ICF WA Chapter: Vision for 2020

2019 is done! We finished strong. Thank you to all our members who have supported us in our mission.

December was busy with our first annual volunteer appreciation event. At all-time high number of volunteers who shared their talent, time and energy to our various initiatives; we wanted to do something special to recognize them. Aidan Waine, Natalia Harm and Mila Dorosh put together a gala in a historic downtown Seattle hotel. It was something to write home about. Our volunteers along with their special guest said that they had a really good time. We were happy that they were happy.

Annual Meeting

On Dec 18th, we presented our annual report to our members – our fiscal health, membership, results of our investments and the new board. The recordings and the slides of the meeting are at our homepage https://icfwashingtonstate.com/

While the slides and the recording have more details, I wanted to bring the key highlights in this newsletter for you.

-         Strong Financial Health

We are fiscally sound and aware organization. We are constantly on lookout for opportunities to increase our sponsorship and advertising revenue. It is an easy cost option for coaching schools and businesses to reach our 3000+ audience. https://icfwashingtonstate.com/Advertising

-         Member engagement is all-time high

With 53 active member volunteers, 400+ attendees for our various events and 125 of you who responded to our October survey, 6 coaching spotlight videos (an initiative to highlight coaches we started in summer 2019) informs us that you are curious, supportive and engaged with the chapter.

If you are not taking advantage of your membership, ask us how you can engage with us.

-         Member education is a core tenet for us

We offered 54 training opportunities with 71 CCEUs in 2019 through virtual webinars, coach week, satellite events and ICF WA events.

The survey results from Oct gave us a clear call to do more in this area with both the type of content and the quantity.

-         Pro-Bono Coaching picks up steam

We ran two more pilots with ICF’s Pro-Bono Coaching Partnership with the UW Bothell MBA program. The result was 90 generous hours of pro-bono coaching by our member coaches to 30 curious MBA students.

We were at the Geekwire Summit 2019 for the second year and this time there was buzz about us and Coaching even before we arrived. People who had experienced Coaching last year were our biggest champions. The sessions filled fast. We finished with 102 powerful coaching sessions of 25 minutes each, again through the generosity of our member coaches. We measured our success through a 1 min survey at the end of each coaching session (with 100% participation). The results were a highly satisfied coachee bunch with a net promoter score of 93%.

2020 Board

The nominations for selection of the new and returning board members was uncontested.

Most of the Board is in place for a clear and focused 2020.

Anu Arora: President

Mila Dorosh: Vice-President

Natalia Harm: Director of Education

Aidan Waine: Treasurer

Christine Rose: Director of Satellites 

Maria Kyriakos: Director University Partnerships 

Adam Gierlach: Secretary and Director of Coaching Equity

With them, we have a unique, dynamic, diverse and an experienced leadership team. All our Board members also have been active volunteers with the ICF chapter (one of the key requirements to serve on the board) and you might have already seen them in action with organizing, leading and/or participating in various events. You will have the opportunity to know them more in the coming months.

We have two open Board positions – Director of Membership and Director of Social Media/Marketing. If you are interested and haven’t volunteered, please reach out to the Director in the area of your interest and get involved. In the coming months we will be seeking volunteers for our various investments.

Call for action

-         Reach out to the individual Directors of the Board depending on your area of interest to find more about volunteer opportunities in their area and actively volunteer for ICF WA State Chapter

-         If you are interested in any of the Board positions and would like to talk to me about it, reach out and let’s chat.

Intention for a clear and focused 2020

With an engaged membership, curious customers and the momentum we have created with our successful initiatives; many doors are opening up.

Two new university partnerships are in active stages of forming.

A few organizations are interested in coaching by ICF coaches for their events. We are also being approached by well-known speakers and authors for our virtual and satellite events.

The opportunities are many.

We also know your intent through our Oct survey in which you wholeheartedly participated.

The board has many new members who bring their own experience and brilliance to this equation.

We want to be laser-focused in 2020.

We want to focus on a prioritized list of investments with high ROI, interest and the ones that play to the strengths of our board.

We want to create a sustainable legacy; that can be continued and built upon.

Our intention is set.

The satellite leaders are meeting in the mid of Jan in an offsite facilitated by Christine Rose, our Director of Satellites.

Their output will feed into our overall plan. The offsite for the board is set for 1st Feb. 

You will be hearing from me more about our plan in the coming months.

Until then,

Anu

President – ICF WA State Chapter 2020