Leeds Hosts First International Coaching for Social Impact Conference
On 13 October 2026, the international Coaching for Social Impact Network hosted its inaugural conference, bringing together more than 80 coaches, practitioners and change-makers from around the world to explore how coaching can contribute to meaningful social change.
Sponsored by Leeds Institute for Societal Futures and hosted at Nexus on the University of Leeds campus, the event marked an important milestone for the growing Coaching for Social Impact movement. Entirely volunteer-led, the network brings together anyone who believes coaching can play a practical role in addressing some of society's most pressing challenges by strengthening individual and collective agency, connection and hope.
Attendees travelled from across the UK and internationally, including from Romania and the United States, to connect, learn and reflect together. The programme explored coaching's contribution to social impact through a mixture of keynote sessions, lived-experience storytelling, facilitated reflection and creative inquiry.
Highlights included:
- A reflective exploration of the role of the social impact coach, led by Hany Shoukry and Judie Gannon.
- Live interviews with coachees whose experiences illustrated the transformative impact coaching can have on individuals and communities, including Leeds Institute for Societal Futures funding recipient Kelly Cumberland.
- Dr Suzanne Triggs' introduction to a dynamic theory of social impact, drawing on her background in social work and coaching.
- A collaborative creative session led by Rachel Bishop and Jane Hamilton, inviting delegates to capture what was emerging from the conversations and connections formed throughout the day.
The event itself reflected the values at the heart of the Coaching for Social Impact Network: collaboration, participation and shared leadership. Developed and delivered through the commitment of volunteers, the conference demonstrated the momentum building around coaching as a tool for creating positive societal change.
For Leeds Institute for Societal Futures, supporting the conference was a natural fit. The Institute exists to help people, communities and organisations work together to create meaningful societal change. Central to that mission is a belief that lasting impact comes when people are supported to develop their own confidence, capability and capacity to act.
Coaching is one of the ways we do this. Whether through co-production, community engagement, leadership development or collaborative research, our approach focuses on creating the conditions for people to shape change themselves rather than having solutions imposed upon them.
As the Coaching for Social Impact Network describes:
"We recognise the pervasiveness of increasing inequality, anxiety, alienation, and shrinking choices in our society and want to campaign and play our part in changing this. We want to unite those who use coaching - the well-established and the just getting going - to activate the personal power and agency of those enmeshed in adverse social structures." (CSI Network, 2022)
We were delighted to support the conference and join colleagues from across the world in exploring the future of coaching for social impact. The energy, generosity and commitment in the room demonstrated that this growing movement has significant potential to contribute to positive change both locally and globally.
Learn more about the Coaching for Social Impact Network.
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