Berwick Mahdi Davenport
(aka Brother “M”)

DIFFERENT: The Missing Link in the Coaching Relationship
How Embracing Inner and Outer Difference Transforms Connection, Conflict, and the Capacity to Coach


The primary problem this session addresses is that most leaders—and coaches—lack the capacity to work with people who are ideologically different from them. This session will explore a radical yet simple premise: “Different” is not a challenge to overcome—it is the root of our purpose, power, and connection. By redefining difference as an essential and universal human trait rather than a source of division, we can train coaches to recognize and respect what makes each client—and themselves—unique. This session will explore how embracing difference creates deeper trust, unlocks self-honesty, and becomes the foundation for authentic connection.

Through a compelling blend of story-sharing, reflection, and practical tools, participants will learn how to support clients in aligning with their most authentic self by first recognizing and resolving inner conflict caused by disowning their own difference.

In a society where difference is often rejected, minimized, or misunderstood, we cannot be fully human-first without radically rethinking how we engage with difference—both our own and our client’s.

I am a Black creative, father, and human development strategist who was raised in a world that demanded I perform my way into belonging.
Instead, I chose to feel.

For over three decades, I’ve guided people through life’s inner terrain—working not just to change minds, but to restore hearts. My work lives at the intersection of spiritual transformation, cultural truth-telling, and nervous system liberation.

I’ve sat in silence with monks, protested in the streets with strangers who became family, and helped leaders in boardrooms remember how to be human again. My path has been shaped by conflict and connection, by grief and grace—and every lesson I carry, I carry in service to our collective remembering.

I’m not here to impress.
I’m here to touch something real.
Because healing doesn’t happen through performance—it happens through presence.

Whether I’m coaching, facilitating, or speaking, my work is a love letter to those who’ve ever felt out of place, too much, or not enough.
To those still carrying brilliance beneath their silence.
You’re not alone.
And you’re not too late.
You’re right on time.

Veronica King

From Bystander to Bridge: Embodying Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in Every Coaching Conversation

This presentation will explore the nuanced responsibility of coaches to move from passive observers to active bridges and witnesses in honoring social identity within coaching conversations. Drawing from the speaker’s 20+ years of experience in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, racial healing, and coach education, the presentation will offer stories, frameworks, and reflective practices that support coaches in deepening their presence and awareness around social identity, bias, and belonging.

The keynote will acknowledge the historical and emotional significance of Juneteenth, which is a potent reminder of delayed justice and the spaces between liberation promised and liberation lived. The presentation will also include an invitation to ancestral reflection, and real coaching experiences that highlight the impact of identity-aware coaching.

Veronica King is a Black, South African woman of Zulu and Indian descent, shaped by a lineage of resilience, reverence, and relationship. Raised in a vibrant, working-class community during apartheid, she carries both the pain of exclusion and the pride of survival. She is a single mother to a wise, wholehearted young woman whose journey and healing mirror her own evolution.

Veronica is a traditional healer and family constellation practitioner, drawing spiritual strength from her Zulu ancestry and Eastern philosophical roots. She embraces rituals, food, and storytelling as sacred threads that bind generations. As a facilitator of racial healing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, she moves between worlds—corporate boardrooms, ancestral spaces, and global learning communities—anchored by justice, compassion, and a belief in collective transformation.

For Veronica, truth is ancestral, healing is communal, and love—especially for her daughter, her lineage, and her people—is a revolutionary act.

Jonathan Sibley / Coaching for Social Justice

A community dialogue about how we talk about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging in coaching

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging – How do we think and talk about these issues when some forms of conservatism and nationalism are actively working to avoid and even forbid these discussions? To be of service to those we train, coach and/or supervise and the organizations they work for should we:

• Continue to look at how to have these discussions ethically and effectively?
• Do the work, but change the way we talk about it?
• Wait until there is a greater corporate and political appetite to address these issues?

Spoiler alert: I (and my colleagues at Coaching for Social Justice) think that the need to address Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, Belonging is greater than ever but recognize that there are different perspectives about how and whether to have these discussions in coaching and coaching supervision. I will facilitate a discussion among attendees of our session to share perspectives and see what we can learn from one another.

Jonathan ticks many of the boxes of privilege – white, male, cis-gender, heterosexual, able-bodied, well-educated, and with financial resources. He also grew up with a mother who was a social activist and instilled a belief in fairness and equity. Jonathan is also a descendant of Jewish ancestors who left Russia to avoid pogroms but with parents who focused on assimilation, distancing the family from those roots. Jonathan has been fascinated by cultural similarities and difference since he was a child and did research on the relationship between language, thought and culture as an undergraduate. Living in different countries and learning other languages has been an important learning opportunity and influence on his worldview.

Damaris Patterson Price

Culture, Social Mixtures, and Impacts on Coaching Learning Spaces

Beyond you as the coaching trainer and your learners, what else is hidden in the training space? Culture. While intangible, it is a significant driver of human behavior that distinguishes those who are just like us, somewhat like us, or not like us at all. As stewards of the learning space, how confident are you in providing psychological safety in its four distinct forms (Inclusion, Learner, Contributor, Challenger), regardless of who the learner is culturally? What should you know, understand, do, and avoid doing to fully support the cultural beings who will go on to translate their learnings into high-value coaching experiences for others? Find out in “Culture, Cultural Mixtures, and Impacts on Coaching Learning Spaces.”

