“We look forward to the response we will receive from coaches in the non-profit sector who are making a real difference in the lives of students, teachers and administrators,” said Diane Brennan, the former ICF president who serves as president of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

The ICF Foundation, founded in 2004, has had a mission of supporting coaching education, research and charitable programs. This year, the Foundation decided its sole focus through the year 2011 would be supporting pro bono coaching in the area of education. “Faced with budget cuts and limited resources, educational systems, teachers and ultimately students are struggling,” said Brennan.

Professional coaches and non-profit groups have until January 31st to apply for the grants. No set dollar amounts have been announced, but groups and individuals who provide pro bono coaching to school principals, headmasters, teachers or students are encouraged to suggest an amount of money that would help support their efforts, and outline exactly how the money would be put to use.

“We see coaching as a way to expand perspective, focus and opportunity to find a way forward and to contribute to society in a way that supports long-term success and sustainability for teachers and our future generations,” said Brennan. Finalists for the grants will be announced in the Spring.

According to the most recent filing with the IRS, the ICF Foundation had $44,456 in direct public support, cash on hand, and revenue from interest on savings and investments. The Foundation had no expenses and had been “dormant,” said ICF president Karen Tweedie. “We haven’t had a mechanism to grow funds.”

Over the last few years, the Foundation has built funding through a program to provide telephone coaching to humanitarian organizations. Compensation from the program was directed to the ICF Foundation, and added to the Foundation’s initial funding of $27,238–which was money raised through the sale of Steve Mitten’s “Marketing Essentials for Coaches.” Mitten, a past president of the ICF, had donated his proceeds to support the Foundation.

Recent research has suggested that combining coaching and education can create powerful results–for students and for teachers.

Dennis Small has been actively involved in a publicly-funded peer coaching program in Washington State, where teachers are trained to coach each other. “Peer coaches join a supportive, evolving community of learners and practitioners,” said Small. “Within this lively and inspiring context, they become social learners who experience a dynamic way to develop, practice and refine their pedagogy. These teachers are keen to explore a rich new dimension of their craft – the educator who is at ease as a co-learner, guide or expert at the center of a technology-rich learning experience.”

Washington’s program involves federal grants of $9,000 to recipient teachers in the first year, and an additional $4,500 in the second year. Since 2007, 280 teachers have been trained as peer coaches. The ICF Foundation hopes to similarly spread coaching through grants to individuals and groups.

“We’ve focused on the pro bono aspects of coaching, knowing the research is well taken care of,” said Tweedie, who said she was excited about the prospect of supporting worthy programs. “Because coaches do care, we do want to make a difference. This is a practical way we can do it.”

Note: Ruth Ann Harnisch, President of the Harnisch Foundation, serves on the ICF Foundation Board of Trustees. The Coaching Commons is a project of The Harnisch Foundation.