastructure for value creation.
Our Two Focus Areas
At Tagoras, we focus on helping membership-based organizations realize the full strategic potential of learning. Our work centers on two interconnected areas:
Learning Business OptimizationTM: We help organizations operate their education and professional development programs as high-performing learning businesses. That means aligning portfolios, pricing, platforms, and processes to deliver greater value, increase engagement, and drive sustainable revenue. Tools like the Learning Business Maturity Model and our Strategy Toolkit support continuous improvement across the learning business lifecycle.
Member Value ArchitectureTM: Beyond optimizing offerings, we help leaders think bigger—positioning learning as the key to delivering member value across the entire journey. From member recruiting and onboarding to credentialing to leadership pipelines and community engagement, we work across silos to integrate learning with core strategy, operations, and impact. This is learning not just as a department, but as a strategic foundation for relevance and resilience. Helping leaders design and align cross-functional strategy to deliver meaningful value throughout the member journey.
Peter J. O’Neil, FASAE, CAE
When we needed to know the feasibility of launching a new credential for our audience, we turned to Jeff Cobb and Tagoras for guidance. Jeff provided expert analysis of our market along with strategic recommendations for how we should proceed. I recommend him as a trusted advisor for any organization looking to capitalize on new opportunities in the market for lifelong education.
Wendy Carriegan
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) sought the expert guidance of Jeff Cobb with Tagoras at a time when industry changes demanded a new approach to the educational needs of its members. Jeff skillfully engaged the members of our Educational Strategy Task Force to help arrive at a balanced and strategic approach. A new “Guiding Policy” and recommended “Key Actions” were the result of successful collaboration and expert guidance. AHDI highly recommends Jeff and Tagoras to any organization that needs to reconsider its approach to education/lifelong learning and strategy for the future.
Henry Chamberlain, APR, FASAE, CAE
We engaged Jeff Cobb and Tagoras to help us develop a plan for strategic collaboration with a very different organization we are aligned with in the marketplace. Jeff worked closely with the staff and leadership of both organizations to surface critical issues, clarify potential opportunities, and bring structure to our vision. The result was a roadmap that the boards of both organizations enthusiastically approved to build the foundation for a successful business partnership and valuable new educational initiative for the industry.
Bruce Clarke
We engaged Tagoras to assess our current membership model at CAI holistically and help us answer critical questions about the strategic roles of each of our three core activities: Membership, Learning & Development, and HR Products/Services. Jeff Cobb led the effort and did a skillful job of facilitating executive team discussions, bringing in member and employee perspectives, and identifying the most critical issues and opportunities. Jeff’s recommendations were insightful and actionable. We’re now putting them to work as part of the strategy that will drive CAI’s future growth and success.
Thomas Reiser
We had heard of Tagoras from their thought-leadership, presentations at conferences, reports, and recommendations from other organization. Celisa Steele led our project, and she helped us to scope our needs and select a partner to take our e-learning efforts forward. Celisa’s expertise and guidance provided enormous support to us and allowed us to tap into expertise we did not have in house, ask the right questions, and qualify our actual needs. Engaging Tagoras and particularly Celisa has been one of the smartest investments we could have made.
Rick Grimm, CPPO, CPPB
Tagoras provided all the facts we needed when preparing to advance e-learning within our organization. His recommendations were research based, concise and clear. He facilitated a discussion with our 15 member Board of Directors who was able to clearly understand and act upon the strategic vision he proposed to them with confidence. His experience, passion for the subject and willingness to collaborate for our success made all the difference. He listened to our needs, assessed the situation and made us a part of the solution. It will be our pleasure to continue to work with him in the future.