Healing Centered Life Coaching Certification Program
People of Color Cohort
You are the one people turn to. You hold the team together, keep the business moving, show up for your students, and carry your community's mission, often as the only one in the room who shares your story. This cohort is designed for and centered on people of color who lead: a place where you never have to translate yourself.
- Fridays · February 12, 2027 to July 23, 2027
- 11:00 AM to 2:15 PM Eastern / 8:00 to 11:15 AM Pacific
- Online
- 20 live classes
- 75 hours, including 10 mentor coaching hours
- 10 to 20 participants
- $4,999 founding-year tuition ($1,000 off)
- ICF Level 1 accreditation pending
Why a cohort for people of color
Our communities lead and build with less support. That can change.
39%
of Black workers and 34% of Hispanic workers feel their workplace does not support them because of who they are, compared with 27% of white workers. Healing needs spaces built for us.
56%
of professionals of color with a senior advocate are satisfied with how fast they are advancing, compared with 34% of those without one.
60%
of U.S. businesses under two years old are owned by Asian, Black, or Hispanic entrepreneurs.
Sources: American Psychological Association, 2023 Work in America Survey; Coqual, The Sponsor Dividend, 2019; Federal Reserve Banks, 2022 Small Business Credit Survey, via Third Way.
Why become a coach
Your community needs coaches who understand it. The field is growing.
Becoming a coach lets you turn the guidance people already seek from you into a profession, a business, and a way to serve your community.
$5.34B
A growing field
Global coaching revenue, up 17% since 2023, with 122,974 coaches worldwide.
$10K
A credential that pays
Credentialed coaches earn about $10,000 more a year than coaches without a credential.
73%
Clients expect training
of coaches say clients and organizations increasingly expect credentials and ongoing development.
2.9%
Room for more of us
of ICF members identify as Hispanic and 10.8% as Black. Coaches of color are still underrepresented in the profession.
Sources: International Coaching Federation, 2025 Global Coaching Study and credentials findings; ICF, member demographics, 2024.
The cohort
Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and multiracial leaders, together
Over five months of Fridays, a community of 10 to 20 leaders of color learn the Healing Centered Coaching® model by living it first, then learn to guide others through it with skill, ethics, and care. Our traditions, languages, and histories differ. The pressure to carry more with less, and the wisdom our ancestors left us, are shared.
Fridays close the work week with something that restores you instead of draining you. Every holiday weekend stays free, and there is no homework.
This cohort is for you if you are
- An entrepreneur or founder who wants to add coaching to your work and lead from wholeness, not hustle.
- A supervisor or executive ready to coach, not only manage, and to sustain yourself at the top.
- A professor or educator bringing a healing centered approach to advising, mentoring, and your own well-being.
- A nonprofit leader caring for your staff and community without pouring from an empty cup.
- A practicing coach who wants to sharpen your skills and level up your practice.
Connection to Healing Centered Coaching®
Healing that honors every culture in the room
Healing Centered Coaching® welcomes culture, history, and community as sources of wisdom. In this cohort, each step draws on the many traditions students bring.
- PauseRest from code-switching and explaining yourself, and permission to simply arrive
- GroundAncestral practices from many traditions, and the body, land, and spirit as guides
- AlignValues rooted in your own culture and history, not someone else's definition of success
- ActNext steps that serve you, your family, and your community
- IntegrateHealing that ripples outward into the communities you serve
Program at a glance
Five months, one Friday a week
20
Live classes
One 3-hour class a week on the cohort's class day, with a 15-minute grounding break
75
Total hours
60 live hours, 5 self-guided hours (a 15-minute video lesson before each class), and 10 mentor coaching hours
10
Mentor coaching hours
7 Mentor Circles in groups of up to 10, and 3 one-on-one sessions with Leslie
7
Observed sessions
4 feedback pods and 3 one-on-one reviews, all with written feedback
5
Modules
Pause, Ground, Align, Act, and Integrate, practiced on yourself first
1
Final evaluation
A recorded coaching session graded at the ACC level, with written feedback on each competency
Dates and classes
Fridays, February 12, 2027 to July 23, 2027
All classes meet 11:00 AM to 2:15 PM Eastern (8:00 to 11:15 AM Pacific), three hours of class plus a 15-minute grounding break. Self-guided lessons are completed anytime before each class.
