April 2026 
President's Message
Dear ICF BC Community,
I hope this message finds you well as we move into spring with renewed energy and intention.
Today, I'm reaching out to share an important leadership opportunity, to highlight upcoming events, and point you toward some valuable resources.
Interim Treasurer Role (April - November 2026)
Our Treasurer, Lea Geissert, will be returning home to Germany this April. Lea has been an exceptional financial steward for our chapter, meticulous, thoughtful, and deeply committed to our community, and we're truly grateful for her service. As she transitions, we're seeking a member with accounting or bookkeeping experience to step into this vital role. If you have 5+ years of financial experience, strong QuickBooks skills, and 10-15 hours per month to contribute, this is a meaningful way to serve our community, gain nonprofit governance experience and make meaningful friendships.
Apply by April 14th: via our online application process
What's Ahead:
International Coaching Week - May 11 - 17, 2026
One of our biggest celebrations of the year! More details coming soon from our International Coaching Week Planning Committee.
We're invited to join the ICF LA Pro Bono Coaching Challenge - April 1- May 17 | Join coaches across North America in a coast-to-coast commitment to offer 3 hours of pro-bono coaching. Sign up here
ICF BC Annual General Meeting - November 15, 2026 (Save the Date)
2025 AGM Workshops
Missed our November AGM? All workshop recordings are now available in the Member Area on our new "Resources and Videos" page. These are valuable learning opportunities:
- PathWAYS - Indigenous coaching Framework with Jonathan Evans
- The Power of Belonging: Exploring Uniqueness in the Community and Leadership with Lily Seto
- Panel Discussion - Black Coaches Collective, The National Black Led, Black Focused and Black Serving (B3) Capacity Development Program in the charitable sector with Stephen Hinds, Nneka Allen, Rasie Bamigbade, and Marielle de Vassoigne.
- Thread by Thread: Belonging-Centered Coaching for Neurodiverse Minds with Jacquelin Connelly
- Belonging in the Canadian Tapestry: British Columbia with Shiren Van Cooten
Thank you for all the ways you show up for this community. If you have questions, suggestions or know someone who would be perfect for the Treasurer role, please reach out anytime.
With kindness and respect,
Robyn Ward
President, ICF British Columbia
Spotlight Event
 |
Quiet Champions: Coaching, Mentorship & the Leaders Who Shape UsApril 14, 2026 Free for Members |
What if some of the most impactful leadership isn’t loud, visible, or self-promoting but quietly consistent, values-driven, and deeply human? In this engaging and reflective session, Ian Chisholm, aka "Chiz", author of Quiet Champions invites coaches to explore the often-overlooked power of mentoring and its close relationship to coaching. Drawing on real stories and practical insights, Ian will illuminate how mentoring can complement coaching, strengthen leadership capacity, and create meaningful impact across organizations and communities. Together, we’ll explore: • The distinction and intersection between mentoring and coaching • The characteristics and influence of “quiet champions” •
Calendar of Events
Coaches & Coffee Meet-Up: Fraser Valley
April 12, 2026
4:00 PM PDT - 5:30 PM PDT
Tap & Barrel Willowbrook
The Thing Beneath the Thing: Mastering Agenda Setting with The Genco Method
August 26, 2026
10:00 AM PDT - 11:30 AM PDT
Global Zoom Meeting
Chapter News
Coach Spotlight
Alireza Afsarian, ACC
1. What inspired you to begin your journey in coaching?
My journey into coaching grew out of my work in organizational development, where I learned that sustainable change comes not just from frameworks but from people. I became increasingly interested in how leaders think, grow, and navigate complexity within organizations. Coaching offered a practical, human‑centered way to support that growth. It marked a shift, for me, from advising to truly partnering with individuals, an approach which was inspired by my own experience of being coached by leaders during my career progression.
2. What is the most meaningful impact you've seen from your work in coaching and organizational development?
The most meaningful impact has been witnessing leaders shift their mindset in ways that ripple across entire organizations. When leaders become more self‑aware, intentional, and aligned with their values, it transforms not only their effectiveness but also the cultures they shape. I’ve seen teams become more engaged, resilient, and collaborative as a result.
