BLACK COMMUNITY CONDUCTORS PROGRAM
Join Black Changemakers Committed to Social Change, Community, & Liberation in the Black Community Conductors Program
NEXT COHORT BEGINS FEBRUARY 3, 2026
APPLY BY JANUARY 23, 2026
About the Black Community Conductors Program
Blooming Willow’s Black Community Conductors Program unites self-identified Black Changemakers across the globe on a journey to liberation through self-discovery, transformation, and community. This 6-month, International Coaching Federation Accredited program presents the opportunity to grow, heal, challenge yourself, and build Healing Centered Coaching® skills that create liberation for all.
Our culturally relevant space invites you to stretch beyond the known as you learn to envision and hold spaces of possibility for current and future clients. You’ll implement Blooming Willow Coaching’s signature Healing Centered Coaching® model that enables clients to Pause, Ground, Align, and Act in the liberating processes of growth and healing.
Who is the Black Community Conductors Program For?
Do you self-identify as a Black person?
Do you envision a society where Black people thrive?
Have you been wondering how to support alignment for yourself and those in your community?
Have you been curious about how to build coaching skills that honor growth and healing?
Do you want a space where you can focus on your own growth and healing in a supportive community?
Have you been searching for an International Coaching Federation accredited program that is designed to support Black people?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you’re in the right place. Our Black Community Conductors Program was designed for Changemakers like you!
Our program was specifically designed to place you in the position to create change with a supportive community of Black Changemakers and leaders who are ready to reimagine our world to better support our individual and collective wellbeing.
Spring 2026 Black Community Conductors Program Enrollment Details
DURATION: 6 Months • February 3, 2026 — July 14, 2026
LOCATION: Virual
STUDENTS & FACULTY: Black Changemakers committed to supporting Changemakers to grow and heal
TELECLASS SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, 4:00PM - 6:00PM PST
PARTICIPANTS: 24 Maximum
EXCEPTIONS: Students are able to miss and make up 15 hours of the required virtual classes
Application Deadline: Friday, January 23, 2026
INVESTMENT: $7,000
EARLY BIRD RATE: Register and pay the full tuition by November 30, 2025 to receive a $1000 discount, or register and pay the full tuition by December 31, 2025 for a $500 discount.
Financing for the Black Community Conductors Program Is Available
CONDUCTORS PROGRAM POLICIES
In compliance with ICF regulations, we request that all individuals interested view the current Conductors Program Policies
76-Hour International Coaching Federation Accredited Program Components:
20 Hours of Reading, Practice Coaching, Portfolio Assignments, and Video Reviews [Per Month]
22 Live Virtual + 2 Virtual Learning Sessions
20 Practice Coaching Hours Completed with Peers and Non-Coach Clients Outside of Class [3-4 Month Monthly]
10 Mentor Sessions [5 Sessions 1-on-1 and 5 Group]
5 Coaching Portfolio Assignments [1 Per Month]
Pass the Healing Centered Coaching Oral Competency Assessment • Score 70% or higher
Students being considered for the program may be invited to participate in an interview with Conductors Alumni or Faculty prior to admission. We use a rolling admissions process for this cohort and the application pool will close once the cohort has been filled.