| Date | Class |
|---|---|
| Module 1 · Pause: Coming Home to Yourself | |
| Fri, Feb 12, 2027 | Class 1. Sacred Beginnings |
| Fri, Feb 19, 2027 | Class 2. Making Space Together |
| Fri, Feb 26, 2027 | Class 3. The Coach's Pause |
| Fri, Mar 5, 2027 | Class 4. Arriving Fully |
| Module 2 · Ground: Rooted in Safety and Spirit | |
| Fri, Mar 12, 2027 | Class 5. Safe Harbor |
| Fri, Mar 19, 2027 | Class 6. Holding What Arises |
| Fri, Apr 2, 2027 | Class 7. Rooted in the Body |
| Fri, Apr 9, 2027 | Class 8. Steady Ground |
| Module 3 · Align: Listening for Inner Wisdom | |
| Fri, Apr 16, 2027 | Class 9. Deep Listening |
| Fri, Apr 23, 2027 | Class 10. Questions That Open Doors |
| Fri, Apr 30, 2027 | Class 11. Whole and Seen |
| Fri, May 7, 2027 | Class 12. Illuminating Inner Wisdom |
| Module 4 · Act: Moving With Intention | |
| Fri, May 21, 2027 | Class 13. From Insight to Intention |
| Fri, May 28, 2027 | Class 14. Gentle Accountability |
| Fri, Jun 4, 2027 | Class 15. Healing at Work |
| Fri, Jun 11, 2027 | Class 16. The Full Circle Session |
| Module 5 · Integrate: Wholeness in Practice | |
| Fri, Jun 25, 2027 | Class 17. Weaving It Together |
| Fri, Jul 9, 2027 | Class 18. Practicing in Wholeness |
| Fri, Jul 16, 2027 | Class 19. Sustaining the Healer |
| Fri, Jul 23, 2027 | Class 20. Community Celebration & Teach Back |
No class within two days of a U.S. federal holiday, Easter, Eid al-Fitr, or Eid al-Adha. This cohort skips Easter weekend, Eid al-Adha, Juneteenth, and Independence Day weekends. Eid dates are approximate and depend on the moon sighting.
Teaching staff · Founder and lead faculty
Leslie Avant-Brown, MPA, MCC
Leslie is a Master Certified Coach, the International Coaching Federation's highest credential, and the creator of the Healing Centered Coaching® model. Before becoming a coach, she built a career in leadership development, evaluation, and capacity building, and she teaches every live class in the Institute's certification programs.
Her CCRW Coaching Model, created for foster and probation youth transitioning out of state care, earned an ICF Prism Award Honorable Mention. She has developed coaching models that help young survivors of sexual exploitation lead advocacy movements, created a city-wide coaching framework for the City of Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention to support gun violence prevention staff, and founded an ICF-accredited coach certification program. Today she coaches high-achieving changemakers, who often work in isolation, toward clarity, alignment, and purpose, drawing on deep experience in executive leadership, education, nonprofits, and youth work.
Leslie holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan. She is a Silver Star member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and she loves laughing and spending time with her wife, family, and friends.
Joining Leslie: Practice Studio co-facilitators and Mentor Circle coaches, all credentialed Healing Centered Coaches who hold ICF's Mentor Coach Specialization. Names are announced before each cohort begins.
Investment
People of Color Cohort
$4,999founding-year tuition
Regular tuition $5,999. Founding students save $1,000 during the Institute’s first year.
- Five-payment plan: Spread $4,999 tuition over five payments of $1,000. Employer sponsorship is also available.
- Refunds: cancel 30 or more days before the first class for a refund less a $500 processing fee, or 14 to 29 days before for 50% less the fee. No refunds within 13 days of the start or after classes begin; substitutions are welcome before launch.
- Attendance: up to 15 class hours can be made up, and extensions of up to 60 days are available case by case.
- Before you enroll, please read the Certification Program Policies, including the Participation Agreement. An electronic copy of the agreement is provided at enrollment.
- Small on purpose: 10 to 20 participants, so every student is seen.
- Applications close January 29, 2027. You may be invited to a short conversation with Leslie.
- I am applying for ICF Level 1 accreditation. Students in this founding cohort will be retroactively eligible for ICF credit once the program is approved.
Start with a conversation.
Tell me what you are looking for: coaching, a circle or training, certification, mentoring, or a partnership for your team. You will hear back within two business days.
Considering a certification program? Read the Certification Program Policies.
