Coaching & Leadership Professional Designation

The next step after your Certificate.

The Coaching & Leadership Professional Designation (CLPD) deepens and formally recognizes what you built through the Certificate in Applied Leadership (CAL). Advanced practice and a team capstone move you from demonstrated competence to a designation that opens eligibility for graduate study.

Deepen your coaching.

Learn from experience. You'll be coached yourself, then refine your approach with feedback from certified coaches.

Lead change.

Learn how other leaders are navigating change and use those perspectives to strengthen your own approach.

See the system.

Look beyond individual performance to understand what is shaping your team or organization.

Learn alongside peers.

Your cohort brings together experienced leaders with different perspectives, organizations, and challenges.

Grounded in neuroscience

Builds on the neuroscience from the certificate program, now applied at a higher level. The science stays tied to your day-to-day leadership.

Applied in your real role

Practice happens at work. Executive and mentor coaches provide feedback; the AI mentor coach lets you practice between sessions.

Taught by expert faculty

eLeadership Academy faculty lead the webinars and capstone process. Royal Roads University participates in the final capstone review.

Credential Pathway

Start your designation journey.

The CLPD Program is open to leaders who have completed the Certificate in Applied Leadership and have at least two years of experience leading others or leading through influence. Tenure is a consideration in the application review.

Applications for the 2027 cohort close November 30, 2026. Applying confirms you've completed the Certificate in Applied Leadership and meet the eligibility requirements. Once accepted, you join the January–March cohort. Your designation is reviewed and awarded at the end of the program. Apply here.

Yes. The CLPD Program builds directly on the learning from IGNITE, eLEAD, eCOACH, and your eFOCUS course, and completion of the Certificate in Applied Leadership is required for eligibility. If you haven't started the CAL yet, IGNITE is the recommended first step. Any of the three eFOCUS courses counts, and earlier Capstone completions remain eligible.

The team capstone is a final presentation delivered to fellow learners, eLeadership Academy faculty, and Royal Roads University. You'll work in a small team to apply what you've learned across the program to a real leadership context, and the presentation is how you demonstrate integrated capability at the designation level.

The CLPD Program deepens understanding and practice of the ICF Core Competencies introduced across the Certificate in Applied Leadership, through mentor coaching, coaching with an ICF-certified executive coach, and workplace coaching practice. The program is not an ICF credentialing pathway.

Earning the CLPD grants equivalency credit for LEAD 580: Leadership, Community, and Collaboration at Royal Roads University, one of three courses in the Graduate Certificate in Management and Leadership. From there, two additional courses at Royal Roads complete the graduate certificate.

The CLPD is valid for three years. Renewal requires a coaching endorsement letter from a workplace coachee, an overview of continued coaching practice and leadership learning, a mentor coach session, and a log of 10 continuing education hours completed over the three years.

Yes. We can provide an invoice for employer reimbursement or direct billing, and we have resources to help you frame the request to your manager. Reach out if you'd like support with that.

Coaching & Leadership Professional Designation

Jointly
awarded by