Blooming Willow Coaching Autopay Payment Plan
The payment schedule below is based on the full tuition amount. Early-bird enrollments will be adjusted accordingly. Payment plan options include:
Black Community Conductors Spring 2026 Schedule
February 2026
Welcome to Healing Centered Coaching Core Competencies & Coach's Stand (Mandatory)
Asking Powerful Questions & Practicing Engaged Listening
Curiosity, Interrupting & Acknowledgment
Group Mentoring - Core Competencies Focus 1-7
March 2026
Healing Centered Coaching Mindset, Pausing & Supporting Safety
Supporting Safety, Opening, Grounding & Expanding the Session
Gathering and Clarifying the Client’s Agenda
Group Mentoring: Module 1 & 2 Competencies Focus: 3 Agendas 1-16
April 2026
Exploring the 3 Agenda, Respecting the Client & Expanding the View
Visioning, Metaphors & Analogies
Inviting Play to Support Clarity
Group Mentoring: Module 3-I Competencies Focus: Play 1-22
May 2026
Exploring Limiting Beliefs & the Internal Community
Accessing Inner Wisdom and Power
Supporting Pausing, Reflection, and Meaning Making
Group Mentoring: Module 3-II Competencies Focus 1-27
June 2026
Supporting Pausing and Identifying Goals for Action
Co-Designing Healing Centered North Star Goals & Accountability
Coaching in the Black Community I
Group Mentoring: Module 3-II Competencies Focus 1-30
July 2026
Coaching in the Black Community II
Shifting from Individual to Group Coaching
Group Mentoring: Module 3-II Competencies Focus 1-30
Community Celebration & Reflection + Teach Back (Mandatory)
MEET THE CONDUCTORS FACULTY & MENTORS
-
Principal Owner
Leslie Avant-Brown, Conductor# 1, is an innovator, facilitator, coach and thought leader within movement work. Her relentless desire to fuel systems change in support of vulnerable communities has changed the fabric of this work. With her down to earth demeanor, she brings a unique mix of laughter, curiosity, healing, creativity and strategy to support conductors of change – those who are designing innovative strategies that benefit future generations. She believes that moving beyond traditional leadership approaches will revolutionize the way that people work and thrive. “I have dedicated my life to supporting communities to build trust, identify new leadership, increase diversity of voice and choice, incorporate growth and healing strategies and build sustainably. I do this because I know, what we plant today will bloom tomorrow”
In 2016, through a partnership with Beyond Emancipation, her CCRW Coaching Model (focused on foster and probation youth) received the notorious International Coaching Federation Prism Award Honorable Mention (Coming 2nd only to Coca-Cola Russia) for its innovative design supporting culture change. She went on to support the development of an ICF Accredited, Community Coaching Certification Program at Leadership that Works, the first of its kind. Through this pioneering effort, she certified over 100 coaches in this new community accreditation, radically shifting how communities are supported through coaching.
Leslie serves as CEO at her firm Blooming Willow Coaching, a culturally relevant, Healing Centered Coaching practice that allows her to partner with individuals, organizations and businesses. Her specialization areas include “all things” coaching including: one-on-one and group coaching, coaching facilitation, coach training, and designing sustainable coaching models that support growth and healing in communities.
Previously, she worked as the International Program Director for Leadership that Works, and supported the development, implementation and facilitation of cutting edge coaching programs that supported value-driven transformation in India, Europe and the United States.
Prior to earning her coaching certification Leslie worked in the nonprofit capacity building sector, supporting work that promoted social justice -- she has a background in leadership development and evaluation. “What brought me to the field of coaching was the idea of supporting deep change while aligning my strengths to support conductors of change.”
Leslie received her professional coaching certification through Leadership that Works and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan. In her free time, Leslie enjoys finding new adventures, spending time with her wife, belly laughing, eating delicious food and of course creating!!
-
spring opara completed her second coaching certification via Blooming Willow Healing Centered Coaching in July of 2022. Her first coaching certification via Leadership That Works - Transformation Coaching certification program, was completed in February of 2017. Her intuitive, grounding and accepting nature makes spring easy to talk with and her ability to stay focused in the now, to see the beauty in the chaos, to reflect and remind others of their own divinity is all part of her coaching approach. One of her favorite sayings is, “I can give you a fish and you will eat for a day, I can teach you to fish and you will eat for a lifetime”. spring is all about lifetime, self-sufficiency. By coaching from an intuitive and lived-wisdom stance, spring seeks to assist individuals in finding alignment in all activities of their life – both personal and professional.
Her enthusiasm for helping people, Black women in particular, to recognize and embrace their divine selves and to understand their true, authentic power, led her to pursue coaching certification. spring truly enjoys working with established and emerging leaders who are navigating oppressive systems, to step into their power in order to complete the radical work necessary to create an equitable world for everyone.
