About the Empowered Leader Program
Women who are selected to join the Empowered Leader Program will become part of the
Women’s Impact Alliance.
This special group of women impact leaders are selected based on the scope and scale of
their impact, their potential to accelerate change, and their commitment to
self-development.
Program Highlights
In the 1-Year Empowered Leader Program, participants:
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Are matched with a certified coach experienced in working with executive leaders in
both profit and not-for-profit organizations
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Focus on both personal and leadership development over a 6-month period of one-on-one
coaching
- Engage in leadership lab workshops
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Become members of trusted peer-to-peer forums that allow them to expand their network,
build leadership skills, and provide peer support
Program Benefits and Outcomes
- Increase self-confidence and courage to show up as a leader
- Learn how to use core strengths that amplify impact
- Identify and shift crucial limiting beliefs
- Discover values and align with purpose to accelerate impact and potential
-
Experience the transformational impact of receiving empowering support from coach and
peers
- Create new connections and develop life-long allies and friends
“My coaching experience has been very inspiring, helping me uncover the infinite
potential within. It’s amazing, how I was able to identify my next steps for my work
and personal growth just after 5 sessions. This is a very safe space, every woman
needs this.” — Christine Nabugonyi, Executive Director at Edu Child Foundation
Uganda
Join a Community of 1,500+ Alumnae from 85+ Countries
Since 2014, over 1,500+ women impact leaders from more than 85+ countries have graduated
from The Women’s Impact Alliance. Graduation from the
Empowered Leader Program is only the beginning of your leadership
journey. We are committed to continuing to grow the leadership capacity of our community
of women leaders and support them as they expand their impact.
As a graduate of the Empowered Leader Program, you become part of our
global alumnae community and are invited to participate in ways that are meaningful to
you. You’ll have the opportunity to take advantage of offerings specifically tailored to
our graduates, including:
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Access to a network of women leaders all over the world in a variety of impact sectors
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Monthly workshops, community-led sessions, and meet-ups (both virtual and in-person
- Opportunities to continue one-on-one coaching
- Private Alumnae Slack community and alumnae address book access
- Access our extensive online Leadership Resource Library
What Can You Expect from the Program?
We have developed a transformative leadership journey. This fully integrated one-year
program will expand your leadership skills, deepen your learning, and accelerate your
growth.
Experience Pillars
Four experience pillars make up the foundation of our signature Empowered Leader
Program:
One-on-one Coaching, Ally Pods, Leader Lab Workshops, and Community Learning
Sessions.
One-on-One Coaching
Participants are paired with an experienced professional leadership coach to work toward
their goals and overcome challenges. There are
twelve virtual, one-on-one coaching sessions over a six-month period.
The coaching journey is tailored to each participant’s specific needs and goals.
Common coaching topics include:
- Understanding your strengths and blind spots as a leader
- Clarifying values and deeper purpose for your work
- Identifying your authentic leadership presence and style
- Navigating conflict
- Enhancing your emotional intelligence
Coaching is a significant component of the Empowered Leader Program. It is important
that potential participants understand this core part of the program. Click here to
learn more about
what coaching is and isn’t ,
how you will be matched with your coach , and other coach
related FAQs.
Ally Pods
The power of community is a paramount experience of this program. Upon beginning your
Empowered Leader Program,
you will join a small group of other participants as part of an Ally Pod. This is one of the best ways to connect with others in the program and foster
meaningful relationships through this shared experience.
Every Ally Pod is entirely self-directed, each pod member is an equal designer in
creating your unique experience together.
To learn more about Ally Pods check out our
FAQs
Leader Lab Workshops
‘Harnessing Your Inner Leader’ is a 3-part series of
leadership development modules led by subject-matter experts
and is tailored to women impact leaders. Each 90-minute virtual workshop introduces
tools, models, and practices that cultivate authentic leadership, personal growth, and
resilience. Sessions are supplemented with written materials, resources and videos.
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Module 1: Understanding Ourselves as Leaders
Workshop 1 - Identify Your Unique Values, and How to Live Them Out in the World.
Workshop 2 - Silencing Your Inner Saboteur and Designing Ways to Move Forward.
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Module 2: Resilient Leadership
Workshop 1 - Self-Compassion, Self-Advocacy and Resilient Leadership
Workshop 2 - Leading with Courage and Vulnerability
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Module 3: Multi-Dimensional Leadership
Workshop 1 - Multidimensional Leadership (to Thrive in Complexity)
Workshop 2 - Leadership Agility
Community Learning Sessions
Every month, participants are encouraged to engage in optional group sessions designed
to support each other in being more courageous, inspired, and connected, including:
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Open Learning Sessions where participants and alumnae come together to discuss
leadership topics
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Expert Special Sessions where the entire WIA community comes together for
inspirational and/or practical workshops
- Additional leadership development sessions offered throughout the year.
Resources
Participants will receive access to a private Slack community, The Women’s Impact
Alliance Resource Library, The Women’s Impact Alliance Directory, and books supporting
the program.
Why Should I Apply?
The Empowered Leader Program has been designed specifically to accelerate the leadership
potential of early stage women in social and environmental change. An entire year of
development is a significant investment of time and energy, and yet participating in
this program creates a foundation on which to increase your leadership capacity, and
significantly deepen your impact in the world.
