Susan N
Uganda

I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue my coaching training on a scholarship offered by ACTO. I intend to use the skills acquired during the training to encourage women in Uganda to embrace their true selves, follow their dreams and live authentically. I am grateful to ACTO for the great investment in my journey of transforming lives and making a difference. Thank you!

Lena W
United Kingdom

As a Queer, Neuro-divergent (High-functioning Autistic), Woman of Colour & Single Mother, I am understanding, from one angle, what it means to have existed & to exist on intersections. I am a commitment to finding &creating spaces for myself & others where ‘the BOTH & AND’ can not only be tolerated but can too be celebrated, valid, validated, valued & valuable.

We are in times so desperately in need of soulful expression, radical honesty, courageous action & awareness of our deep inter-connectedness. I will be offering, once trained, time & a regular portion of pro-bono coaching work to those in need from a spiritually inclusive, mind-body oriented/somatic focussed lens; Namely, the following groups with protected characteristics/those historically facing challenge/discriminated against will be deemed priority: LGBQTIA+, BIPOC/BAME relating, Neuro-diverse, pregnant/birthing/women in the postpartum period until 2 years after birth, those from low-socio-economic backgrounds. 

Advocating for voices that have long been silenced & those without a voice, including Plants, Animals, Land, Water-sources, Climate & Nature Herself, I am without doubt that this line of work has the potential to positively impact & uplift many areas outside of the human-species/anthropocentric models.

It remains an honour to identify & make opportunities to curiously & creatively explore alongside others, now also the EDI championing organisation ’ACTO’. Determined are my aims of playfully, passionately & powerfully reclaiming attention, redirecting intention towards decolonising, resourcing & encouraging the recognition of our inherent connection & worth.  Co-collaborating to give & receive acknowledgement, appreciation, enjoyment, fulfilment, insightful growth & community support feels joyous, important, timely & meaningful. I look forward to what is to come… With kindness, care & thanks! Léna Walker

Richa C
California, USA

I am grateful for being selected for ACTO coaching scholarship. This scholarship is a nudge and will serve as a fuel towards my journey of making the lives of women in my country better.

I come from one of the world’s largest economy, India. As a result of rapid economic growth, the job markets usually become hyper-competitive and thereby leading to a lack of mental well-being for employees. I come from the banking sector and have experienced the stress first-hand.

In India, not only is the economy growing, but society is also evolving. While in previous times, women mostly took household responsibilities, now they are educated better and are often seen breaking the glass ceiling. However, this development has come at a cost. Even though women have taken responsibilities outside of the household, they still seem grappling with family, children and house management. Hence, they experience more stress, anxiety and even show signs of mild depression, especially in the metropolitan cities.

I want to use my training to create more awareness around mental health at workplaces. I would also offer pro-bono coaching to women in the middle and lower management working in the banking sector of India. I envision making an impact in society by working towards removing the taboo surrounding mental health. Hopefully, my small steps will inspire others and together we would create a mentally healthier India!

Thank you ACTO for your contribution to my journey.

Charlotte F
New York, USA

I plan to use my coaching training to coach college students with disabilities. People with disabilities are systematically underemployed, more likely to be unemployed, and more likely to live in poverty than non-disabled people. Achieving academic success is a keystone in alleviating the disparities that people with disabilities experience. In addition to using coaching techniques, I plan to share coaching best practices with colleagues who work with students with disabilities.

Josh M
Texas, USA

I’m grateful to have been chosen as one of the 2023 scholarship awardees. I’m currently a development coach that specializes in working with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and I plan to use my training and eventual credentialing to continue empowering my community to define their coming out journey, create an identity they love, and build a supportive community of allies.

Beth C
Lismore Heights, Australia

I am humbled and grateful to receive this scholarship from the Association of Coach Training Organizations. I am passionate about social transformation and co-creating pathways towards healing and solidarity for LGBTIQA+ communities. I have been working to address the devastating LGBTIQA+ rates of suicide for many years, and coaching has awakened an innovative, dynamic and powerful revisioning of hope and possibility for this work. My coaching studies are already transforming my existing paid and voluntary work with children, young people, families, adults and groups as well as my work with community and organisational leaders who have a shared vision for social transformation and healing for LGBTIQA+ people and communities. I am excited about how coaching will support my work with leaders and peak organisations addressing lateral violence within the queer community and organisational landscapes. This scholarship provides me with not only much-needed financial support, but also encouragement and a sense of solidarity and community that will help sustain me in my work.

Steve W
Pennsylvania, USA

My driving commitment to pursue a coaching career is to coach underrepresented executive level leaders who are advancing educational equity for under-represented and under-served children and youth. After receiving my master’s in teaching in 2002, I’ve spent 20 years incubating, directing, and coaching educational nonprofits and initiatives in urban communities stateside and in Africa. A personal value is to advance equity in communities, and I believe equity in education is the prerequisite and cornerstone to this.