In her time at CompassPoint, spring has pursued her life’s purpose—deconstructing and dismantling white supremacy through a self-care lens and centering self-care as a radical act of liberation for our most marginalized communities. She designed and co-facilitates the Self-Care for Black Women in Leadership program, a leading edge, health, wellness, and self-care program for Black women in leadership, which she delivers for CompassPoint through their public workshops and cohort leadership programming. She's also a certified Witch and a Reiki Level 1 and 2 practitioner (practices she learned through her graduation from The Black Witch University in New Orleans, LA). She is a Taurus (based on astrology), an INFJA (based on Meyers-Briggs), and an anime enthusiast based on the LOVE of the genre!.
-
Conductor #29
As a facilitator, organizational development consultant, and coach, Ose is passionate about developing leaders and bringing people together to connect, exchange ideas, and collaborate. During his career, he has supported strategy and leadership development at government agencies, organizations, and foundations in over 100 engagements across issue areas including health, education, housing, immigration and youth development.
As a consultant and facilitator, Oseloka works with nonprofit organizations in board development, planning, and risk management.
Before coming to Blooming Willow Coaching, Ose was part of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa initiative, where he helped to develop strategies for private sector engagement.
Prior to his transition to the nonprofit sector, Ose worked as an analyst at Standard Bank of South Africa in Commercial Property Finance. He holds Flawless Consulting certification and Facilitative Leadership for Social Change accreditation, and he’s an International Coaching Federation certified coach.
Oseloka received his M.P.A. from New York University, as well as a B.A. in Philosophy from University College London and an L.L.P. from BPP Law School.
-
Toni is clear that as a little girl, she was raised to be a “race woman,” because her family swam in the waters of segregation and she lived the struggles and triumphs her family and all “Negroes” experienced as a result of the legacy of being the descendants of free Africans who were shipped across the ocean and enslaved in this and other countries. As she continued her journey in this life, she discovered when she “showed up” in her body she was seen not only as black, but also presented as female and she became conscious of what it was like to swim in that water, too. Her consciousness continued to evolve as she lived in the intersecting waters of being southern, working/middleclass, heterosexual, cis-gender, etc., etc. Today, she has integrated/continues to integrate seemingly separate bodies of water into the ocean of complexity that is Toni.
After a series of careers, comprising guidance counselor, buyer/manager for an African/African American Museum shop and faculty/administrator at an urban community college, Toni became an organizational development consultant that brought diversity to decision-making tables. Twenty years ago, she began her consulting firm, A Silver Thread, Inc.and partnered with leaders to make conscious, creative and practical decisions to create equitable, inclusive, highly productive, transformed workplaces worldwide. She has created and held several retreats for women of color. She continued to deepen her personal development and certifications, including becoming a certified healing coach. Toni’s conscious intention is to be a deeply present partner with her clients to nurture, challenge, guide and hold them as they become more curious and re-discover the depth and breadth of the wisdom they already hold in their minds-bodies-spirits and re-member how to BE in the world as whole, powerful beautiful people they have always been. Toni loves movies, theatre and has recently become involved in tracing her ancestry as a way of again remembering the legacy of wisdom that surrounds us all. She is now weaving the practice of yoga into her life and the connection to A Silver Thread is becoming name apparent. In metaphysical studies, a silver cord refers to “a life-giving linkage from the higher self (atma) down to the physical body.
-
Raised in Jackson Mississippi under the watchful eyes of many, Tony Bennae Richard is the grandson of Ben and Perlia Richard/Elmore and Beatrice Winfrey, son of Bennie and Chrysteen Richard, the brother of Crandall and Bennie LeNard, father of LaShele, Tony II, Chloe and Tristan, grandfather of Ian, Laylon and Worthy.
