Inspired by Impact

Creating an impact for women through coaching is part of my core mission. Expanding that impact is something I think a lot about. So when I learned that the 2024 theme for International Women’s Day set by the United Nations was “Invest in Women,” I felt called to action.

As I’m reflecting on what the initiative eventually became, I have to chuckle at the gap between the end result and my initial idea. I woke up one morning in March and thought, “I should donate my pro bono hours for Women’s Day.” As a coach, I am certified in the International Coaching Federation model. To become accredited, the ICF requires coaches to complete 100 (ACC) or 500 (PCC) hours of coaching— some of which can be pro bono hours. So I thought, ‘Let’s just blow the pro bono bank for IWD2024.”

Coaching is an emerging industry. It’s not therapy, and it’s not mentorship. Yet, when done well, coaching can change lives fundamentally. Coaching isn’t covered by insurance, and with the average cost for coaching in the US ringing in at $150 per hour— coaching can be inaccessible for many. So offering free coaching to women in hour of International Women’s Day seemed like an incredible opportunity to help impact lives.

The Free Coaching for Women Initiative

A few hours later, I had another thought. What if I could get a couple of other coaches on board with offering pro bono hours for women for IWD? Armed with a background in non-profit program management and a hold-my-beer spirit, I started reaching out to coaches. I began with a few I knew personally, expanded to posts on social media and in a coach’s Slack channel, and ended in an all-out blitz of DMing strangers on LinkedIn. What’s the worst they can do? Say no? Ignore me?

Many ignored me. Several said no. But this isn’t a blog about them.

This is a blog about the 25 amazing coaches who saw my vision and took up the call to action. In the end, those 25 coaches (26 counting yours truly) donated 220 hours of free coaching for women. Coaching specialties ranged from financial freedom to alignment, and from relationship coaching to transformational leadership coaching. That’s a cash value of ~$33,000.

With coaching pledges in hand, it was time to bring free coaching to the people!

Getting Free Coaching for Women to the People

I didn’t have any budget to promote the free coaching hours, so I relied upon my organic social media audiences and other online networks to get the word out. You’d be amazed at how much you can accomplish simply by asking. Again, what’s the worst that could happen? 🤷🏽‍♀️

I posted about the initiative on LinkedIn, Instagram, and in several Whatsapp and Slack groups. By directly asking folks to share the post with their networks or with a woman they knew personally, the announcement post was shared an estimated 60 times. It reached more than 6,000 people.

And that reach resulted in a lot of demand! Women began reaching out within minutes of the post going live. I tried to make it as simple as possible for women to claim the coaching hours. Beneficiaries were asked to share their top three choices and their email address. They were then matched based on a combination of preference and availability. Once matched, they were introduced to their coach via email to book sessions directly.

After two weeks, 2/3 of the donated hours were assigned to beneficiaries. As we’re all slaves to the aLgOrItHm, the speed of new inquiries started to slow down around this time.

On a mission to maximize impact, I had to creative.

Women’s Foundation of the South

To place the remaining hours, I reached out to the Women’s Foundation of the South (WFS), a non-profit based in Louisiana dedicated to increasing the health, wealth, and power of women and girls of Color in the South. I collaborated with Christy Slater, Vice President of Programs at WFS, who shared the opportunity with WFS’s 95 grantees across the South. The grantees of WFS are non-profits working at the frontline of some of the most impactful community initiatives in the South. Within a week, over 30 women from these organizations were matched with coaches. For many, coaching was otherwise inaccessible.

In the end, 97 women benefited from the free coaching initiative.

Reflections

If my time serving non-profits / NGOs taught me anything, it was that oftentimes, great things can be accomplished by a single person who decides to brave action. It’s not about showing up perfectly. It’s just about showing up. It’s about saying I care, and I can, so I will. This initiative went from 0-60 in two days flat. I went from idea to wrangling spreadsheets, external communication, outreach, matching, and marketing in the blink of an eye. Naturally, things were not perfect. How wonderful perfection is not the ruler I’m measured by. And, also naturally, I am curious about what I can optimize for next year. This year, we got to 97 women served by 26 coaches across 220 hours. Next year, can we get to 220 women served? Can we grow to 75 coaches? How many hours? How can I make it easier to participate in for both coaches and beneficiaries?

I think in terms of possibility, and once a project manager, always a project manager. I’m humbled by what we were able to accomplish in collaboration. And I know that other people can organize their own initiatives. It takes but an idea, and some elbow grease.

What’s Next?

Free coaching for IWD will be back in 2025. Nearly all of the coaches surveyed said they will also return next year! I plan to begin organizing much earlier— possibly in December. I’m also curious about serving diverse groups of women, like active duty/veteran women, LGBTQI+ women, women experiencing homelessness, or women recovering from domestic violence. If you’re a non-profit serving one of those constituencies, please be in touch about collaboration. If you’re an experienced professional coach (100 hours or more preferred), reach out about joining the initiative next year!