Straight Cis Black woman, 53, Divorced, Mother of Bi-racial teenage twins (David & Sophia), non-denominational and ecumenically human, nerdy gentlelady. The only daughter of two teachers, first generation Master’s Degree. Born and raised in corporate (Financial Services). People and leadership Development for 30 years. HR and training and development, working at private practice in 2016. Provides strategy and training to private and public sector as well as non-profit organizations. Most of my clients are senior leaders and boards. Also teaches at Cleveland State and on faculty at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

Christina Stathopoulos

Honoring Lived Experience: A Trust-First Approach to Mindset Shifts

In the coaching space, mindset work is often positioned as a gateway to transformation—but when we attempt to shift mindsets without first honoring the lived experiences that shaped them, we risk bypassing identity, causing harm, and reinforcing dominant cultural narratives. This session invites coaches and coach trainers to reexamine how we approach mindset transformation through a lens of humility, deep partnership, and inclusion.

In this session, participants will explore a clear definition of lived experience and reflect on the impact of social identity, culture, and systemic forces in shaping belief systems. They will also be able to discuss the impact of not honouring lived experience with their students in coach training programs. Together, we’ll name common pitfalls coaches face when attempting to shift beliefs without honoring identity, and offer trust-centered approaches that promote safety, agency, and deep partnership.

Participants will leave with a stronger human-first lens for coaching mindset shifts, as well as new ways to help student coaches and clients to shift limiting beliefs in ways that affirm their full humanity.

Christina Stathopoulos (she/her) proudly shares that she is a coach, leader, mother, daughter, sister, witch, and wife. A first generation Greek American, Christina loves to share her experience with others about being an immigrant’s daughter. She was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith, and calls herself a “Witchy Child of God.” She is queer, autistic, and white. She also identifies as an avid gardener and beer brewer, whose core value of family ensures she will cook up a delicious meal for you to show her love.

Sukari Pinnock Fitts

Coaching Under Pressure: Identity Erasure and Covering in the Coaching Relationship

Navigate Organizational Shifts with Inclusive Coaching Practices!

Join our 90-minute workshop, “Coaching Under Pressure: Identity Erasure and Covering in the Coaching Relationship,” designed to equip coaches with the awareness and skills needed to support all their clients seeking to thrive in today’s complex workplace environments. Understand how organizational shifts – many of which now seek to eliminate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion – related policies and initiatives – can introduce fear and insecurity into coaching conversations. This timely workshop will explore the crucial Diversity, Equity, Inclusion concepts of collusion, covering/masking, identity erasure, and socio-cultural power dynamics that may be more prominent in today’s coach/client partnerships.

Learn to recognize the potential for coaches to become complicit in systems that seek to devalue differences when adapting to new organizational realities. We will explore the possible ethical dilemmas coaches could face, and brainstorm strategies to adopt a communication style that does not prompt clients to “cover or mask” their identity. Gain practical insights and share best practices about how to foster client authenticity and empowerment in the face of organizational pressures to collude with oppressive workplace policies and practices. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your coaching practice in a truly Diversity, Equity, Inclusion-conscious way.

Sukari is a cisgender woman, using the pronouns she, her, and they. A member of the African diaspora, she is a heterosexual Baby Boomer, living with a hidden disability and some degree of socio-economic privilege as a U.S. National. She has no religious affiliation, believing strongly that the “universe provides.” She is the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father and a South Carolinian mother and was raised with one sibling in a working-class, multi- racial neighborhood in Los Angeles. Now residing in Northern Virginia, on the unceded tribal lands of the eradicated Nacotchtank (Anacostan) people, Sukari has been developing leaders in multiple sectors for over 20 years. She supports clients in the U.S. and abroad – virtually and face-to-face. She is a devoted partner/spouse, a proud parent to three amazing human beings, and a favorably biased “Nona” to three grandsons.

Jimena Andino Dorato

Bridging Intercultural Intelligence & Coaching Competencies

Join our inspiring workshop: “Building bridges between intercultural competence and coaching”.

Discover how integrating intercultural competence with core coaching competencies can elevate your practice, enabling you to create transformative spaces that are inclusive, culturally sensitive and foster greater self-awareness in your coachees.

This practical and interactive session will invite you to reflect on your own coaching experiences when working with clients from different cultural backgrounds. It will help you identify new areas of growth and open up new opportunities for exploration in your coaching sessions.

Throughout the workshop,

1. You will learn and experiment with practical tools from the field of interculturality, specifically adapted for coaching.
2. Understanding intercultural intelligence will help you to better understand your client, their cultural identity and vision of the world.
3. You will be able to improve your active listening and have a better repertoire of questions that will allow your client to have another angle or perspective on themselves and the situations they face.

