ICF New Jersey Coach Connect - January 2026 
A Message from the Chapter President
ICF New Jersey Members,
As we step into a new year, I’m excited to welcome our new Board and continue the work outlined in our strategic plan. We remain focused in 2026 on our four pillars: governance, member engagement, credentialing, and technology more than ever. IDEAS (Inclusion Diversity Equity Accessibility Solidarity) is the foundation for all we do as a chapter.
This is also an excellent opportunity for members to get involved and get in where they fit in. Our committees such as Credentialing, Finance, Technology, DEIB/IDEAS, Membership, and Community Networking, to name a few, are seeking more volunteers. I invite you to consider joining a committee that aligns with your interests and strengths. Your voice and contributions truly matter. Get Involved!
Wherever you are in your coaching journey, and especially during times of difficulty, I want you to know that this community is here to support you. As a community, ICF New Jersey is a place for quality coaching education, shared learning, and camaraderie.
I value hearing from you, and I’m personally dedicated to listening and learning. To support hearing feedback, a virtual town hall will be scheduled for April. Looking forward to connecting with you.
Warmly,
Kelli Kombat
President, ICF New Jersey Charter Chapter
Member Spotlight
Member Engagement is shining a spotlight on our incredible coaches and their stories, opening opportunity to get curious about our members. Our goal is to share stories and insights to build connections and inspire engagement.
Click on the image below to find out more about Sean McCarron.
IDEAS Matter
Walking Toward the Talk
We said goodbye to 2025 and welcomed 2026. It is the best of times and the worst of times, as Dickens wrote, and it still resonates today.
Many people who worked in DEI found their programs dismantled. The lucky ones pressed on while others transformed pared down programs with a focus on belonging, engagement, or citizenship.
As you know, we have been fortunate that ICF Global has taken a strong stance to continue and expand DEI programs. We are proud that ICF New Jersey Charter Chapter is part of that plan.
In the year ahead, how are you thinking about belonging and engagement in your coaching work or professional community?
WHAT’S NEW: DEIB/IDEAS 2026 OVERVIEW
We take a systemic approach to embedding DEIB/IDEAS into the culture of ICF New Jersey Chapter. We connect with the ICF global community through the monthly VIBE initiative and have begun to initiate a strategic partnership in the external community with the nonprofit organization Dress for Success Northern New Jersey. We support Programming as an internal ICF New Jersey partner regarding the Speakers RFP, Accessibility and Intercultural Competency. This year we will strengthen our internal partnerships with Communications and Networking/Engagement to better serve our membership.
Connecting DEIB/IDEAS to the ICF Global Community
Through our work with The Vibe, DEIB/IDEAS connect with ICF and the global community. Drs. Mindy Gewirtz and Feroza Mansoor, DEI Director of the South Africa’s Chapter, lead a monthly VIBE session for ICF Chapter DEI leaders from around the world.
Call for Volunteers
You matter. The more volunteers we have, the more we can accomplish. Want to work on one of these projects but cannot attend meetings? We can make that happen. Contact Mindy Gewirtz at [email protected], if you are interested in volunteering on the DEIB/IDEAS Advisory Council.
Leadership Updates and Transitions
We are pleased to announce that Ellen Wagner, one of our Advisory Council Members, has accepted the invitation to serve as ICF New Jersey Vice President of Membership. Congratulations, Ellen.
Welcome to Melinda Neiman, the DEIB/IDEAS Advisory Council’s newest member. Melinda is an experienced HR professional and has already stepped up to chair the initiative honoring Coach Willa in partnership with Dress for Success Northern New Jersey.
We are sad to say goodbye to team member Malina Poshtova Delamere, who will be leaving our committee this year after diligently contributing over the last few years.
IDEAS MATTER
Rise Up,
Your Voice Matters,
You Matter.
Dr. Mindy Gewirtz, MCC
VP of DEIB/IDEAS Advisory Council
[email protected]
DEIB/IDEAS Advisory Council
Tynisha Coleman
Patricia “Patti” Lee
Linda Leonard
Dorisse Shakir-Ullah
Walter Slade
Ellen Wagner
Check out all IDEAS resources on our website: IDEAS Matter
See all Global DEIB events, groups, and resources in ICF ENGAGE:
https://engage.coachingfederation.org/communities/communities-deib
➡️To view, login is required.
Coaching in Diverse Cultural Landscapes
2026 Future-Ready Your Coaching Practice Series
by Carmela O'Flaherty, Co-Vice President, Professional Education & Development
As the world feels increasingly turbulent - geopolitically, socially, and organizationally - I’ve found myself reflecting on a topic that feels more urgent than ever: Coaching and Leading Across Cultures.
Executive coaches, leaders, and global team members often assume that clear intent leads to clear impact.
In reality, culture quietly and powerfully shapes how messages land, how feedback is received, how trust is built, how motivation is sparked, and how influence unfolds.
What one person experiences as direct and efficient, another may experience as abrupt or disrespectful.
What feels collaborative to one leader may feel unclear or unsafe to another.
And what genuinely motivates one team member may unintentionally disengage or even silence someone else.
Developing cultural awareness isn’t about memorizing cultural orientation frameworks, differences, and similarities. It’s about expanding our capacity to notice, adapt, and choose how we communicate across values, norms, power dynamics, and expectations.
This capability is increasingly essential for:
- Delivering feedback that lands as intended
- Motivating across diverse and global teams
- Building alignment and trust in complexity
- Persuading and influencing with integrity
- Coaching leaders operating across borders, identities, and systems
- Building and sustaining meaningful professional relationships
Some questions I’m sitting with and inviting you to reflect on:
- Where might your good intentions be creating unintended impact across cultures?
- Which communication styles do you unconsciously prefer and implement and which do you judge as “ineffective” (or even wrong)?
- Where do global teams get stuck - not because of strategy, but because of unspoken assumptions?
- How often do we label something as “resistance” instead of cultural misalignment?
- What’s the cost to trust, engagement, or wellbeing when cultural signals are missed or dismissed?
- How culturally fluent are we or do we actually need to be to coach ethically and effectively today?
- Where do you most notice cultural assumptions influencing communication, feedback, or decision-making in your coaching or leadership work right now?
- What feels hardest to navigate and what have you learned the hard way?
- And how do we LEAD and COACH with the above in mind?
For those interested in deepening this work - whether you are a coach or a leader - consider the following program:
"Coaching Across Cultures: Turning Diversity into a Catalyst for Growth," with Philippe Rosinski, an international thought leader in coaching across cultures.
The session includes a complimentary Cultural Orientations Framework (COF) assessment, completed in advance, with insights explored through peer coaching and dialogue to deepen understanding of cultural dynamics for individuals, teams, and organizations.
February 12, 2026
12:00–1:30 pm ET
Register here: https://icfnj.starchapter.com/
Credentialing Corner
Curious about using a free AI prompt to help you drill your coaching skills for your ICF credential journey? Danny Ghitis, PCC, who is working toward MCC, created a ChatGPT program to help and shared with the community.
Link: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-
Have a credentialing question? Contact Joyce Heckman, VP, Credentialing at [email protected]
Did You Know?
ICF Annual Membership expires for many ICF New Jersey members on March 31st. Stay tuned for updates and tell us how we can support you. Contact Ellen Wagner, VP, Membership at [email protected] with questions.
LinkedIn Private Group
We'd love to have you to join us in our LinkedIn private group to keep up-to-date on Chapter news and events!
