Rice’s Doerr Institute is only US finalist for prestigious Prism Award

Rice University’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders is a finalist for the International Coaching Federation’s Prism Award for excellence in leadership coaching and the only contender from the United States.

Rice University’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders is a finalist for the International Coaching Federation’s Prism Award for excellence in leadership coaching and the only contender from the United States. Photo credit: International Coaching Federation.

The annual award honors organizations worldwide that develop coaching programs that fulfill rigorous professional standards, address key strategic goals, shape organizational culture and yield discernible and measurable positive impacts. In addition to the Doerr Institute, nominees for the 2017 Prism Award include Ernst & Young (England), HP-Asia (China), the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corporation (Canada) and St. Michael’s University School (Canada). The winner will be announced in August.

“We are honored to compete with global organizations of the stature of Ernst & Young and HP,” said Tom Kolditz, director of the Doerr Institute. “Rice’s commitment to professional-caliber leader development, evidenced in part by this global recognition, is unprecedented among top-tier universities.” Rice uses coaching extensively as a leader-development tool for staff, faculty and students. Unique among universities, Rice offers all students professional coaching as a part of their educational experience.

Holly Tompson, director of training for the Doerr Institute, noted that the Institute’s selection as a finalist for the award is a reflection of the coordinated efforts across the Rice campus to support leader development.

“I think our application stood out to the judges because coaching is almost never offered to everyone in the organization,” she said. “In our case, any student at Rice who wants to work with a professional leadership coach is given one, free of charge. That’s pretty unusual. They were also very interested in the fact that we are evidenced-based. Coaching as a means of leader development is incredibly effective, and we can show that because we’ve measured it and are continually improving what we do based on data.”

With more than 31,000 members from more than 125 countries, the International Coaching Federation is the world’s largest organization of  professionally trained coaches. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals. The Prism Award was adopted by ICF Global in 2005. The concept for the award was developed by the Toronto chapter of the federation to recognize outstanding organizational coaching initiatives.

Rice’s Doerr Institute was established in the summer of 2015 with support from a gift from alumni Ann ’75 and John ’73 Doerr with a mission to “elevate the leadership capacity of Rice students across the university.” It is a collaborative effort that exchanges techniques and ideas with other universities that engage in the development of students as new leaders.

For more information on the Doerr Institute, visit https://doerr.rice.edu/.