Tony entered Jackson State University (TheeILove)and learned life-long lessons about individual excellence, teamwork and leadership as a member of the marching band, “The Sonic Boom of the South.” After three years, he walk away from a music scholarship and joined the military. For 24 years, as a hospital corpsman and naval officer, he followed, joined, and lead many teams. After being assigned to naval hospitals (stateside and overseas), medical and dental treatment facilities, and the Fleet Marine Force, he served at the Navy Medicine Center for Organization Development and facilitated countless leadership courses and interventions that improved the effectiveness and efficiency of Naval Medicine.
While still on active duty, he imagined a world absent of oppression, wars, fragmented relationships, broken bodies, and wasted human capital. After retiring in January of 2005, this vision mixed with a unique blend of personal and professional life experiences, formal and informal education, and extensive exposure to different cultures and people birthed to The Bennae Group, a boutique OD consulting and coaching practice.
In January 2020, on the eve of the pandemic, six independent consultants with thriving practices came together to explore a potential collaboration. In recognition of the increasingly complex needs of social justice-minded leaders and organizations, and the importance of learning and practicing in community, they formed a new entity - Imagine Us.
A learner for life, his approaches are informed by his HBCU experiences; Gestalt Institute of Cleveland; Center for Human Systems; National Training Laboratory (NTL); the Social Transformation Project; Dr. Laurie Leitch and the Trauma Informed Social Resilience Model (SRM); Institute for Cultural Affairs, Landmark Worldwide, Polarity Thinking; Blooming Willow Coaching; and Learning In Action Technologies. He is a trainer, Rockwood Leadership Institute; Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership; Facilitator, Cornell University’s Union Leadership Institute; and a lifetime member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
-
Feedback Mentor
Like a rocket, Nix's coaching is the vessel that clients access when a much broader perspective is required. From a more spacious point of view, clients get to see their full operating systems--the world and themselves in it. By observing from different angles clients are better positioned to see options, opportunities, limiting beliefs and the way forward.
For over 21 years, Nix has been exploring the impact of our systems- and rule-based society on individuals. As a workshop facilitator, coaching trainer, department supervisor and program manager, she has designed empowerment curricula centered on internal capacity building, culture change, leadership and healing for organizations.
As a Professional Certified Coach (trained in Transformational Life Coaching and Healing Centered Community Coaching), Nix considers herself to be an intuitive partner, a wise ally and a reflector of the space between what you didn't know then and what you do know now. She brings a sense of wonder and curiosity to every session.
Nix's coaching opens space for traditional and non-traditional leaders to slow down and catch up to themselves, to explore needs, to envision success and to create fresh boundaries and agreements before taking brave steps forward.
-
Feedback Mentor
Based out of the Bay Area, California, DeShauna received her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, with additional coursework in Forensic Psychology. During this time, DeShauna also began working for a non-profit agency that contracts with Alameda County Social Services supporting foster youth with navigating self-sufficiency. After working in this field, she realized that the core of our problems and stress often correlate with symptoms in our bodies. Starting with self, she decided to challenge her mind, body and spiritual alignment by beginning an Ashtanga yoga practice. Also, she discovered life coaching, which quickly became an important tool in all clientcentered and leadership work. This allowed her connections with others to become more than just a mentorship, but a partnership in their goals.
Through self-discoveries in yoga and coaching, DeShauna resolved to deepen the mind/body connection and received her 250-hour Teacher Training Certification (Power Vinyasa & Yoga Sculpt). DeShauna also realizes that mastering the “self” is a lifelong path, yet the journey there is where meaningful experience happens. In June 2018, she became a certified transformational coach through Leadership that Works and uses somatic tools to support individuals with bringing their authentic selves to the surface. DeShauna will also earn her 300-hour Teacher Training (continued yoga education) in December 2021. Her ultimate goal is to create a connection with individuals throughout their personal journey, with the hopes of helping to empower them to reach their desired destinations. DeShauna believes “Health is a state of body and wellness is a state existence.”
During DeShauna’s spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, animals (she has a dog, cat, gecko, fishes) and different species of plants as well as geodes.