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 9-Month Empowered Leader Program, participants:
-
Are matched with a certified coach experienced in working with executive leaders in both profit and
not-for-profit organizations
- Focus on both personal and leadership development through one-on-one coaching
- Engage in leadership lab workshops
-
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 Global Community of Women Changemakers
Since 2014, nearly 2,000 women impact leaders from more than 90 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:
- Access to a network of women leaders all over the world in a variety of impact sectors
- Interactive 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
→
Learn More About the Empowered Leader Program
→ Preview the Application Questions
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
These leadership development workshops led by subject-matter experts and 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.
- Leader Lab 1: Inner Leadership
- Leader Lab 2: Core Values In Action
- Leader Lab 3: Inner Critic, Saboteurs, and Limiting Beliefs
- Leader Lab 4: Resilient Leadership and Sustainable Impact
- Leader Lab 5: Leading with Courage and Vulnerability
- Leader Lab 6: Integrating Leadership Development Growth
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:
- Open Learning Sessions where participants and alumnae come together to discuss leadership topics
-
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.
- 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
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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 person around the world who: 1) identifies as a woman; 2) is in
the early or middle stage of their professional leadership journey; and 3) is focused on transforming our
world for the better.
We are looking for a candidate who is:
- 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
-
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.
Empowered Leader Program Calendar
Spring Cohort 2025
| January 13, 2025 |
Applications OPEN |
| January 15, 2025 |
Info Session #1 |
| February 5, 2025 |
Info Session #2 |
| February 19, 2025 |
Info Session #3 |
| March 7, 2025 |
Applications CLOSE |
| April 7, 2025 |
Application results announced to all applicants |
| April 25, 2025 |
Applicant deadline to accept program place |
| May 5, 2025 |
Program Start Date – Introduction to Ally Pod |
| May 20 & 21, 2025 |
Ally Pod Designed Alliance Sessions |
| June 2, 2025 |
1:1 Leadership Coaching begins |
| July 2025 |
Leader Lab 1: Inner Leadership |
| August 2025 |
Leader Lab 2: Core Values In Action |
| September 2025 |
Leader Lab 3: Inner Critic, Saboteurs and Limiting Beliefs |
| October 2025 |
Leader Lab 4: Resilient Leadership and Sustainable Impact |
| November 2025 |
Leader Lab 5: Leading with Courage and Vulnerability |
| December 2025 |
Leader Lab 6: Integrating Leadership Development Growth |
| January 23, 2026 |
Program End Date |
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 Women's Impact Alliance, operating as The Coaching Fellowship, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Empowered Leader Program is significantly subsidized, and made possible by our generous coaches and
volunteers who offer their services pro-bono.
We strive to make our program accessible to as many women leaders as possible, implementing a tiered pricing
system to accommodate varying financial capabilities. The cost of the program can be spread over a period of
6 months, and we have multiple pricing options to suit individual needs and circumstances.
The tiered pricing system functions as follows:
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Tier One: USD 2,950 — This tier is suitable for leaders from well-resourced, social impact
organizations with a professional development budget that can fully cover the program fees.
The following Tiers are subsidized by WIA donors and sponsorship funds:
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Tier Two: USD 1,395 — This tier is for leaders who can personally fund their professional
development or whose organizations can pay a portion of their program fees.
-
Tier Three: USD 1,295 — This tier is for leaders who can personally pay a lower level of fees and
whose organization does not offer professional development funds.
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Tier Four: USD 995 — This tier is exclusively for leaders from budget-constrained organizations
that serve high-need communities and countries and do not have professional development funds.
If you are not able to afford any of these tiers, please contact us to find out how to apply for our partial
sponsorships. You can reach us at
[email protected].
Please consider your personal situation, organizational support, cost of living, debt, family obligations,
and other relevant factors when choosing your pricing tier. We trust that those who can afford higher tiers
will do so to support others with more limited means.
We strongly encourage organizations to contribute to their leaders' growth by covering all or part of the
program fees. Upon request, we can provide documentation for reimbursement or leadership development
funding. Moreover, we've prepared a template to help you request funding assistance from your employer.
All participant contributions directly support The Women’s Impact Alliance’s operational costs, ensuring our
ability to continue supporting many more women social impact leaders in the future.
If you require further assistance in determining the appropriate fee or have questions regarding the pricing
structure, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Your participation and contribution are integral to our
mission to democratize leadership development and coaching.
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
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