Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Inspiring future Humanitarian Leaders with a Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring (PGCert)
In a world confronting extraordinary and complex challenges, the call for visionary, values-driven leadership in the humanitarian sector has never been more critical. For over a decade, the Humanitarian Leadership Academy has championed a transformative movement for locally led humanitarian action, empowering emerging leaders to rise with purpose, resilience, and compassion.
Central to this mission is a commitment to coaching as a catalyst for growth. Working with Coach Mentoring Ltd they tailored mentoring and coaching programmes, local leaders are supported to deepen self-awareness, strengthen strategic capabilities, and foster the confidence needed to lead effectively in crisis and recovery. Coaching is far more than a development tool—it’s a force that unlocks leadership potential, nurtures strategic thinking, and empowers individuals to lead with vision and purpose. It becomes a vehicle for personal growth, organisational resilience, and meaningful, locally rooted change that endures beyond the moment.
Through its enduring collaboration with Coach Mentoring Ltd, the Academy has embedded coaching and mentoring into the heart of leadership development. Their Coaching Skills Training Programme equips humanitarian leaders not only with the tools to lead, but with the mindset to inspire change and drive sustainable impact at every level.
Our seventh diverse and multicultural cohort is now advancing through their PGCert in Coaching and Mentoring, accredited by Leeds Beckett University and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). Many are already looking forward to furthering their journey by progressing to the Postgraduate Diploma and ultimately achieving a Master's degree.
As local as possible, as international as necessary
The mission of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA) is to cultivate robust and locally driven networks by enhancing skill and building capabilities through deep learning. By empowering people, the HLA equips the humanitarian sector and beyond to prepare for and respond to crises. Additionally, HLA helps organisations in the humanitarian sector and beyond to amplify their reach, expand their impact, share their knowledge and build resilient networks.
The scale and complexity of humanitarian need is ever increasing, with a record 362 million people affected by crisis and in in need of humanitarian assistance each year. The humanitarian system is witnessing greater numbers of displaced people than ever before, greater frequency and intensity of climatic related disasters, mass migration, increasingly protracted and complex conflicts and public health challenges. The humanitarian system is at breaking point and requires a radical shift in order to meet the global humanitarian needs. HLA is uniquely positioned to create a more inclusive and effective humanitarian ecosystem.
By developing future leaders, HLA can ensure that people everywhere preparing for, and responding to, humanitarian crises have access to the right learning at the right time. Supporting individuals to develop new skills and organisations to become more effective, allows the sector as a whole to adapt and become more locally led.
The HLA, supports capacity strengthening, training and development across the sector. Developing skills as a coach or mentor can play a key role and recognises that local and national actors are essential in supporting children's rights and humanitarian needs in all contexts.
Mentoring opened my eyes on the importance of networking and engagement during international meetings and workshops.
My mentor guided me, listened to me without any judgment, and helped me to improve my leadership skills, helped me to identify the solutions to resolve the workplace issues.
A discussion over coffee, creates a network for humanitarian leaders
During a chance discussion over coffee, Coach Mentoring Ltd.'s Lis Merrick and the HLA's Sam Davis, realised there was an across-organisational need to improve the movement of vital tacit and leadership knowledge across the humanitarian sector. As mentoring provides such amazing cost-effective benefits for participants, in 2016, they decided to setup a mentoring programme to support development within the sector.
Progressing from ideas, via PGC, to PGD and masters
Experience building the Across Organisational Mentoring Programme, supporting hundreds of participants across dozens of humanitarian and development sector organisations, identified the need for a separate study programme. This would provide the solid foundations in coaching and mentoring needed to develop effective leaders in the humanitarian sector.
The Postgraduate Certificate took shape as a collaboration between Coach Mentoring Ltd., with experience within the sector [or elsewhere] and Leeds Beckett University, with the infrastructure and academic rigour to allow the development of a course that could satisfy this need. This further evolved with options for progression to Diploma and full Masters level.
Pre-pandemic cohorts featured face-to-face teaching, yet during lockdown the programme effectively embraced virtual working. Now as part of HLA's strategy of empowering locally led teams, the experience of the course facilitators means that virtual learning, backed by remote access to library facilities, means that the course can be delivered fully virtually, extending the reach and diversity of the participants.
We shared the same challenge of getting colleagues within our respective organisations to share data for evaluation purposes. I think our discussions helped my mentee, but they also helped me immensely!
Coaching excellence within the humanitarian sector
Over the span of a decade, HLA has continued to refine their coaching agenda through a collaborative partnership with Coach Mentoring Ltd., wholeheartedly embracing the transformative potential of coaching and peer learning. Their emerging leaders are poised to benefit greatly from the mentoring and deep expertise offered by experienced humanitarian leaders, who serve as professional coaches.
The HLA remains dedicated to expanding this pool of professional humanitarian coaches, bolstering their ability to offer substantial support to leaders and their teams during moments of crisis and change. This expansion will allow the HLA to tap into the collective wisdom and extensive experience of humanitarian mentors, further enhancing their commitment to leadership development in the humanitarian sector.
Programmes to develop leaders for all organisations and sectors
As well as supporting the humanitarian sector, the Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership in Organisations also appeals to a more general audience. The Level 7 accreditation from Leeds Beckett University is also EMCC EQA Accredited, allowing graduates to gain fast-track EIA accreditation at Senior Practitioner level. This appeals to:
- Leaders and Managers
- HR and L&D Professionals
- Dedicated internal coaches and mentors
- External coaching or mentoring consultants
Open programmes for all sectors run alongside the humanitarian closed programmes and continue to support the development of all graduates.
The future is something we all must work to create, and coaching can be the key!
This ground breaking coaching and mentoring programme transforms the cultural narrative by underscoring the global significance of leadership as a complex, multifaceted challenge. It equips individuals with the essential "knowledge, skills, and attitudes" necessary for effective leadership, emphasizing the importance of moral imperatives that transcend specific contexts. By fostering sustainable and inclusive growth, the programme challenges narrow-minded, parochial, and partisan viewpoints, promoting the enrichment and value of our diverse communities and helps shape a world where we all can have a brighter future.
Dr Nick Beech
Nick's expertise is in the areas of leadership, coaching, governance and boardroom behaviours. He has a wealth of experience having worked with a wide range of organisations across the private, public and voluntary sectors. An accomplished entrepreneur, having sound local and international experience and is an inspiring organisational change agent.
