Mission & Vision

Leadership isn’t downloaded. It isn’t templated. It’s forged in the fire of bold thinking, lived experience, and intentional practice.

Coaching Certifications

Every element of our training is anchored in the International Coaching Federation’s Core Competencies and Code of Ethics.

The Curriculum

We practice and teach Integrative Coaching — blending ICF-accredited mastery with entrepreneurial acumen, delivered through our proprietary ILLUMIN8 framework.

Foundations of Professional Coaching - Level 1 ICF Accredited Coach Education Program

Program Overview

Level 1 ICF Accredited Coach Education Program

Educating the next generation of professional coaches.

Professional coaching changes the way we lead, communicate, develop others, and navigate complexity. It asks us to think differently, listen more carefully, and create conversations that help people discover their own clarity rather than depend on ours.
 
At Lumina Legacy Institute, coach education is approached as a professional discipline. Our responsibility is not only to prepare students for credentialing, but to educate thoughtful practitioners who coach with presence, sound judgment, ethical responsibility, and professional confidence.
 
Over six months, you’ll engage in rigorous study, deliberate practice, mentor coaching, faculty observation, and reflective inquiry within a learning community committed to advancing the coaching profession.
 
When you choose where to complete your coach education, you are choosing far more than a curriculum.
 
You are choosing the educational philosophy, faculty, and standards that will shape the coach you become.
 
Our Professional Standard:
 
75 Hours
10 Hours
100%
ICF Aligned
25 Students
ICF Accredited Coach Education
Mentor Coaching Included
Instruction by ICF Credentialed Faculty
Code of Ethics & Core Competencies
Maximum Cohort Size

 

Educational Philosophy

Professional coaching is both a discipline and a practice.
 
It requires technical capability, ethical judgment, and the ability to remain fully present with another human being. Coaching competency matters. So do curiosity, discernment, emotional maturity, humility, and the willingness to continue learning throughout a lifetime of professional practice.
 
The International Coaching Federation has established the globally recognized standard for professional coaching through its Code of Ethics and Core Competencies. These standards provide the foundation for ethical practice, coaching excellence, and professional accountability across the coaching profession.
 
At Lumina Legacy Institute, these standards are not taught as concepts to memorize. They are experienced, practiced, reflected upon, and integrated throughout every aspect of the educational experience. Students learn not only what the Core Competencies are, but how to embody them with confidence, consistency, and professional judgment.
 
Every module, coaching lab, mentor coaching session, and faculty assessment has been intentionally designed to support the development and demonstration of the International Coaching Federation Core Competencies while preparing students for ethical, evidence-informed coaching practice.
 
Our curriculum combines rigorous academic instruction with deliberate practice, mentor coaching, observed coaching, reflective inquiry, and meaningful faculty feedback. Alongside technical capability, students develop coaching presence, professional identity, ethical leadership, and the habits of continual learning that sustain excellence throughout a coaching career.
 
The Lumina Navigation System™ was developed to support this process. Rather than replacing the International Coaching Federation Core Competencies, our proprietary frameworks provide a practical pathway for understanding, applying, and integrating them into authentic coaching conversations.
 
Professional coaching is about cultivating the presence, discernment, and professional responsibility to hold conversations that help another human being think more clearly, make wiser decisions, and move forward with greater confidence and agency.
 
Our responsibility is not only to prepare graduates for credentialing. It is to simultaneously  educate coaches who strengthen the coaching profession through thoughtful practice, ethical leadership, and a lifelong commitment to learning.

Who Studies at Lumina?

People arrive at Lumina from many different professions and stages of life.
 
Some lead organizations and want to strengthen the way they develop people. Some are building coaching practices grounded in professional standards. Others are beginning a new chapter after successful careers in business, healthcare, education, consulting, entrepreneurship, or human resources.
 
What connects them is not their profession.
 
It is the standard they want to hold themselves to.
 
Many are seeking a profession that aligns their experience with their purpose. Others want to become stronger leaders by bringing a coaching approach into the organizations they already serve.
 
Whatever path has brought you here, this program builds upon it.
Your leadership, perspective, and life experience become part of the coach you are developing.

What You’ll Develop

Professional coaching develops across three interconnected dimensions. Each strengthens the others. Together they shape the way you think, coach, lead, and contribute to the profession.
 

Identity & Presence

Professional coaching begins with the coach.
 
Throughout the program, you’ll develop greater self-awareness, coaching presence, emotional intelligence, discernment, resilience, and the reflective practice required to coach responsibly and lead with intention. You’ll learn to recognize how your own assumptions, experiences, and perspectives influence the coaching relationship, creating greater awareness of the person you bring into every conversation.
 

Coaching Excellence

You’ll develop the capability to embody the International Coaching Federation Core Competencies through live instruction, mentor coaching, observed coaching, deliberate practice, and continual faculty feedback.
 
The goal is not simply to understand the competencies.
It is to apply them with confidence, consistency, ethical judgment, and professional presence until they become a natural expression of how you coach.
 

Professional Formation

Professional coaching extends beyond the coaching conversation.
 
