HOW WE BEGAN—

In May 2021, Linda Kasali, former colleague and theology teacher at Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC) wrote to me. She learned about Insight into Action, a virtual group coaching program I developed. 

Her request: Would I lead female staff members from UCBC through the Insight into Action program? 

My answer: An excited, “Yes.”

The program fee, $475, was far beyond what any of the women would be able to pay. So, encouraged by my friend Meredith Joss and my sister, Ann Shaw, I set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the program cost. This impromptu fundraising effort was wildly successful and enabled an inaugural class of ten UCBC women leaders to participate.

The seven-session program included two individual coaching sessions. Women who took advantage of those found them especially helpful. One noted, “The individual coaching was very helpful since I was able to work towards my goal….There were things I did not think I knew about my goal that I was able to discover.”

Remarking on the entire program, another participant wrote, “I discovered aptitudes I didn’t know I had and developed qualities to help me be a better mentor to others.” 

Upon completion of the program, one of the donors asked if there was a place for Insight into Action to serve women leaders in the for-impact* section at a larger scale. Again, my answer to the idea was an excited, “Yes.”

Thanks to initial funding from this donor (who remains anonymous), an active and high-powered board, and an inaugural team of world-class coaches, Impact Now exists to support female leaders of for-impact organizations to grow and develop so they can more effectively lead their organization to make an impact. We do this by making available high-quality, personal and professional development coaching at affordable rates for women who lead, or aspire to lead, in for-impact organizations. 

*We credit Simon Sinek for educating us to use the language for-impact.