3. How do you integrate coaching into your work with senior executives and organizational transformation?
I integrate coaching as both a mindset and a structured practice within transformation initiatives. With senior executives, it often involves creating space for reflection, challenging previously held assumptions, and strengthening their capacity to lead through uncertainty while acknowledging the unknown and the discomfort associated with it. At the organizational level, I embed coaching principles into leadership development, culture initiatives, and change processes as a mindset. This helps ensure that transformation is not just implemented, but truly internalized and sustained.
4. How has coaching influenced your life and work, both professionally and personally?
Coaching has profoundly shaped how I listen, engage, and show up in all areas of my life. Professionally, it has strengthened my ability to lead with curiosity and vulnerability rather than certainty, and to create space for others to find their own answers. Personally, it has deepened my self-awareness and reinforced the importance of presence, empathy, and continuous growth. For me coaching has become not just something I do, but it is becoming a way of being! The journey of self-discovery has been indeed transformational.
5. What do you hope to see as our coaching profession grows and develops?
I hope to see the coaching profession continue to deepen its impact within organizations, especially in supporting more human-centered, inclusive, and adaptive leadership. As the field grows, maintaining strong ethical standards and a commitment to ongoing development will be essential. I’m also excited to see greater integration between coaching, organizational development, and systems thinking. This will allow coaching to play an even more strategic role in shaping the future of work.
April DEIB Reflection
Who Gets to Feel Easy in the Room? Neuroinclusion and the Social Spaces We Design
As coaches, we pay close attention to how people experience belonging. We listen for it in sessions. We create safety for it in our work. But how often do we turn that same attention toward the social and professional spaces we gather in ourselves?
Most networking events follow an unspoken blueprint. Walk into a room of strangers, make eye contact and initiate small talk. Read body language and social cues quickly, move between groups with ease. For many people, this feels natural, even energizing. For others, it is quietly exhausting, disorienting, or exclusionary in ways that rarely get named.
Neuroinclusion invites us to notice something we often overlook: that the way we design social connection tends to reward one style of processing, communicating, and relating. When we treat ease in unstructured social settings as the norm, we can unintentionally signal that people who navigate those spaces differently don't quite belong.
This shows up in subtle ways. The colleague who hovers at the edge of the room isn't necessarily disengaged. They may be processing. The person who doesn't jump into rapid conversation may have something profound to offer when given a different kind of opening. The coach who finds sustained eye contact draining isn't lacking presence. They may be deeply attuned in ways we haven't learned to recognize yet.
Neuroinclusion asks us to widen what "comfortable in the room" looks like. It asks us to design spaces with more than one way in.
And as coaches, this matters more. If we hold space for others to be fully themselves, we need to practice holding that same space for each other.
Join Us at Steamworks on May 14th
This is the kind of conversation we want to explore together at our upcoming Coaches Connection on Thursday, May 14th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Steamworks in Gastown.
We're gathering for an evening of roundtable conversation to deepen our awareness around DEIB, followed by a coaches warm-up and connector to close the night. Expect great questions, meaningful connections, and a healthy dose of FUN: the kind that happens when we slow down enough to actually meet each other.
Whether you love a buzzing room or prefer a quieter corner of it, there will be space for you. Come curious.
We can't wait to see you there.
Linda Schmidt,
DEIB Director, ICF BC Chapter
Global Updates
Important Dates for ICF Global 2026
International Coaching Week | May 11-17, 2026
Our annual global celebration of coaching! This is a perfect time to showcase the impact of professional coaching, connect with the worldwide coaching community, and participate in special events. Watch for ICF BC activities during this week, we'll have more details to share soon!
ICF Converge Summit Paris | May 17-19, 2026
Experience coaching innovation and community in the heart of Paris! This summit brings together coaches from around the world for learning, networking, and inspiration as International Coaching Week comes to a close.
ICF Converge | Washington DC | October 28-30, 2026
ICF's Annual conference returns to Washington DC! Join thousands of coaches for world-class education, cutting-edge research, networking opportunities, and the chance to earn CCE units while connecting with the global coaching community.
New from ICF Global: Credentialing Webinar Series
Whether you're considering your first ICF credential or supporting clients on their credentialing journey, ICF Global has launched a Credentialing Webinar Series to demystify the process and pathways. Learn about ACC, PCC, and MCC requirements, portfolio preparation, and what to expect along the way.
