Better leaders
for a better world.
We believe that organizations and leaders must actively centre several key priorities in answering the call to advance the public good and the human condition:
Indigenization, equity, diversity, and inclusion;
mental health and well-being;
widening access to learning and participation in education and employment;
connecting community and organizational strategy.
At Koru Coaching + Education, we are eager to work with organizations that are ready to take courageous steps toward actionable change. Most significantly, we are ready to work with people who want to be better leaders for a better world.
We are a team of coaches, educators, and consultants dedicated to cultivating authentic and sustainable leadership capacity for social change. We are particularly interested in working with organizations and leaders who are authentic in their aspirations to advance Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (I-EDI).
Why coaching?
It’s not unusual for all of us to feel ‘stuck’ at some point in our lives. This often surfaces when we see a gap between knowing and doing… or when we get that icky feeling in our gut when something we have to do is out of line with what we think we ought to do. Coaching is a process where you set aside the time to be not only with your coach, but also with yourself — so that you can talk through and figure out the what, when, why, and how of being ‘stuck’.
Coaching is a partnership. It’s a shared discovery process where you and your coach collaborate to clarify your self-understanding and to connect your potential to your aspirations. It's an exploration that can unfold over one or many sessions where client-led dialogue will challenge you to reflect, learn, and focus on the future. Our coaching is grounded in values and commitments that interplay to create the optimal conditions for you to realize your goals.
You have agency and self-determination.
The belief that every individual possesses the capacity and power to achieve their goals is at the core of my coaching practice. Through coaching, we aim to help you understand this capacity and co-design a roadmap that holds you accountable to your aspirations and actions.
Your strengths outweigh your weaknesses.
While limiting beliefs can sometimes obscure how clearly you see your goals, coaching helps shine a light on the dormant strengths that they overshadow. Coaching helps you to articulate and understand how your inherent strengths can help you move forward with your personal and professional goals.
Accessible goals are attainable goals.
We each hold many limiting beliefs and perceptions that cloud our self-understanding. Therefore, achieving goals can be difficult if they aren’t broken down into achievable and value-based parts. In our sessions, we'll clarify your goals and work towards a series of actions that ensure each milestone aligns with your broader vision and values.
You can benefit from guidance and support.
Coaching isn't just a conversation – it’s a discussion where you lead, and I follow with a deep commitment to your growth. We aim to be a trusted partner who holds you accountable to yourself, celebrates your wins, and offers insights that may be hiding within the scope of your thinking.
Growth happens through action + reflection.
Coaching facilitates an actionable approach to self-understanding; and the ongoing process of action and reflection can help to surface new perspectives when you apply your learning to action. Our sessions will cultivate a space of learning and adaptability, helping you to bolster your creativity, resilience and accountability.
You deserve brave space to think + make sense of yourself.
Our coaching sessions are a respectful space where you can openly express your thoughts and fears, without judgment. Every part of your person and how you express your identity is valued and understood, ensuring your voice is ever-present in the coaching conversation.
Ethics of Practice
We practice according to the Code of Ethics of the International Coaching Federation. The Code describes our core professional values, ethical principles, and professional standards for our coaching practice.
Coaching is not…
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy focuses on understanding and healing past traumas and understanding deep-seated behaviours and emotions. My coaching acknowledges that these past traumas, behaviours, and emotions have somewhat shaped who we are; but our work will focus on understanding the present and actioning the future.
Counselling
Counselling provides a series of coping strategies for specific psychosocial challenges. In contrast to counselling, which often responds to a specific incident or issue, my coaching focuses on broader life goals, personal growth, and overall clarity.
Agnostic to your health + well-being
Even though coaching is neither a diagnostic nor therapeutic relationship, your mental well-being is inseparable from who you are and your self-understanding. As long-time education professionals with certifications in Mental Health First-Aid and other interventionist approaches, we understand the limits of our practice and will always facilitate a professional referral.
Koru consulting
“Simply magnificent.
Dr. McGrath has an exceptionally engaging, intelligent, and witty presence that places him in the top calibre of professional speakers.
Not only did Chris make our entire postsecondary community feel understood and validated, but all felt both challenged and inspired in Chris' rally to get their boots muddy to serve students in their unique and important ways.”
