Coaching rooted in justice,
presence, and real change
A transformational coach training program for educators, organizers, nonprofit leaders, parents, healers, and change-makers who want to deepen their impact — on themselves, and on the world around them.
You’ve spent years working for others. This is for you.
Coaching for Complexity was built for values-driven people who are already doing the work and who sense that learning to coach could deepen it. Coaching skills support you to show up differently— in your relationships, in your vocation, and with the communities you serve.
Educators and school leaders who want to support students and colleagues with deeper presence and less burnout.
Parents and community builders who want to strengthen relationships and show up more fully for people they love.
Mission driven leaders who want to lead with more clarity, care, and capacity for the people around them.
Therapists and wellness practitioners who want to empower their clients using a holistic framework that supports growth and accountability.
People, culture, and DEI professionals who recognize the potential of coaching to support human development and organizational culture change.
Community organizers, non-profit professionals, and troublemakers who want to amplify their impact and ground their work in intentionality, curiosity, and care.
New and experienced coaches who want rigorous, values-aligned training that meets ICF standards and honors the complexity of the human experience.
What Becomes Possible
You stop trying to fix people. You begin to trust the wholeness already present in your clients — and stop rushing toward solutions that belong to them, not you.
You learn to be with difficulty. You develop the capacity to stay present with someone’s struggle — without collapsing into advice, rescuing, or discomfort.
You listen in a completely new way. You attune to what’s being said beneath the words — emotion, body, pattern — and learn that powerful coaching comes from how you listen, not what you say.
You recognize systems, no just individuals. You hold personal transformation in its larger context — understanding how power, history, and structure shape the inner lives of your clients.
You become more yourself. The training is a personal journey as much as a professional one. You’ll do your own work alongside learning to support others — and that changes everything.
Your work ripples outward. The people you coach, lead, teach, and organize with feel the difference. Presence is contagious. Your impact compounds.
Two ways through the same journey.
Both paths move through the same core curriculum and community. The difference is in what you’re building toward — deep personal practice, or a professional coaching credential.
(tuition cost in USD)
- Full core curriculum (all modules)
Peer coaching practice and community
Personal coaching sessions with faculty
Connected cohort experience
Sets you up for the ICF Portfolio Path - Global Coach Practitioner Certificate
(tuition cost in USD)
- Full core curriculum (all modules)
Peer coaching practice and community
1:1 mentor coaching with feedback
Observed coaching sessions
Group supervision circles
Connected cohort experience - ICF Level 2 Certification
For anyone who wants to show up differently.
Not everybody needs an ICF credential to get value from coaching skills. With the Practitioner Pathway, you get the benefits of our rigorous, ICF-credentialed Level 2 curriculum without the extra steps needed to become a professional credentialed coach. This pathway is ideal for people who plan to apply coaching skills in their existing life or work, or who are considering professional coaching but might not be ready to fully invest in the ICF Level 2 certification.
This learning pathway includes the following features:
Small Group Support
Get coached on your coaching. Workshop challenges and best practices in monthly meetings with your small group pod.
Faculty Office Hours
Receive personalized attention and support during our monthly office hours sessions with program faculty and Global Focus Coaching founders.
Dynamic Instruction
Worried about feeling dead inside in a Zoom session? Forget it! You’re in safe hands with our combined decades of crafting trainings that feel life-affirming, authentic, and vulnerable.
Assignments and Readings
Short videos, readings and reflection assignments between sessions help keep you learning and engaged between sessions.
Observation and Feedback
Gain insight on how you can grow as a coach and what your unique strengths are via faculty mentor observation and feedback.
Coaching Labs
As a part of our commitment to experiential learning and guided practice, you’ll master specific techniques and concepts through faculty coaching demos and practicing coaching role-play.
Practical Coaching Hours
Learn through experience. You’ll graduate with a minimum of 10 hours of practice client hours under your belt, building your own confidence and boosting your credibility with future clients.
Final Performance Evaluation
Put a capstone on your learning with a demonstration of your coaching skills and get live feedback from our teaching team.
Values Alignment
Do our core values resonate with you? Our curriculum is rooted in a de-colonial feminist approach and weaves in themes from restorative justice, nature-based inquiry, and embodied practices.
ICF-Accredited Curriculum
Our core certification curriculum has been reviewed and accredited by the International Coaching Federation as being aligned with ICF Level 2 certification standards.
Take the next step to deepen your practice.
The ICF Credential Pathway takes you one step further in professionalizing your coaching practice. Boost your credibility and give yourself a professional edge with an internationally recognized accredited training. This positions you to apply for coaching roles at established organizations and communicates to prospective coaching clients that your coaching practice is grounded in rigorous industry standards including mentor coaching, feedback, and supervision.
This pathway includes all of the core curriculum features in the Practitioner Pathway, plus:
In-Depth Developmental Feedback
As a part of your learning journey, you will submit recorded coaching sessions with permission from clients and get written feedback on your coaching competencies and skills. Participants often share that this feedback is one of the most useful catalysts for their growth as professional coaches.
Coaching Practicum
You’ll graduate from your intensive with a total of 50 practice client hours under your belt, building your own confidence and boosting your credibility with future clients. This puts you halfway towards the International Coaching Federation’s practical hours requirement for an ACC credential.
1:1 Mentor Coaching
Get coached on your coaching during three individual coaching sessions with an ICF-accredited mentor coach. Mentor coaching is a collaborative and developmental process where an experienced coach gives you expert feedback on your coaching and supports you to hone your skills.
