ICF Greater Austin Charter Chapter upcoming events

Ethics in the Day-to-Day of Coaching (April 28, 2026)

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

The Code of Ethics supports you as a coach by providing guidance for professional behaviors as well as for your coaching relationships. Ideally, ethics are taught well in coaching training, and it doesn’t always happen. Ideally, each coach knows and lives the Code of Ethics from whichever organization they are associated with professionally, and it doesn’t always happen.

In this session coaches will gain tips on using their Code of Ethics and discuss three different case studies with reference to the standards in the Code of Ethics that provide guidance.

About the speakers:

Cathy Liska is the CEO / Founder of the Center for Coaching Certification. As the Guide from the Side®, she coaches, trains, mediates conflicts, and facilitates internationally. Cathy is a sought-after trainer and coach, drawing from her 30 years of experience in business ownership and management.

Her personal mission statement is “People.” Cathy is known for her passion in sharing the insight, experience, positive attitude, and information that empower others to achieve the results they desire.

Cathy recently served as a Co-Leader of the ICF Ethics Community of Practice, was a co-leader of the Ethics Review Committee for updating the Code of Ethics, has presented at the Global Coaching Ethics Forum and the ICF Global Leaders Forum, and to many different ICF chapters.

Attendance details:

Our events are open to everyone—come join the fun and learning!

FREE for ICF Local (Austin) Members and Affiliates
$25 for ICF Global Members and non-local ICF members
$25 for guests and non-members

ICW - Burnout Awareness: Why It Matters and What We Need (May 11, 2026)

Mon, 11 May 2026 13:00:00 GMT

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Burnout is rising across industries, roles, and geographies — with profound consequences for individuals, organizations, and performance.

In this interactive, research-based session, participants will learn how to recognize early signs of burnout in themselves and others (colleagues, clients, and teams), understand the boundaries between coaching, stress, and clinical mental health, and apply ICF-aligned approaches to support sustainable well-being and performance — at work and at home.

Drawing on global research, workplace data, lived experience, and practical tools, Ellen Kocher, MA, ICF MCC, NBHWC, will guide both coaches and non-coaches through reflection, self-assessment, and real-world application.

Participants will leave with concrete strategies to use a coach approach confidently and ethically in a context where mental health challenges and burnout are no longer exceptional, but structural.

SPEAKER BIO:

Ellen Kocher, MA, ICF MCC, NBHWC, is a Swiss-American economist, workplace well-being expert, and global coach mentor based in Geneva. With over 25 years of experience as a corporate health expert, burnout prevention, and resilience, she equips coaches and organizations to sustain performance in high-stress environments. A Master Certified Coach and NBHWC-certified Health & Wellness Coach, Ellen mentors coaches worldwide and delivers turnkey training programs globally. She co-founded Wake-Up, Shake-Up, Thrive!, leads Whealthness, and serves in leadership roles across the ICF and NBHWC.

COSTS:

This is a free event.

THIS IS A TWO STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Step One: Register here.

Step Two: Your confirmation email will include a secondary registration link. Please make sure that you register via that Zoom link. Make sure you copy the Zoom link and put it in your calendar.

ICW - The Coaching Power of Breath: Supporting Clients’ Regulation, Resilience, and Performance (May 12, 2026)

Tue, 12 May 2026 18:00:00 GMT

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Breathing is one of the most direct ways to influence human physiology, yet it is rarely discussed within coaching conversations around stress, resilience, and performance. In this session, coaches will learn a practical framework for understanding how breathing patterns influence the brain, nervous system, and heart, and how these physiological systems shape the way clients experience and respond to stress.

Participants will explore how different breathing patterns affect emotional regulation, cognitive clarity, and nervous system balance. The session will break down the underlying physiology in a way that is accessible and immediately applicable within a coaching context.

Coaches will also learn practical breathing tools that can be integrated directly into coaching sessions. These techniques can help clients regulate stress, navigate anxiety, and shift their physiological state in moments where clarity, focus, and emotional stability are needed most.

