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2023 Coaching Equity Efforts at ICFWA

Our chapter has gone through a journey of organizational change. Since before 2020, chapter leaders co-created efforts to cultivate a sense of connection and community in our chapter, and not just be a resource. In 2020, like many organizations, ICFWA went through a reckoning of the need to take action to meaningfully engage the coaching profession in racial equity work, without which the profession would not truly be integral to societal transformation (ICF's current vision). This was also inline with ICF Global's vision at the time (ensuring that coaching is an integral part of a thriving society), for only when the most marginalized thrive can our society truly thrive. 

Also check out how our chapter's focus areas for 2023 align with ICF's strategic vision here


Listed below is some of the coaching equity work we have accomplished in 2023:

  • At the end of 2022, our then VP, Peyina Lin-Robers, Ph.D,  led the chapter to establish the Director of Coaching Equity as an executive role for two reasons: 
  1. reflect the reality of our practice;
  2. codify into our organizational structure what needs to happen in practice: center pro-equity in our leadership, approaches, and programming while serving our members' best interests. 

  • The Coaching Pathway Program (CPP), conceived in July of 2022, kicked off in 2023. The CPP offers a pathway towards ICF certification for BIPOC professionals who have completed their coaching training through one of Coaching for Everyone's coaching education partners. The CPP kicked off in June 2023. The 2023 CPP cohort consists of 10 outstanding BIPOC professionals. As of October, 2023, the 2023 CPP cohort is in the process of completing coaching hours and supporting each other through their journey. The CPP team is supporting the cohort by creating spaces for cohort connection, listening to their needs, and conceiving workshops and education that meet their needs. 

  • To promote equitable access to our chapter, in April 2023, we implemented a sliding scale pricing model for our affiliate program, which started in 2022. 

  • A sliding scale pricing model for our virtual educational paid events kicked off in July, 2023. Such a model was also used for our 25th anniversary celebration. 

  • Board development around racial equity,  intersectional understanding of the self, understanding the relevance of racial caucusing to equity work, preparing, and experiencing racial caucusing in order to inform larger chapter work (Sep., 2023).

  • Coaching Equity Programming: 

    • Sharing our DEIBJ Story (Feb., 2023): Board members presented in a panel on the journey that ICFWA has gone through in the chapters equity work, to increase awareness of our journey and future opportunities 

    • ICFWA Virtual Town Hall (May, 2023): As part of International Coaching Week, the chapter president convened a town hall to share the chapter's focus areas and equity work, and listen to members' questions, aspirations, and concerns. 

    • Race Matters in Coaching (Aug, 2023): The workshop raised awareness about obstacles that keep us from having meaningful race-related conversations in coaching spaces. 

    • Coaching Rooted in Equity (Nov 3, 2023): A mini-conference and 25th anniversary celebration with coaching equity as focus. (see the Terminology section for how we define coaching equity). 


2023's work builds on foundations our chapter leaders laid down from 2020 to 2022. For example, in 2021 the equity working group developed a Values Alignment Tool to help chapter directors assess how they could proactively align their work to values. We developed a DEIBJ readiness framework, to help board members build reliable teams. And since 2020, we have held regular BIPOC Coaches Connect meetings as a social justice tool to support BIPOC coaches. (Click here to learn more about why affinity spaces are needed).