By participating in the program you will:
- Clarify your core values and how to lead with power and authenticity
-
Identify your core limiting beliefs and learn to access the wisdom of your inner
leader.
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Gain practical strategies and tools for personal and leadership resiliency, and well
being
- Explore what it means to lead with courage and vulnerability
- Build resilience and capacity to think clearly under pressure
- Strategize approaches to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity
-
Cultivate mindful self-compassion practices that allow you to do your work with more
ease
- Learn practices for radical self-care and wellbeing
-
Expand the concept of leadership agility and learn to lead in different ways to meet
the needs of different situations.
- Practice strengthening your leadership multi-dimensionality
- Deepen confidence in your leadership
What Do We Look For in Participants?
The Empowered Leader Program is open to any early stage career woman leader and
women-identifying individuals based anywhere in the world, who are today transforming
our world for the better.
We are looking for a candidate who is:
- A high potential early career woman leader
- Strongly committed to changing the planet and can demonstrate existing change
- Doing something extraordinary
- Dedicated to her self-discovery and development
- Willing to speak freely about both her difficulties and triumphs
-
Realistic about her goals for coaching (feasible for completion within a six-month
period)
-
Clear on what she can expect from coaching (see:
“What Is a Coach?” for further clarification)
- Open to being challenged by a coach to explore outside her comfort zone
-
Willing to give her coach feedback on their coaching conversation and relationship
- A strong commitment to the value of fellowship and community
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Program places are prioritized for non-profit and social impact leaders. We do
consider applicants from for-profits who clearly demonstrate their organizations'
social impact and mission. For more information check out our
FAQ.
Disclaimer: We have a requirement that a participant in any The Women’s Impact
Alliance program is emotionally and mentally stable before joining our programs. If
you have experienced significant emotional trauma, a traumatic event, and have been in
recovery or treatment in the last 12 months, we recommend that you consider applying
for our programs after at least 12 months post-recovery.
Leadership development and coaching are a wonderful process for opening up
transformation and going deep, but the serious concern is that it can also trigger
traumatic emotions if you are recovering and healing from trauma, and because our
coaches and experts don’t have therapeutic training to support that, it could
potentially harm you, and we would never, ever want that for anyone.
If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please reach out to us at
[email protected]
We are continually working hard as an organization to welcome, embrace and support all
people.
The Women’s Impact Alliance shall not discriminate present nor future participants on
the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin (ancestry),
disability, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, educational
background, or military status, in any of our activities or operations.
Are You A Nightingale?
Nightingales are women leading in roles that directly support their communities in
fields such as education, healthcare, mental & behavioral health, housing, food
security, and social services. These fields historically experience high rates of
burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma — compounded by the shared trauma of a
global pandemic.
These women are essential to the welfare and continued well-being of our global
community, yet there are limited opportunities for them to focus on themselves and their
long-term growth. We have dedicated up to 40 spaces each program to supporting these
courageous women.
NOTE: You will be given the opportunity to indicate that you are a Nightingale in your
application.
Empowered Leader Program Calendar
| January 16, 2023 |
Applications OPEN for our Spring 2023 Program |
| February 1, 2023 |
Open Enrollment Call #1 |
| March 1, 2023 |
Open Enrollment Call #2 |
| March 10, 2023 |
Applications CLOSE |
| April 10, 2023 |
Application results announced to all applicants |
| April 21, 2023 |
Applicant deadline to accept program place |
| May 1, 2023 |
Empowered Leader Program Begins – Meet Your Allies Pod! |
| May 8 – 12, 2023 |
Catalyst Onboarding & Designed Alliance |
| TBD, July - September, 2023 |
Leadership Labs: Module 1, Understanding Ourselves as Leaders |
| TBD, November, 2023 - January 2024 |
Leadership Labs: Module 2, Resilient Leadership |
| TBD, February - March, 2024 |
Leadership Labs: Module 3, Multidimensional Leadership |
| April 26, 2024 |
Program ends |
| May 2024 |
Graduation Celebration |
NOTE: Please take note of the dates above and plan ahead carefully. If you are selected
to join our Empowered Leader Program, you are expected to follow and honor the program
timeline.
Have more questions about our program? Check out our
FAQ page for more information.
Program Costs
The Coaching Fellowship doing business as The Women's Impact Alliance is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization, and because of the generosity of our coaches and volunteers who
work completely pro-bono, we are able to offer this program at a massively subsidized
rate, but not for free.
In our efforts to support as many women leaders as possible, we are offering a volunteer
tiered pricing system for our program fee that allows you to select the price that best
works for you. Furthermore, the cost of the program will be spread over the course of 6
months. For full information on our pricing options,
please click here.
All participant contributions go to The Women’s Impact Alliance’s direct operational
costs, so we may continue to support many more incredible young women social impact
leaders in the future.
How To Ask Your Employer for Funding Assistance
Many organizations allocate funds for leadership development or are willing to pay some
or all of a participant's program fee. We strongly encourage organizations to invest the
growth of their leaders, and we are able to provide you with documentation for
reimbursement or leadership development funding to support your case. To help you get
started, we've drafted a template to help you request the cost of the program.
Download Template