SPEAKER BIO:

Kevin Connelly is an author, speaker, and researcher specializing in breathing physiology and nervous system regulation. He is the founder of Reconnect, a training organization that teaches professionals how to apply breathing techniques to help clients regulate stress, improve emotional stability, and perform under pressure. He has researched how breathing influences the brain and heart, and has written about breathing patterns and addiction recovery. Through Reconnect, he has trained addiction associations, first responder organizations, coaches, therapists, and doctors worldwide.

COSTS:

This is a free event.

THIS IS A TWO STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Step One: Register here.

Step Two: Your confirmation email will include a secondary registration link. Please make sure that you register via that Zoom link. Make sure you copy the Zoom link and put it in your calendar.

ICW - Mastery in Action: MCC Live Coaching Demo with Dr. Marcia Reynolds, MCC (May 13, 2026)

Wed, 13 May 2026 17:00:00 GMT

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Join us to observe coaching mastery in real time. In this live demonstration, Marcia Reynolds, PsyD, MCC, will coach a volunteer while participants witness the depth, presence, and precision that define masterful coaching.

Following the session, we’ll debrief key moments, explore what made the coaching impactful, and reflect on insights you can immediately apply in your own practice.

Whether you are working toward credentialing or simply refining your craft, this experience will elevate your understanding of coaching at the highest level.

SPEAKER BIO:

Marcia Reynolds, PsyD, MCC, is a globally respected leadership and executive coach who has spent over 40 years helping leaders and coaches hold powerful, transformational conversations. She is president of Covisioning LLC, was the fifth global president of the International Coaching Federation, and is honored in the ICF Circle of Distinction for her contributions to the profession. She has coached and trained leaders in more than 47 countries and teaches for coaching schools across the world. Marcia is an award-winning author of five books, including Coach the Person, Not the Problem and Break

COSTS:

ICF Houston Chapter Member Price : Free USD
ICF Global member Price : 25 USD
Non member Price : 25 USD

THIS IS A TWO STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Step One: Register here.

Step Two: Your confirmation email will include a secondary registration link. Please make sure that you register via that Zoom link. Make sure you copy the Zoom link and put it in your calendar.

ICW - Coaching for Impact and Harmony: Reframing Possibilities and Balance in Times of Change (May 14, 2026)

Thu, 14 May 2026 15:00:00 GMT

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Change often surfaces competing priorities, blurred boundaries, and evolving expectations across work and life – and, at times, balance can seem completely out of reach. This interactive webinar offers a coaching lens to help navigate this space by orienting toward harmony and what matters for meaningful impact.

Participants will explore core themes of context and resourcing, anchor choices in impact and harmony, and reframe boundaries and the concept of self as pathways to possibility and greater balance. These principles can be applied to everyday challenges such as work-life integration, leadership, collaboration, or career transitions.

Whether you are new to coaching or experienced, you will leave with questions, tools, and perspectives that help build capacity to navigate priorities and transitions toward more meaningful outcomes with greater clarity, agency, and coherence.

SPEAKER BIO:

Elena Cavallo, ALM, PCC, is founder of Quilting Health LLC, connecting insights and tools from multidisciplinary modern knowledge and multicultural traditional wisdom through integrative coaching, consulting, and training to help individuals and healthcare organizations activate more of their potential, navigate transitions, innovate, and flourish. Drawing on 20+ years in healthcare operations, cross-functional leadership, strategic transformation, and multinational clinical research, Elena brings a practical, systems-focused lens for meaningful impact.

COSTS:

This is a free event.

THIS IS A TWO STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Step One: Register here.

Step Two: Your confirmation email will include a secondary registration link. Please make sure that you register via that Zoom link. Make sure you copy the Zoom link and put it in your calendar.

ICW - Being the Right Coach for Anyone: How to Use the Award-Winning RESPECT Coaching Styles to Infinitely Adapt Your Coaching (May 15, 2026)

Fri, 15 May 2026 15:00:00 GMT

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Could you currently customize your coaching to someone without ever meeting them? After this talk, you’ll answer “Yes!” The biggest lie we tell ourselves as coaches is that some people are a good fit for us, and some aren’t.

The truth is that we don’t know how to adapt our coaching styles to exactly match what they truly want. And most coaches spend their first four sessions or so getting to know their client’s stylistic preferences, yet never know for sure exactly which styles their coachee desires most.