Dr. Neil Buddel
Vice-President, Centennial College
“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Chris, you were such an excellent host - bringing wit and wisdom to the stage making the event a delight. I really appreciated your approach at reinforcing the human in all of us as being central to any discussion about teaching, learning and technology.
Most of all it was just fun to share the stage and the event with you.”
Dr. Robert Luke
CEO, eCampus Ontario
Organizational + Educational Insights
We provide boutique consulting services to help leaders and organizations reach their goals while keeping Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (I-EDI) at the center of our practice. We recognize that complex problems and emerging opportunities cannot be considered in isolation, and therefore consider the FOUR Ps of organizational culture in helping teams to succeed: people, policy, program, and place. Our coaches and consultants can help you to lead and manage change and transformation through:
Strategy + policy development
Program review, development + evaluation
Human Rights Consulting | Complaint Resolution
With expertise in human rights policy, complaint investigation, and case adjudication, we can assist you by consulting on complex challenges that arise as communities strive to move beyond differences. We are available to undertake third-party investigations, provide policy review and development, and consult on behavioral interventions.
Learning + Development Solutions
With our experience in I-EDI, we are ready to work with you and your organization to craft training + development solutions that will help everyone show up more fully to the challenges of I-EDI work. We want to ensure that I-EDI goals are realized because of what gets done, how it gets done, and who shares responsibility for the outcomes. We endeavor to create learning experiences where all members of your organizational community are ready to roll up their sleeves and do the good work as individuals, allies, and organizational leaders to be true leaders for social change in advancing the public good.
Conferences + Events
Within our fields of expertise, we are invigorated by opportunities to connect with organizations and share our professional insights, personal experiences, and thought leadership. As a presenter, a panelist, or as an event host, we blend thoughtful perspectives on I-EDI within the public, private and non-profit industries, and engage event participants as a community of allies, advocates, and accomplices who want to be better leaders for a better world.
The team
We offer a diverse range of experiences insights, and capabilities to help you manage change, respond to dynamic challenges of scale, and accelerate towards achieving meaningful strategic and operational outcomes. Our work is shaped by both our professional experience across multiple sectors and our intersecting social identities as locations for change.
Chris McGrath, EdD
Principal + Coach (he/him/his)
Chris McGrath is a scholar-practitioner with 25 years of leadership experience in widening access and advancing equity in post-secondary education — including in public, private, and healthcare institutions. An experienced C-suite executive, Chris is also a professor, speaker, coach, and consultant who works at the intersections of social equity and public accountability.
He holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Western University (Canada), where his research interrogated how leadership is performed in public organizations and how it can advance Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (I-EDI). He also holds a Master of Education in Higher Education + Student Affairs Administration from the University of Vermont.
Chris is also an experienced and certified investigator and adjudicator on matters relating to harassment, discrimination, and human rights.
Curtis Norman, MEd
Senior Consultant + Coach (he/him/his)
With over 15 years of leadership experience in the community, non-profit, higher education and tech sectors, Curtis is dedicated to developing people and teams to realize their fullest potential. A passionate and equity-focused educator, Curtis has helped teams and organizations to engage in full program development, including needs assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation — giving them practicable and scalable solutions to problems of professional practice.
As a certified leadership coach, Curtis is compassionate and solution-focused in helping individuals achieve clarity and action. He brings this same focus to his work as a facilitator, using co-design as a framework for learning and development.
Curtis holds a Master of Education in Urban Education from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Not unlike the spiral as seen in many cultural traditions, the Koru is a deeply treasured symbol among the Māori People of New Zealand. It is shaped after an unfurling fern frond — representing creation, growth, and perpetual movement. The Koru coils inward to connect to its origin…. its source… its self. And in so doing it regenerates and unfurls new growth in new directions.
The Koru is symbolic of our team’s approach to coaching and education. Leaders can only strengthen their capacity to lead transformative change in their organizations and communities if they engage in perpetual action and reflection — a process through which they reconnect their purpose and sense of self with how they make sense of themselves and the complications of the world around them.
Our group’s founder received a Koru pendant over 25 years ago, and it has since been a powerful and treasured talisman during his own personal and professional learning, development, and growth.
Why the Koru?
Like the Koru, we continue to unfurl.
I
If you want to keep updated on how we are working to help you and your organization grow with creativity and action,
please share your e-mail below, and we will send news with exciting milestones in the months ahead.
