Global Leadership Team

Katherine is CEO and Co-founder of the Association for Coaching. As a global Executive and Team Coach, she also runs an C-level level coaching business, Wisdom8, specialising in developing CEOs, Executives and Top Teams in some of the leading and emerging global brands. Katherine works internationally across the UK, Europe, USA, UAE and Asia, and has coached across 35 different nationalities. She is also a co-author in 3 coaching books, a keynote speaker, lecturer, coach mentor & consultant, and sits on coaching editorial boards. Recognised by her peers, she is recipient of the 'Coach/Mentor of the Year' award by Coaching at Work, amongst others.

Alex is COO and Co-Founder of the Association for Coaching. She has over twenty five years experience in strategic leadership and operations. Alex works with senior leaders globally and has diverse senior commercial experience which she combines with a passion for developing senior executives to their full potential. Alex's background of psychology, training, merchant banking, and entrepreneurial experience led her to found Tailored Coaching and co–founded Purposeful Connections. Alex was awarded an AC Honorary award for Influencing the Coaching Profession, is an author in Excellence in Coaching and is on the international editorial board of the academic-based coaching journal "Coaching; an International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice"

Smaranda is the Director of Digital Learning and Events for the Association for Coaching. She runs the AC Digital Learning Programmes, offering coaches across the world access to thought leadership and providing opportunities for continuous professional development. Through her work, Smaranda is committed to support the profession's sustainable growth and development. With over 12 years of international experience, Smaranda has a professional background in both non-for- profit and corporate environment, covering Human Resources, Event Management and Project Management with a focus on restructuring, organizational design and strategy building. Her coaching practice focuses on helping ambitious professionals accelerate their career development and sharpen their skills so that they can realize their full potential and make every day matter. 

Hetty brings 30 years of psychology and executive coaching experience to global leadership development. Her career has spanned the arts, journalism and TV, health, NGO’s, policy and organisational development. A key focus is women’s leadership. A Director of The Flourish Initiative, a Senior Consultant with Performance Consultants International and Analytic-Network Coaching, and an Associate of Leaders’ Quest, she teaches on the Executive Coaching Diploma at the IMI in Dublin, and is the Editor of Coaching Perspectives, the AC global magazine. She holds a Masters in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute (UL) and a Masters in Psychoanalytic and Systemic Approaches to Consulting with Organisations from the Tavistock Centre (UEL). She is married and the mother of two millennial daughters.
Her new book, The Future of Coaching: vision, leadership and responsibility in a transforming world, published by Routledge is out now.

Declan leads the AC’s work on team coaching and is the creator of their team coaching competency framework and related accreditation scheme. He previously co-authored the Global Code of Ethics and was made a life AC Fellow for raising standards of coaching in organisations. Declan works as a top team coach and group psychologist, and founded and leads teamGenie, a global company specializing in designing, coaching, and developing teams. He created teamSalient to drive greater levels of team effectiveness and transform every team at work. Declan was the AC’s first accredited Master Team Coach (MTC), is Professor of Leadership Practice at King’s College London (KCL), and an Advisory Council Member of Harvard Business Review (HBR). Prior to coaching, Declan held successive leadership roles in a range of private and public sector organisations. Connect on: www.linkedin.com/in/declanwoods.