Jimena: white presenting Latin American raised in an upper-middle class, from class- “transfuge” parents. Highly educated. Cis-heterosexual woman, in her early fifties. After almost 30 years she is happy to continue choosing and growing with her husband and childhood friend. She is the proud mother of two daughters. Nomad by choice, she has a hard time living and working in only one language. She thrives when French, Spanish, Portuguese, English -and now Catalan- dance in her head and around her. A highly sensitive extravert, she loves interacting, sharing and learning from people from different generations and cultural backgrounds, as well as quiet, peaceful reading moments in her own bubble.

Birgit Rauchbauer

Connecting Across Social Identities: The Role of the Brain, Mirror Neurons, Synchrony, and Empathy

Trust, empathy, and connection in coaching across diverse social identities, cultures, and languages. You’ll learn how brain mechanisms shape social identity, how empathy and synchrony emerge between individuals, and how these processes influence coaching presence and engagement. We will focus on the neural networks behind self-other distinction, mirror neurons, and shared identity, and explore how these concepts support connection, safety, and trust in multicultural coaching relationships.

Participants will gain a deeper self-awareness of their own identities and reflect on how to navigate international and intercultural coaching contexts with curiosity, openness, and empathy. You’ll leave with a neuroscience-informed framework for understanding and engaging the complexity of social identity in coaching, ultimately helping you create more effective, culturally responsive, and impactful coaching interactions.

Join me for this session to gain new perspectives on how neuroscience can enhance your coaching practice, particularly in fostering meaningful connections across identity and cultural differences.

Trained in the performing arts with a passion for dance, singing, and acting, she later earned a PhD in Psychology from the University of Vienna. Working as a researcher and lecturer at universities in Austria, the UK, France, she now lives in Washington, DC. A former single mother during her PhD, now married to an Italian and mother of three. Lifelong interest in human connection has guided both academic work—researching alignment and mimicry—and transition into coaching and leadership development. Serving on the board of her international community in DC, supporting social cohesion and belonging. Community and connection—especially across cultures—are her deepest values and a central thread in both her personal and professional journey.

Shilpa Alimchandani

Clear the noise, feel your beat

Expand your coaching toolkit with music and movement! In this interactive session, we will explore how systems of oppression impact the experiences of people with marginalized social identities, and how dance can serve as coaching modality.

Mainstream society and workplaces were not designed for marginalized identity groups. We have internalized oppressive messages by learning the choreography of the dominant culture, instead of dancing to our own rhythms. In this session, we will reconnect with body and spirit using music and movement. We will share our experiences of learning and unlearning oppression, recognizing that the path to liberation requires self compassion and collective support.

I am a cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied, Indian American woman with class and education privilege. Growing up as the eldest of three children in a South Asian immigrant home in a mostly white suburb of St. Louis, MO in the 1980s and 1990s, I learned early in life how to navigate between worlds. My home was filled with the smells of Indian spices and sounds of Bollywood music. The relatively small Indian community in St. Louis was my extended family, and helped to root me in my cultural heritage. Outside that Indian bubble, I learned the ways of the dominant culture through school and US popular culture.

As an adolescent, I began questioning why these two worlds were so separate. I began sharing my heritage at school, giving speeches about cultural awareness and occasionally wearing South Asian clothes to school. I studied the civil rights movement in the US and the independence movement in India and began to appreciate the commonalities between these struggles for justice and liberation. At home, I challenged my parents’ traditions by dating people outside of our community and questioning the sexism, racism, homophobia, and religious intolerance I saw within our own community.

In college, I deepened my knowledge about the social justice issues I cared about by pursuing a multidisciplinary degree drawing on sociology, psychology, literature, and history. This laid the foundation for what evolved into my career as an educator, facilitator, and coach who shines a spotlight on the systems of oppression in which we operate and supports organizations and individuals in becoming more equitable and human-centered.

Today, I live with my partner and two children in Silver Spring, Maryland. Family remains a central part of my life, and I have found that parenthood is as much about learning as it is teaching. My life decisions, both at work and at home, are guided by my values of compassion, integrity, connection, and humility.

Robyn Ward

Cultivating Safe Spaces in Coaching

This 90-minute presentation explores cultivating safe spaces in coaching practices that are aligned with the ICF Code of Ethics. By integrating the principles of the ICF with a focus on inclusivity and cultural humility, this talk emphasizes cultivating safe spaces where clients from diverse cultural backgrounds can be seen, heard, and valued. The presentation highlights key elements of the “Cultivating Safe Spaces” framework available on www.rewardingrelationships.ca, focusing on building trust and avoiding harm through thoughtful, culturally aware interactions.

I am a Mother, wife, aunty, certified executive coach, volunteer counsellor, art therapist, creative artist, dreamer, change-maker and activist.

I am a 4th generation European settler (English, Ukrainian, German) and I am the mother of two Indigenous boys that are Anishinaabe, Bear Clan from Sandy Bay, Treaty 6 Territory, MB. My life is rooted in the Anishinaabe 7 Sacred Teachings: Respect, Courage, Wisdom, Humility, Truth, Honesty and Love. These values guide me and hold me personally and professionally accountable. For 20 years I have focused my professional development, on four fields: psychology, business, coaching and technology.