Meet Our Faculty
Christi Byerly, MCC - founder and CEO
Christi's coaching process motivates you to build a community of empathy and grace around you — and to live your mission as part of something bigger than you are.
Christi has trained hundreds of new coaches in French and English since 2014 and has mentored dozens of coaches-in-training. She maintains a thriving coaching practice and has been coaching professionally since 2009, after graduating from the International Coach Academy.
Christi holds a Master NLP certificate, as well as certifications in spiritual direction, group coaching, depth coaching, Enneagram work and mentor coaching. She is a Certified Daring GreatlyTM Facilitator.
Married to Ben, she is the mom of three young people and lives in Alsace on the French, Swiss, and German borders.
Certifications:
- ICF - Master Certified Coach®️ and Mentor Coach
- NLP Master Practitioner
- Spiritual Accompaniment Certified
- Certified Daring Greatly™ Facilitator
- ORSC™ - Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching
- Certified Group Coach and Workplace Coach
Andrew Simpson, PCC
Andrew is a creative thinker, encourager, developer and catalyst for action. As a leadership coach, mentor coach and organization development (OD) practitioner, he has over 35 years of experience – primarily in the international development sector. In 2019, Andrew established Rising Sun Coaching, LLC with his wife and co-coach Sharon.
Andrew is passionate about walking with clients to gain clarity, confidence, courage and momentum towards a bright and fruitful future. He loves to create a safe space; listen deeply; be creative and playful; engage mind, emotions, body and spirit; integrate nature in coaching conversations; incorporate leadership development resources (including The Leadership Circle 360); and invite growth and compelling next steps.
Proficient in French and Wolof (Sénégal), Andrew holds a Bachelors in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Masters in Organization Development from American University.
Based in Washington, D.C. he is the father of two young men. During his lifetime, Andrew has traveled to over 80 countries. He loves to witness the sunrise and inspire others with photos and sunrise reflections.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️, Mentor Coach, Group Coach
- Georgetown University - Certificate in Leadership Coaching
- Leadership Circle Profile 360 Certified®️
- Nature as Co-facilitator Certified
Thomas Mundia, PCC
Thomas is a senior executive leadership coach, specializing in gender, social, moral and emotional intelligence. A professional coach since 2015, he coaches CEOs, executive and board committee members, senior leadership teams, business owners and social entrepreneurs, both as a personal and team coach in countries across Africa.
With a background in economics, Thomas holds a masters in applied philosophy and ethics. He has held senior positions in manufacturing, media, finance and NGOs.
Thomas combines coaching psychology with psychometric assessments to help his clients find their underlying drivers, move through their blocks, and achieve their goals. His creative tools, exercises, and African proverbs offer deeper awareness.
He's adventurous, creative, and curious. With his wife Hedaya, Thomas heads the thriving Pied Pipers Services, Ltd.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️
- Master in Applied Philosophy and Ethics
- Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence Coach (USA)
- Advanced Professional Skills Training (The Performance Solution, UK)
- LPI TPMA Certified Trainer (IFC, UK)
- Clarity 4D Certified Accreditor & Business partner (UK)
Valeyne Grotrian, PCC
Valeyne is an “Inner Leader” Coach for legacy-minded and soul-centered leaders with over 20 years of experience in business operations and human resources leadership roles across 6 industries. She founded Agora Coaching & Training Solutions in 2017, a collective for leaders who want to trust themselves more fully and confidently stand in their inner power. As an Awaken Faculty member, Valeyne aims to create a learning environment where coaches can bravely bring their whole self to their practice with curiosity and play.
Valeyne holds a Psychology of Leadership certification through eCornell University, the PCC credential through the ICF and is a Triple-Certified Professional Coach; Awaken Coach Institute (2021), Gallup CliftonStrengths® Coach (2017), International Coach Academy (2012).