I currently serve as the E.D. of a nonprofit committed to advancing educational equity for educationally disadvantaged children and youth. I’m responsible for coaching the diverse team of stateside and African directors and management boards of the organizations we oversee. Once I complete my coaching training, I plan to increase my coaching role within the nonprofit, begin coaching leaders in additional underrepresented communities, and eventually move into full-time coaching as a career.

Asanda D
Cape Town, South Africa

I grew up in SA where poverty and unemployment is rife. Social mobility is very low – if you are born into poverty, there’s a high chance you will die in poverty. Even education doesn’t guarantee financial sustainability. With my upbringing, I decided to pursue a career in Social Work and Psychology at the University of Fort Hare.

During my studies, I developed a keen interest in human behavior after graduating with 3 years in Psychology I immersed myself in the travel and tourism industry, which was without a doubt a wholesome cultural exchange experience, my intention was to meet and interact with people from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, where I had the opportunity to engage in interesting discourses about their worldviews.

In 2018 I co-founded a non-profit organisation called Khwela Womxn, an organisation that exists to contribute to South – Africa’s sustainable growth and development agenda, in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals as it relates to young South – African women between the ages of 18-25 years. We achieve this through bi-monthly sisterhood circles, peer to peer learning, experiential learning through travel and connecting the women with employment opportunities within the country and we have designed an affordable virtual mentor with the themes that come from the sisterhood circles to provide women with more tools to self-empower and to shift their mindsets.

It is through this experience that I started to see that most women have the ability to make things happen for themselves and their communities but the limiting beliefs that they were exposed to growing up, hinders them from making things happen. Therefore the main reason that is pushing me to pursue training in coaching, is to be able to understand better where the root cause of these limiting beliefs come from and be able to equip the women that join our program with the necessary skills that will help them reach their destiny through the ability to learn and understand these issues consciously and integrate them into the self and to gain social mobility and financial independency.

Joanne L
Georgia, USA

As a woman of color, I understand that representation and support matter. Winning this scholarship will give me the opportunity to further my professional training and certification goals providing me the necessary tools to help others. I plan to use this scholarship to complete my certification in an accredited coaching program so I can help participants develop skills to reveal the incredible person within, realize their passion, purpose and to live their best lives. As a coach my program will help participants with tools for self-acceptance, overcoming imposter syndrome, implementing SMART goals. In this life journey each of us is equipped with what is necessary to live a rewarding and successful life, we just need an extra push, support and most importantly a plan to achieve those goals. As a coach I plan to be there to help others develop stronger skills and improve performance. Thank you ACTO and the Scholarship Committee, I am grateful for this opportunity.

Pamela S
Virginia, USA

“My passion is helping people to live in their power and purpose. My program is named, Get Out of Your Way. It’s a spiritually based holistic coaching program. I plan to coach women who are 6-months to a year from being released from prison, along with their children. Helping them to heal and move forward. The program is all about instilling self-love and building self-worth. By helping people see their past as a stepping stone to their future, they learn to take ownership of themselves and their lives. Together, in a group coaching setting, we will explore and work through past traumas, beliefs, and perception that have kept them from living their best lives. Working with an amended program with the children, mother & child will be on the same positive path. Thus, helping the family build a strong foundation that  empowers, strengthens, and helps them focus on living life fully and intentionally.  Some of the skills participants will be immersed in are: self-discovery, self-love, forgiveness, critical thinking skills, meditation, visualization, stress & coping, communicating, planning & goal setting, financial literacy and quality time. I believe this is the type of program that not only builds stronger families, but stronger people.”

Stacy B
Pennsylvania, USA

I plan to use the scholarship to attend an accredited life coaching program so I can help struggling intercity youth have a more positive approach with housing, education, and social skills. To show them that if they change their mindset in the direction that their struggles are temporary and with perseverance they too will succeed in life anything is possible.

Terri B
California, USA

Coaching came into my life at a time when I was seeking guidance. My experience being coached was transformational for me at a time of need, and now I’ve come to see the beauty of coaching no matter where one happens to be in their life. It recently dawned on me that I could actually become a coach myself and impact people‘s lives in transformational ways. So I made the commitment to myself that I would do just that. I was grateful to learn about the ACTO Scholarship because regardless of outcome, it signified the importance of coaching. Now that I’m an ACTO Scholarship winner, ACTO is an integral part of my story and journey in professional coaching. I am committed to this new practice and so excited for this chapter of my life. Thank you so much to the ACTO Scholarship Committee!

Joelle M
Beirut, Lebanon