Washington, D.C. and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia communities are home to thousands of non-profit organizations, whose staff and volunteers provide invaluable services to area residents. Non-profit budgets frequently just break even, at best, and funding coaching for team members is rarely possible.

To serve those who serve our communities, the Pro Bono Coaching Committee of ICF Metro DC organizes coaching arrangements with a handful of these local non-profits. Interested organizations submit an application to partner with ICF Metro DC, then Committee Chair Kate Doherty and her team of chapter member volunteers establish partnerships where good matches of the non-profit’s needs and the chapter’s resources exist. Committee members serve as project leads, managing partnerships, communicating consistently with non-profit contacts, on-boarding and checking in with volunteer pro bono coaches, and keeping good records. As requests for pro bono coaching continue to increase, the committee seeks additional volunteers to be able to keep pace with the high level of interest in our community. Reach out to us at admin@icfmetrodc.org to share your interest in serving on the committee!

Once partnerships are established, ICF Metro DC members provide coaching, pro bono, to non-profit staff members with whom they are matched by their project lead. The scope and timeframe of assignments are well-defined, and pro bono coaches earn paid hours (through the exchange of a certificate) that can be used toward the earning or renewal of an ICF credential. Individuals interested in serving as a pro bono coach should email us at admin@icfmetrodc.org with your interest and your coaching bio.

The cooperation among our committee, member coaches, and partner non-profits provides myriad benefits. Staff members who regularly work under stress are able to access professional coaching, when their organizational budgets wouldn’t allow it otherwise. They can leverage coaching to think through the challenges that engulf them daily, to hone skills that will expedite their professional growth, and to become better team members and communicators – among many other goals. For coaches, serving as a committee member and/or pro bono coach affords an ongoing opportunity to give back to the community, to honor organizations and individuals doing important and hard work every day, and to come closer to earning or renewing their ICF credential. Involvement also enables chapter members to build their community of fellow coaches, as they interact with coaches everywhere on the spectrum from newly trained to having compiled decades of expertise.

Replying to a query about why she chose to take on leadership of the Pro Bono Coaching Committee, Kate Doherty states, “Once you start working with employees in these organizations, you realize what they put into the community; it’s humbling to work with people doing important work under difficult circumstances. This is common across all of our partner organizations, regardless of mission - they’re people trying to make a situation better. Also, it’s fun to work with other coaches in your cohort and it’s fun to work on the committee. It’s just good work.”

To learn more about our current non-profit partners, and to submit your interest in serving on the committee or as a pro bono coach, please visit our Pro Bono page.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITY for SPRING 2025:

In addition to its standing partnerships, ICF Metro DC participates in Coaching Coast to Coast, a pro bono initiative spearheaded by ICF Los Angeles. Part of the International Coaching Week celebration, Coaching Coast to Coast encourages coaches to get the word out to the public about the value of coaching by providing at least three hours of coaching at no charge, between April 1 and May 18. It is the responsibility of each coach to locate coachees and make arrangements for coaching, and to log their contributed hours on the Coaching Coast to Coast website. These hours do not count as paid hours. For more information and to get started, visit https://www.icfla.org/icw-2025/.

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