Based in the greater Chicagoland area of the United States, Valeyne is a pilot’s wife and dog mom. They all enjoy adventurous time outdoors together whether it be at the beach or mountains.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach
®️ - Awaken Coach Institute Graduate, International Coach Academy Graduate & Certified CliftonStrengths® Coach through Gallup
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Certified Practitioner
- Psychology of Leadership Certification through eCornell University
- Ubuntu Coaching
Heather King, PCC
Heather completed her training as a Certified Professional Coach at the International Coach Academy in 2012 and became an ICF Associate Certified Coach in 2014. She is passionate about life-coaching because she believes it has the potential to help people thrive and live lives that are deeply fulfilling and meaningful.
One of her core values, as a coach, is to support and come alongside her clients as they align their lives with what they truly value. Heather also has a Master’s in Social Work and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She lives in PA with her husband and three teenage boys. She loves to read, hike in the mountains, play volleyball, and drink a good cup of strong coffee.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️
Grace Remington, ACC
Grace is a leadership and well-being coach who is passionate about empowering others to live whole and resilient lives. She graduated from George Mason University's Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program and has worked with a variety of clients, including military leaders, fighter pilots, federal government and private sector managers, men and women experiencing mid-life transition, and new parents.
For the past eight years, Grace has worked as an immigration law professional in the federal government, holding positions in DC, California, and abroad. She is a yoga, barre, and meditation instructor, a lifelong vegetarian, and an international travel enthusiast. She lives in Washington, United States.
Certifications:
- ICF - Associate Certified Coach®️
Joan Leteipa, ACC
Joan is an International Development professional with over 15 years of experience in product and project management across non-profits and multinational corporations. As an Associate Certified Coach with ICF and Social Innovation fellow with Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation in Canada, she applies a coaching mindset to all her work and approaches life as a process of continuous innovation.
She views coaching as a way of being and is fascinated by the daily transformation coaching brings in alignment with her core value of growth. She enjoys coaching conversations and facilitating professional coach training. She lives in Kenya with her husband Leteipa and two sons Lempiris and Lesiamon. She loves taking beach walks, swimming, quiet reflection and deep conversations over a cup of brewed Kenyan masala tea (chai).
Certifications:
- ICF - Associate Certified Coach®️
- LIFO®️ Certified Practitioner
- Success Teams Certified facilitator
Debbie Brupbacher, PCC
Debbie is a highly motivated and passionate Executive Leadership, Career, and Team Coach. With over 20 years of experience in multinational firms serving in various senior global roles in finance and transformational projects, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her clients. Throughout her career, people development has always been at the center, and she has now found her true calling in coaching and leadership development.
Debbie’s approach to coaching is centered around increasing awareness of the power of vulnerability, authenticity, and heartfelt leadership. By combining conceptual frameworks, metaphors, fun, movement, and nature, she helps her clients expand their thinking and expectations, leading to a higher level of effectiveness and leadership. Her goal is to inspire and encourage clients to be more self-aware of their strengths and value, allowing them to achieve greater success in both their careers and personal lives.
Based in Bern, Switzerland, Debbie enjoys spending time with her teenage daughter and two cats, as well as pursuing her love of nature, mountain running and is an ultra-race winner. She brings her experiences in running and nature to her coaching programs, imparting discipline, resilience, self-awareness, and purpose.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️
- Leadership Circle Profile 360 Certified
- ORSC™ - Organisation and Relationship Systems Coaching
- Team Coaching International
- DiSC & Five Behaviours Certified Practitioner
- ICF Mentor Coach
Clare Walker, PCC
Clare is the Global Coaching Lead in a major organisation, so has the opportunity to coach people from all over the World on a daily basis. Working within such diversity gives her a wealth of experience and knowledge. Studying initially with Sir John Whitmore’s organisation (founder of the GROW Model) and then with Awaken, Clare has a love of learning coaching tools and perspectives as well as the richness shegains from Coaching Conversations with both coaches and clients.
Clare facilitates training for all levels, from graduates to C-Suite and enjoys upskilling the 100 Internal Coaches in her Community of Practice. Outside of work, it is the theatre, music and walking in the Lake District that give her the energy for her work as well as looking after her family, from a 10 year old granddaughter to her parents in their 80’s via a husband of 30 years and 2 grown up children!
