Dear Coaching Community,
As we look to 2026, the ICF Iowa Board would like to share an update on key 2025 accomplishments and our outlook for the year ahead. At the core of our ICF Iowa Chapter is our thriving membership base. We warmly welcome all new members who joined us in 2025, as well as those who renewed their membership. We also congratulate everyone who earned a professional credential this year. Our chapter remains committed to professional development, reflected in both the number of credentials earned and the quantity and quality of our educational program offerings.
This year, we also focused on continuous improvement, gathering feedback to make our chapter experience more accessible and valuable. Member leaders generously donated their expertise and time through a volunteer project with ICF Ignite. In 2026, our state chapter will welcome collaborators and coach educators across the region for the ICF Midwest Coaches Conference. This is an exciting time in our chapter’s history, offering abundant opportunities for us to connect on our coaching journeys, build meaningful relationships, and learn and grow together.
-ICF Iowa Chapter Board of Directors
Membership:
71 active members of the ICF Iowa Chapter
47 active Chapter members are also ICF Global members
97 ICF Global members are affiliated with the ICF Iowa Chapter
13 new members:
- Preston Young, Polk City
- Meg Richtman, Mount Pleasant
- Karen Malloy, Des Moines
- Alina Roselli, Johnston
- Ashley Hunt, Cedar Rapids
- Mark Tezak, Des Moines
- Liz Firmstone, Iowa City
- Tina Spiegelhalter, Dubuque
- Emilia Timmerman, Cedar Rapids
- Spencer Stumpf, Iowa City
- Paul Garcia, Cedar Falls
- Cassidy Reinken, Mount Vernon
15 new accreditations earned:
- Karen Malloy, Des Moines
- Erin Husmann, Des Moines
- Jennifer Asplund, West Des Moines
- Alina Roselli, Johnston
- Scott White, Iowa City
- Emilia Timmerman, Cedar Rapids
- Tina Spiegelhalter, Dubuque
- Liz Firmstone, Iowa City
- Terese TouVelle, Bettendorf
- Spencer Stumpf, Iowa City
- Michael Hanna, Indianola
- Ajit Nott, Johnston
- Kira Kistner, Story City
- Suzanna de Baca, Huxley
- Nancy Kroese, Pella
- Andrea Singsaas, Cedar Rapids
Education update provided by Scott White, Education Director: Serving at the Education Director for ICF Iowa has been a great honor and hope that the environment created at each of our educational programs, along with some great content shared by the selected speakers has been rewarding for the chapter as well. Like any first time in a new role, there have been some definitive moments of growth opportunities mixed in with some incredible connection points to fuel positive momentum going into 2026.
Looking back on 2025, here are some of the milestones we’ve achieved:
- 7 programs were planned for the year and added an eighth later on to arrive a 8 educational programs offered in 2025
- 5.25 CCE credits offered for Core Competencies
- 5.25 CCE credits offered for resource development
- Proud to have had two internal ICF Iowa coaches serve as speakers
In 2026 what we’re looking to accomplish from an educational perspective includes:
- Building out a roster of speakers for 2026 that blend core competencies and resource development, internal coaches to our chapter as well as those outside our chapter, and continue to offer different perspectives and topics to help us become better coaches
- Looking to co-host an ICF event with other ICF chapters in 2026
- Seeking more speakers to invite in 2027 and beyond, starting with making connections to successful speakers from the ICF Midwest Coaches Conference held in Des Moines September 2026
As someone selected to represent the chapter, please pass along topics that are of interest to you as well as speakers who you’ve seen be excellent at speaking with coaches.
2025 Member Survey: Thank you to our 26 members who took the time to respond. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps shape your chapter experience. The findings indicate our members are motivated to attend in-person networking events and educational programs with relevant topics. The biggest barriers to participation are scheduling conflicts, prior commitments, and travel. As a reminder, all past educational programs are available as recordings on our website. The results reaffirmed our timing for offering educational programs during weekday lunchtime, 11:30 - 1 p.m. The special interests of our chapter were ranked in the following order: Leadership, Internal Coaching, Life, Relationship, Spiritual, and Health & Wellness. If you are interested in forming a special interest group, please reach out to any Board member for support. Lastly, we will add more Real Talks highlighting special-interest topics and move the time of the Internal Coaches group meeting. As always, we encourage you to share any of your feedback, suggestions, and ideas throughout the year.
ICF Iowa Ignite Volunteer Coaching Project: The ICF Foundation oversees the approval of volunteer coaching projects. This year our chapter participated in this initiative. Many thanks to Dick Hannasch, who led the 2025 project, which concluded on October 31st with 7 coaches providing 38.75 hours of coaching service. The clients were from Goodwill of Central Iowa and Many Hands for Haiti.
2026 Midwest Coaches Conference: Mark your calendars for September 2026, when Des Moines is the host city for the Midwest Coaches Conference (MCDC). This is a great opportunity to connect with coaches and learn together as the host city. Watch for more information about early bird registration, group discounts, and volunteer opportunities.