ICF Level 2 Certification
Give yourself a professional edge with increased credibility from the ICF. When you graduate from Coaching for Complexity via the ICF Credential Pathway, you receive an ICF Level 2 Certification, enabling you to apply for an ACC or PCC credential with the International Coaching Federation.
What you’re probably wondering
Common Questions
Why is your ICF Level 2 Certification so much cheaper than other organizations?
We are conscious that the professionalization of the coaching industry has historically privileged coaching for business executives and other wealthy people. Most ICF-accredited coach training programs cost between $11K and $13K. We recognize that this price point is usually only attainable for people who receive professional development support from their organizations, and that teachers, community organizers, wellness practitioners, and DEI professionals do not always have access to this level of funding. We also want our programs to be accessible to coaches around the world, including in countries where people may be earning salaries that are commensurate their cost of living but where the currency is worth less than the US dollar.
Do you offer scholarships or payment plans?
We offer payment plans through our payment system that allow you to pay for the program over the period of a year. Many people have found that this makes the program possible for them. If you have questions about our tuition, please reach out to us at hello@globalfocusocoaching.com.
I am a manager, not a coach. Is this the right certification for me?
It could be! Many of our participants are looking to add coaching to their professional portfolio, but don’t necessarily intend to launch a coaching practice. Alumni of our certification program note that it improves their leadership abilities, communication skills, and team management.
What type of coaching will I be learning?
Our holistic and culturally responsive coach training programs weave together our combined expertise in coaching, education, cross-cultural facilitation, somatics, and restorative justice. The training will equip you with skills in the ICF Core Competencies for coaching, offering a foundation for a wide range of coaching applications.
Key influences in our coaching methodology include social anthropology, trauma-informed psychotherapy, restorative justice, nature-connected inquiry, mindfulness, forum theater, gentle horse training, expressive arts therapy, Yoga, Ayurveda, birth work, dance, DEIB theories, and intercultural dialogue. Learn more about our course offerings on our course catalog.
Can I make money as a coach?
Yes! Coaching is growing as a field, and certain sub-fields of coaching are rapidly expanding, including mental health coaching, wellness coaching, relationship coaching, and business coaching. In addition to the opportunities to have your own coaching practice, there is a growing demand for trained coaches to work with larger coaching providers. There is a broad range of what coaching careers can look like, and we make sure to expose you to different types of coaches in the field during your program. You may choose to run your own coaching business, integrate your coaching skills in your existing work, work as coach through a larger company that provides coaching services, or use coaching as a side hustle for additional income.
Can I use professional development funding from my job to pay for this training?
Yes, many of our participants fund all or part of their training using funding from their employer. Please reach out to us if you would like support on how to make the case for coach training as professional development.
How do I know which coach training program is the right fit for me?
We recommend doing your research on several different coach training programs before selecting one for you. There are many types of coach training programs out there, from short one-day training programs to fully accredited Masters programs. Check out our (somewhat outdated but still quite useful) webinar, Choosing Your Coaching Path, to learn about some of the considerations for choosing a training program.
I’m debating between a coach training program and a Masters in Counseling. Advice?
Many of the participants in our program have thought about careers in therapy. Some people do both! We’re happy to set up a call with you to discuss some of the pros and cons as you consider the best route for you.
What’s the difference between coaching and therapy?
There are defined ethical delineations between coaching and counseling or therapy, and in some cases, such as mental health coaching relationships, there may be overlaps between the two. Both coaching and therapy can support a client’s mental health and wellbeing. Coaching tends to focus on the future and usually involves visioning, an emphasis on what’s working, and setting goals for the short and long term future. Therapy tends to focus on healing trauma, using the past to understand the present, and building skills for managing emotional issues. Coaches are not qualified to provide therapy and the ICF provides clear guidelines on when to refer a coaching client to therapy.
What is the size of the group?
The minimum cohort size is 8 participants, and the maximum cohort size is 20 participants. We limit group size to ensure that participants can form a cohesive community of co-learners and that everyone gets the opportunity to practice and get individual attention from faculty.
What is the time commitment of this program?
Coaching for Complexity consists of 125 contact hours. This includes both synchronous hours (intensive weekends, shorter weekend classes, coaching labs, small group pod meetings, and 1:1 mentor coaching) and asynchronous learning (pre-work for classes that includes videos, readings, and other assignments). Additionally, participants must complete a minimum of 10 hours of practice coaching during the program.
Most participants graduate on time, however, if you’re unable to complete the program by the program end date, you can have the option to roll your credits into a future cohort to complete your requirements.
What is the format of the program? Is it virtual, hybrid, or in-person?
Coaching for Complexity will be delivered 100% virtually. Live sessions will take place on Zoom.
What is the primary language of instruction?
English.
Is your program accredited? Why is choosing an accredited program important?
Yes, our program has Level 2 accreditation from the ICF (International Coaching Federation), the gold standard accrediting body for coach education programs. This means that when you graduate, you’re able to apply for an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential through the ICF after you log 100 hours of coaching experience, or a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential through the ICF after you log 500 hours of coaching experience.
Regardless of whether you choose to pursue an ICF credential, getting certified through an accredited program lends weight and credibility to your coaching education. Most employers who hire coaches on staff want to see evidence that you’ve been trained through an accredited program, even if they don’t require a credential.
At Global Focus Coaching, we believe in upholding ICF standards because it helps preserve the integrity of coaching as a profession. An accredited program will always include key elements like mentor coaching, feedback on your coaching, curriculum that meets professional standards, and a performance evaluation. Accreditation means that we have gone through a rigorous review process and had to meet certain benchmarks that ensure our graduates uphold the core competencies and ethical guidelines of being a professional coach.