In this experiential session, you’ll learn the breakthrough RESPECT Coaching Styles™, how to discern your clients’ style preferences, and how to coach them exactly as they want. You’ll also see a live coaching demonstration of this customization process in action! You’ll get to tools to win and wow every client by tailoring your coaching to exactly what they want, every time.

SPEAKER BIO:

Dr. David Morelli, MCC is co-founder of OwlHub and has 30 years of executive coaching and leadership development experience. He created the RESPECT Coaching Styles™ assessment and certification program from his doctoral research.

Introduced in 2022, it’s earned the Most Innovative and Most Valuable to the Coaching Profession awards at International Coach Federation conferences.

David has a 4.9/5.0 facilitator rating, hosts the #1 OwlCast podcast with 1.2 million subscribers, and holds an Executive MBA and PhD in Business Administration.

COSTS:

This is a free event.

THIS IS A TWO STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:

Step One: Register here.

Step Two: Your confirmation email will include a secondary registration link. Please make sure that you register via that Zoom link. Make sure you copy the Zoom link and put it in your calendar.

The Joy First Method™: The Strategic Necessity to Thrive in Coaching and Entrepreneurship (May 27, 2026)

Wed, 27 May 2026 22:30:00 GMT

The Joy First Method™ is a dynamic and interactive learning experience led by Dr. Seema Desai that invites coaches to explore the often-unexamined internal operating system that shapes how we lead, coach, and build our practices.

While most professional development focuses on tools, techniques, and frameworks, this session addresses something deeper: the internal conditions that influence how coaches show up with clients, make decisions in their businesses, and sustain meaningful work over time.

Through this experiential session, participants examine the conventional ways many high-achievers—including coaches—have been conditioned to pursue success. Together, we explore why these approaches often trade long-term sustainability for short-term relief, and how that dynamic can quietly show up in both coaching relationships and business growth.

Through guided reflection and facilitated peer dialogue, coaches will consider the hidden costs of the ways they currently pursue success and service. They will also explore how shifting their internal operating system can change the quality of their presence, their decision-making, and the depth of transformation they support in clients.

This is not another wellbeing conversation or a strategy for managing stress. Instead, it introduces joy as a strategic operating condition—one that supports clearer thinking, deeper coaching presence, and more sustainable growth in both practice and life.

When coaches cultivate this level of internal clarity and steadiness, the ripple effects extend far beyond individual sessions, influencing the way they lead clients, shape their businesses, and contribute to the profession.

About the speaker:

Dr. Seema Desai is an Austin-based keynote speaker, author, certified coach, and creator of The Joy First Method™. She works with high-performing leaders and teams who are ready to evolve beyond pressure-driven success models and build results that are sustainable, meaningful, and aligned.

She teaches ambitious leaders across industries to use joy as a strategy — not a reward — for high performance. Her work reframes joy as a competitive advantage that strengthens decision-making, resilience, innovation, and long-term results.

Blending science, ancient wisdom, and lived experience, she delivers practical, actionable frameworks that help leaders transform how they relate to pressure — without lowering standards or ambition.

Desai is the author of Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides and co-host of the award-winning podcast Happy and Human. A wife, mom, and trained general dentist who previously practiced in Central and South Texas, she brings a grounded, human perspective to high-performance leadership.

Desai holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and several advanced coaching certifications in the fields of performance and wellbeing. She is a Master Practitioner of the Energy Leadership Index and holds certifications in speech writing mastery as well as stage performance mastery. An ardent champion of equitable access to quality education, she has served on the Executive Board for Pratham USA’s Austin chapter as well as held the positions of Vice President and Co-President within the organization.

In her spare time, Desai loves spending time with her immediate and extended family, traveling, baking, watercolor painting, reading, and teaching children at her temple. She is an avid yoga and meditation practitioner.

Connect with Desai through her website, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Attendance details:

Our events are open to everyone—come join the fun and learning!

$35 for ICF Local (Austin) Members and Affiliates. Refreshments and snacks provided.
$40 for ICF Global Members and non-local ICF members
$45 for guests and non-members