You’ll develop the knowledge and confidence to establish a coaching profession grounded in ethical business practice, professional identity, clear positioning, sustainable growth, and lifelong learning.
 
A coaching credential marks the beginning of professional practice.
 
Professional formation continues throughout a lifetime.
 

Curriculum

Professional capability is developed progressively.

Each phase of the curriculum builds on the one before it, allowing knowledge, skill, judgment, and confidence to develop together. Learning is intentionally sequenced so that every new competency builds upon a strong foundation of coaching presence, ethical practice, and reflective learning.

The curriculum combines live instruction, observed coaching, mentor coaching, deliberate practice, faculty assessment, and independent study to create an educational experience that prepares graduates for professional practice rather than isolated performance.

 

Phase One

Foundations of Professional Coaching

The program begins with a three-day immersive experience designed to establish the intellectual and practical foundations of professional coaching.

Students are introduced to coaching as a discipline, develop the foundations of coaching presence, begin cultivating reflective practice, and learn the Lumina Navigation System™ as the framework that will guide their learning throughout the program.

This phase establishes not only what coaching is, but how professional coaches think, listen, partner, and learn.

 

Phase Two

Coaching Practice

The second phase focuses on developing fluency across the International Coaching Federation Core Competencies.

Students strengthen their ability to establish coaching agreements, cultivate trust and safety, maintain coaching presence, listen actively, evoke awareness, facilitate client growth, and coach ethically through increasingly complex conversations.

Faculty demonstrations, observed coaching, mentor coaching, and continual feedback provide opportunities to integrate learning into practice.

 

Phase Three

Applied Coaching

As coaching capability develops, students begin working with greater complexity.

This phase explores identity development, transition, resistance, accountability, emotional intelligence, values-based decision making, cultural humility, and sustainable behaviour change.

Students continue refining their coaching through observation, reflection, faculty assessment, and deliberate practice while developing the confidence to navigate conversations that rarely have simple answers.

 

Phase Four

Professional Practice

Professional coaching extends beyond the coaching conversation.

The final phase prepares students to establish or strengthen a coaching profession grounded in ethical practice, sound business principles, professional identity, communication, positioning, client enrollment, and ongoing professional development.

Students also prepare for the International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential by integrating the knowledge, coaching capability, and professional standards developed throughout the program.

The Lumina Navigation System

The Lumina Navigation System  is the educational framework that underpins the curriculum at Lumina Legacy Institute.

Developed in alignment with the International Coaching Federation Code of Ethics and Core Competencies, it provides students with a practical structure for integrating professional coaching standards into everyday coaching conversations.

Rather than introducing isolated models or disconnected techniques, the Lumina Navigation System™ brings together three complementary frameworks that support the development of coaching presence, critical thinking, reflective practice, and ethical decision-making.

Together they help students move beyond understanding coaching conceptually toward embodying it in practice.

 

ILLUMIN8™

ILLUMIN8™ develops the mindset, presence, and principles that shape the coach.

Its eight guiding principles support students in cultivating curiosity, partnership, presence, discernment, and the habits of continual reflection that distinguish thoughtful practitioners throughout their careers.

Rather than providing a script to follow, ILLUMIN8™ develops a way of thinking that supports authentic coaching across diverse clients and contexts.

Clarity Compass™

Clarity Compass™ provides a practical framework for helping clients explore values, identity, vision, and purposeful action.

It enables students to facilitate conversations that create greater clarity while remaining fully aligned with client autonomy and the International Coaching Federation’s coaching philosophy.

MAPS™

MAPS™ provides a flexible structure for coaching conversations.

Rather than directing the client, it helps coaches create conversations that are focused, intentional, responsive, and grounded in partnership.

As students develop, MAPS™ becomes less of a framework to remember and more of a natural rhythm that supports thoughtful coaching practice.

Faculty

The quality of an educational institution is shaped by the quality of its faculty.

At Lumina Legacy Institute, students learn from educators who continue to contribute to the coaching profession through active coaching, leadership, mentor coaching, organizational consulting, executive education, and professional practice.

They teach from experience as well as expertise.

Every hour of coach-specific instruction is delivered by PCC credentialed faculty, exceeding International Coaching Federation requirements and ensuring every learning experience reflects the standards of professional coaching.

Alongside faculty, students learn from carefully selected guest experts whose work expands conversations around psychology, leadership, organizational development, communication, entrepreneurship, and human performance. Their contribution broadens perspective while remaining fully integrated into the educational experience.

 

Learning Community

Professional education does not happen in isolation.

Each cohort is intentionally limited to twenty-five students, creating an environment where faculty know your coaching, understand your development, and provide meaningful feedback throughout the program.

Equally important are the relationships formed within the cohort itself. Students learn alongside professionals from diverse industries who challenge assumptions, broaden perspectives, and contribute to one another’s growth through coaching practice, discussion, and shared reflection.

Graduation is not the conclusion of this community.

As a graduate, you’ll become part of the Lumina Alumni Network and Community of Practice, where continuing education, mentorship, collaboration, and professional dialogue continue well beyond the classroom.