Scholarships for Changemakers

On a Friday morning this past July, I sat on a rock at the edge of the Chattahoochee and watched the river go by. I had left my phone at home. In my journal that morning I wrote that I wanted to begin my coaching practice the way I intend to continue it: in service to people doing work that matters.

So here is what I am doing. I am giving away four complete coaching engagements. Not a sample session, not a taste. The full six-month Centered Leadership Partnership my private clients receive: twelve sessions of Presence-Based® Coaching, valued at $4,800. Free is the wrong word for this. These are scholarships, and they carry the full value of the seat.

Maybe one of them is yours. This is for changemakers: people in a position to move the needle for their community or the world, on justice, equity, belonging, or repair. And somewhere along the way, something got stuck. The vision has not dimmed, but something has stopped moving, and you can feel it. Presence-Based® Coaching was built for exactly that moment. I have watched it unstick people and widen what they believed was possible, because it happened to me.

There is no catch, and I will tell you plainly what I get out of this. Twice a month I will get to sit with people who are trying to repair the world, which is my idea of good work.

Applications closed on Friday, September 4. Thank you to everyone who applied, and to everyone who sent this to someone who needed it. Invited finalists are completing the full application now, and the four recipients will be chosen by September 15. If you found this page too late and something in it spoke to you, the conversation is still open at brycethomason.com/explore. There is no expectation or timeline there, just a place to start.

Full applications from invited finalists are due September 8. Selections by September 15, and we begin together before the end of September. One thing to know as you plan: I will be away October 18 through November 7, and we will schedule around that openly from the start.

If this is your moment, I would be honored to read your application.

About you

Name

Location and time zone

Your organization or community, and your role in it. Formal titles welcome but not required; organizing your neighborhood’s mutual aid network counts.

A link or two that shows your work: LinkedIn, a website, an article about your organization. Whatever tells the story.

Your impact

What change are you working to make, and for whom? Be specific about the people or community your work serves. (150 words or fewer)

What is your position to move the needle? Not your title. Where does your influence actually reach, and what could shift if you were operating at your best? (150 words or fewer)

The stuck moment

Where are you stuck right now? Describe the moment you are in: what has stopped moving, or what keeps repeating. (200 words or fewer)

What have you already tried? (100 words or fewer)

What is at stake if nothing changes? For your work, for the people it serves, and for you. (100 words or fewer)

The real thought work

Describe a moment in the past year when you were at your best as a changemaker, and a moment when you were most stuck. What do you notice about the difference between those two versions of you? (250 words or fewer. There is no right answer. I am interested in what you notice, not how it sounds.)

Coachability

Why coaching, and why now? Coaching is not consulting or mentoring. I will not hand you strategies or answers; we will work on how you are being in your leadership, not just what you are doing. Knowing that, what draws you to this? (150 words or fewer)

Tell me about a time someone gave you feedback that was hard to hear. What did you do with it? (150 words or fewer)

What about yourself are you willing to examine? (100 words or fewer)

Commitment

This engagement is twelve 55-minute sessions over roughly six months, every two weeks, by video. Between sessions there are small practices and things to notice. Can you commit to the full arc, beginning by late September?

Anything else you want me to know? (Optional, 100 words or fewer)

Before you submit

A few things to be clear about, in plain language. What you write here should be true and your own. Your application is confidential: I am the only person who reads it, I use it only to select this cohort, and I will not share it or add you to anything without your separate say-so below. Applying does not create a coaching relationship, and selection decisions are mine to make and final. You must be 18 or older to apply. If you are not selected, I will tell you so directly, and your application will be deleted after the cohort is chosen.

I understand and agree. (required)

Optional: keep me posted. Once a month or so I publish an essay on leading from center. Check this and I will add you to the list. Checking it, or not, has no effect whatsoever on your application.

Bryce Thomason

Coaching for purpose, presence, and steady leadership. Atlanta, Georgia, and by Zoom wherever you are.

Drafted with AI assistance and edited by me.