About the IEFCC

The International Executive Function Coaching Certification (IEFCC) exists to advance humane, ethical executive function coaching across education, workplaces, and communities — safeguarding those most at risk and raising standards for everyone. Our mission is to ensure that executive function coaching is delivered to the highest ethical and professional standards, so it can transform education, workplaces, and communities worldwide.

We are an independent certification body, providing impartial assessment and recognition rather than training. Like an examination board, we certify competence while a network of approved training providers delivers the teaching. This separation preserves the integrity, consistency, and credibility of our certification across the globe.

Founded by Michael Delman and Victoria Bagnall, the IEFCC is grounded in 28 Professional Standards that define safe, inclusive, and effective coaching practice. These standards form the benchmark for certification and give clients, organisations, and the wider profession confidence in the quality of service provided by accredited coaches.

What is the IEFCC

Our Mission

To protect people by assuring quality, ethical standards in executive function coaching worldwide — with particular care for those most at risk of harm.

We exist to protect people by setting a global benchmark for executive function coaching, with particular responsibility to safeguard marginalised and neurodivergent communities. Our certification ensures that coaches practise to high professional standards, grounded in evidence, ethics, and inclusion, so that quality personal development support is accessible and safe for everyone.

Our Vision

Our vision is a world where executive function coaching is a recognised and respected profession, transforming education, workplaces, and communities through ethical and inclusive practice. We are dedicated to ensuring that everyone — especially the most marginalised — can trust that executive function coaching is safe, ethical, and of the highest standard.

How we work

The International Executive Function Coaching Certification (IEFCC) is an independent body dedicated solely to assessment and certification. We do not deliver training ourselves. Instead, we partner with a global network of approved training providers who prepare and mentor coaches to meet our standards.

This separation — much like the model used by examination boards — ensures that certification is impartial, consistent, and credible worldwide. Training providers focus on teaching and development, while the IEFCC provides rigorous assessment and recognition of competence.

By working in this way, we maintain the integrity of the certification process and give clients, organisations, and the wider profession confidence that every accredited coach has met the same high standards, regardless of where they trained.

Meet our founders

Our founders established the IEFCC in 2025, driven by a desire to raise standards of executive function coaching globally and offer people seeking executive function coaching confidence that they are accessing high quality, ethical support.


  • Founder & Director of Certification

    Victoria is a critically acclaimed trainer, author, and global pioneer in executive function coaching and neuroinclusion. She has trained thousands of teachers, coaches, and professionals worldwide, and through Connections in Mind CIC has established internationally recognised executive function coach training programmes and coaching practices. Victoria has been at the forefront of advancing our understanding of behavioural neuroscience and its practical application in education and the workplace. She is deeply committed to safeguarding the most marginalised and shaping a global movement towards neuroaffirmative practice.

  • Founder & Non Executive Director

    Michael is an award-winning educator, a school founder and former school principal, author, and pioneer of executive function coaching in the United States. Founder of Beyond BookSmart, one of the world’s largest executive function coaching organisations, he has spent decades developing evidence-based approaches that empower learners of all ages. Michael brings unparalleled expertise in coaching practice, professional standards, and training design.