The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) and USRowing are excited to introduce a groundbreaking initiative designed to empower professional women rowing coaches. The Ignite Leadership Program offers a unique opportunity for six dedicated coaches to embark on a transformative journey. In this professionally facilitated learning cohort, participants will delve deep into the heart of leadership, addressing the pressing challenges they face daily.
Program Structure: Three, 90-minute group sessions (virtual via Zoom) with six participants and two facilitators. One final 90-minute session to co-design an ongoing support system for the group.
Dates and Times: January - March 2024, with TBD specific dates once the group is selected. We will select a time that works best for all participants.
Cost: For this pilot program, the financial cost to attend is covered by the CRCA and USRowing. We ask that your commitment come in the form of full participation in the process.
Application Process: Applications for this session have closed. Please stay tuned for more information on upcoming opportunities.
CLICK HERE to apply.
About Ignite Leadership
This program is more than a series of Zoom sessions; it's a catalyst for change born out of the collective vision for a different future for women in professional coaching. Through three virtual 90-minute group sessions centered around transformational learning, participants will explore innovative leadership strategies tailored to the unique experience of coaching rowing. By embracing cutting-edge disciplines such as embodied self-awareness, skillful listening, and the art of storytelling, coaches will tap into their true potential.
One of the program's core objectives is to create a supportive network that will outlast these sessions. Through meaningful connections with five fellow coaches, participants will foster relationships that extend beyond the program, forming a robust community of empowered leaders.
Participants will collaborate in a fourth virtual session designed to co-create a sustainable plan for ongoing learning and networking, ensuring that the impact of this program reverberates beyond this experience.
Participation Commitment:
The program is structured into four parts:
-
Pre-program data collection (a brief survey to complete and a 20-minute conversation with one of the facilitators).
-
Three 90-minute live, virtual, highly interactive sessions.Â
-
One final 90-minute session dedicated to co-designing an ongoing group community experience for this cohort, and post-program data collection. Â
-
Brief post-program surveys and/or individual virtual interviews.Â
Why Ignite Leadership?
Women within the rowing coaching ranks need change. Our goal is to identify issues and opportunities specific to this group of participants, as well as capture the value and opportunities for improvement for the next iteration. The Ignite Leadership Program is a chance for six incredible women to evolve their narratives, shatter barriers, and emerge as trailblazers in their field. We don't have time for solutions; we need a movement. Join us on this journey, and together, let's revolutionize the landscape of rowing coaching.
Your Coaches and Facilitators
Miranda Paris Holder is a leadership and career coach who became what she needed when she was a head women's rowing coach at Georgetown University. She now works with individuals, teams, and organizations to help them take the next step in their leadership journey doing 1:1 coaching, facilitation, and team coaching and leadership development.
Miranda walked on at Wellesley College, captained her team to its first NCAA appearance in 2003, and trained at Riverside Boat Club as a national team hopeful before the diagnosis of a genetic heart condition ended her athletic career at age 25. She transitioned to coaching rowers at all levels: as an assistant women's coach at Northeastern University and the head women's coach at Georgetown University, and also as a high-performance, club, and masters coach at Riverside Boat Club. She assisted with the U.S. lightweight men's eight at the world championships in 2006 and 2007.
In 2015, she left collegiate coaching to start her own leadership coaching firm, Holder Leadership. She received her leadership coaching certification from Georgetown University and is a professional certified coach through the International Coach Federation. She is a certified narrative coach, certified integrative development practitioner, and an RYT-200 yoga instructor. Miranda lives in Vermont with her husband, son, a very large dog, and has discovered there is way more crossover between rowing and downhill skiing than one would think.
Adele Fedorak is a leadership and story coach who helps heart-centered leaders find purpose, clarity, and confidence to lead themselves and others through challenging times. As a previous collegiate athlete (basketball), a parent of multi-sport athletes, a basketball coach (mini-ball to university and everything in between), a spectator to the work of a sports psychologist, and experience coaching collegiate rowing coaches, Adele has seen the value of intentionally infusing leadership development at the coaching level.
Adele is a certified narrative coach, a certified co-active professional coach, as well as a certified integrative development practitioner. She has a master of arts degree in speech-language pathology (with a special interest in narrative development in children) and a post-graduate certificate in personal leadership in the public sector from Royal Roads University. Adele lives with her wife and their two kids in Cochrane, Alberta, just east of Banff National Park.
