The Role of Advocacy in Coaching ICF Ethics, Values and DEI in an Uncertain and Polarized World
Presented by Merci Miglino, MCC
Learning & Development Strands: Professional Development
Program Description:
Coaching, Advocacy, and Ethics in a Changing World - An ICF-Aligned Exploration of the Coach’s Role Beyond the Session
In today’s complex and polarized world, coaches are being called to expand their impact — not by stepping outside the coaching lane, but by deepening their presence within it. This thought-provoking presentation invites coaches to explore what it means to embody the ICF Core Competencies while navigating ethical dilemmas, systemic inequities, and the subtle call toward advocacy.
Through real-life examples, reflection exercises, and practical frameworks, we’ll examine the intersection between coaching, values, and social responsibility. What does it look like to hold space for transformation while remaining bias-aware and non-directive? How do we stay grounded in a coaching mindset when clients bring global or identity-based concerns into the session? And where is the line between coaching and activism — and how do we walk it with integrity?
This session is ideal for credentialed coaches, coaching educators, and organizational practitioners who are ready to engage more courageously and skillfully in today’s rapidly shifting landscape. Rooted in the ICF Code of Ethics and Core Competencies, this session delivers both depth and direction for the coach who wants to serve with clarity, compassion, and professionalism — no matter what the world throws their way.
Join us and step into a deeper conversation about what coaching can be — and what it must become — in times like these.
Learning Objectives:
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Explore the intersection of coaching and advocacy
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Clarify how coaching can support advocacy efforts in areas such as DEI, sustainability, and social justice while staying within ethical boundaries.
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Understand how ICF Ethics and Core Values apply in a polarized world
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Reinforce the relevance of the ICF Code of Ethics in guiding coaches through complex societal challenges and global conversations.
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Embrace the coaching mindset as a tool for systemic change
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Highlight the role of presence, bias awareness, and non-directiveness in empowering clients toward conscious, values-aligned action.
About Merci Miglino:
She’s a powerhouse of presence with a master coach’s mind and a strategist’s soul.
Part scientist, part sage, part stage performer — she brings equal parts rigor and heart to everything she does. With a deep reverence for the coaching craft, she champions transformation that’s real, lasting, and never cookie-cutter. She trains coaches like a sculptor shapes marble: precise, intentional, and with fierce respect for the potential underneath. She’s allergic to fluff, fond of metaphor, and always seeking the clearest, kindest way to call people forward.
She’s the kind of coach who could navigate a corporate crisis at noon, spark an identity breakthrough by two, and be writing a medical chapter or a legacy-defining email by five.
Let’s just say: if coaching were jazz, she’d be Miles Davis — and she’d still show up early to teach the basics.