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️
- ICF – Group Coach
- Hogan Assessor
Leani du Toit, ACC
Leani's trauma-informed spiritual coaching draws social justice warriors to her Wild Reverent community – a safe space where they learn how to manage their occupational trauma together through guided soulcare. She has spent three decades serving alongside frontline leaders at risk of losing their tender hearts while persisting in their advocacy for, and liberation of, the most vulnerable and marginalised people alive today.
Leani's clients include investigators of sexual abuse in high demand religious groups, child-safety non-profit volunteers and displaced refugees from war-torn countries. Her multi-disciplinary background, broad cross-cultural work and passion for beauty and authentic belonging informs her digital silent retreats, poetry and long-table party themes.
She is wife to one husband - Francois - and mom to their adopted daughter - Leila. Staff to three cats and friend of two sheep dogs. Despite being a failed housewife she still dreams about one day keeping her own chickens while preventing them from destroying her magical garden in the desert town of Philippolis in the Upper Karoo ecozone in South Africa.
Certifications:
- Critical Incident Trauma Debriefing (2008)
- Pastoral Narrative Therapy (2009)
- Cross-Cultural People Care (2016)
- Chronic Trauma Debriefing (2017)
- Social Impact Coaching (2021)'
- Awaken All-in-One Coaching (2022)
- Awaken Group Coaching (2022)
- Fuller Spiritual Formation (2023)
Stacy Crawford, PCC
Stacy has been a strengths-based coach for teams and individuals since 2016. She founded Klear Water Coaching & Wellness in 2017 and incorporates Mind-Body Medicine into both her organizational work and individual coaching. Much of her career was spent in higher education as an educator, coach, and leader in student success. She is a proud alumnus of the Awaken Coach Institute program and is honored to step into a faculty role.
Stacy holds a Master’s degree in Counseling, with a focus on marriage and family. She has more than 300 hours of training and supervision from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) in Washington, DC whose mission is “to help communities around the world to develop the tools they need to heal population-wide trauma.” She served as a mentor and supervisor to others navigating the CMBM certification process for two years and offers self-care groups focused on meditation, mindfulness, and more.
Her authentic and heartfelt approach helps to create a safe space for individuals to explore the possibilities that exist within themselves and to navigate challenges.
Based in Northern Minnesota, Stacy enjoys traveling, reading, laughing, knitting, live music, dancing, and spending time with her partner and two adult children on or near the water.
Certifications:
- ICF - Professional Certified Coach®️
- Awaken Coach Institute Graduate
- Gallup Certified CliftonStrengths Coach & Educator
- Mental Health First Aider
- Center for Mind-Body Medicine
Matthew Cintron-Quinones, MCC, BCC
Matthew is an internationally seasoned life and executive coach supporting leaders who identify within the Latin@ community. His laser-focused approach and keen attention to language help uncover the root causes of his clients’ challenges, empowering them to progress with renewed perspectives. Having explored over 65 countries for work, leisure, volunteerism, and research, Matthew discovered his innate ability to adapt swiftly to unforeseen situations, adeptly crafting alternative strategies.
With a diverse background spanning a decade in international higher education administration, learning and development, and federal programming, Matthew has committed himself to the coaching profession. He generously volunteers with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and provides impactful mentor coaching to assist coaches in tailoring their approach using the ICF Core Competencies.
Known among peers as the go-to resource for anything ICF-related, Matthew remains dedicated to his professional development and readily shares his expertise to support the coaching community. He also maintains up-to-date industry certifications in human resources and project management. When Matthew is not with his clients, he can be found lounging with his cats (Burt and Arlo), watching crime dramas, or hunting for the best iced coffee in town.
Certifications:
- ICF - Master Certified Coach™ (MCC)
- CCE - Board Certified Coach™ (BCC)
- Advanced Certified Mentor Coach™ (ACMC) by Fran Fisher, MCC
- Certified Professional Coach (CPC) - iPEC Coaching
- Senior Professional in Human Resources® (SPHR®)
- SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
- Project Management Professional (PMP)®
