The ADHD Coaching Program at Expedia Group was created to build a greater sense of belonging, and support development, within the neurodivergent community. ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Emi Wood-Leclerc spearheads the initiative at EG and has been instrumental in establishing the program, leveraging her position as a board member for AIM (Ability Inclusion Movement at Expedia Group), and using her leadership to drive strategic partnerships and ensure the program’s success. Emi has been at Expedia Group since 2016 and works as an Account Manager within Travel Partners and Media. This is her third year serving on the AIM Board, previously as the Global Development Chair and most recently as the Vice President for AMERS. In this blog, Emi talks us through the program, and the benefits it provides to EG employees.

Emi Wood-Leclerc, Account Manager, Seattle, WA, USA

Why was the ADHD Coaching Program created?

To support the neurodivergent community, it is important  to have both advocates and allies. With this particular program, people who have ADHD and those who have experience with ADHD, but might not have it personally, can validate what someone with ADHD goes through, especially when it comes to their career development and their personal development. It’s about having that safe space to have that coaching and personal growth. 

The program began because we noticed a trend among members of AIM, that they were less engaged with the EG mentoring program compared to other Inclusion Business Group members. A lot of the feedback we received referenced lack of mentors with experience and understanding of how to connect with people with ADHD. While coaching is not mentoring, and not meant to be mentoring, it is a place to start to bridge the gap. We decided to start with ADHD, specifically because we do have a very large sub community of AIM that is a part of the ADHD community. We would love to expand it to also include autism and other neurodivergent identities to create a better experience. 

This specific idea spurred from another company that had a subgroup for people with ADHD within their peer coaching program. However, their coaches did not receive formal training, it was people who had ADHD that were coaching others that had ADHD. After connecting with Jaye Lin, an ADHD Coach and owner of Jaye Lin ADHD Coaching out of Seattle, AIM provided formal training on ADHD and coaching for our pilot peer cohort at EG.

How does this program differ from other coaching programs?

Now, what makes this program different than other coaching or mentoring programs is that these folks go through 20 plus hours of training to understand the nuances of ADHD. By having this information and knowledge it helps the coach to understand some of the nuanced issues. It could be the underlying shame, executive dysfunction, all of those pieces a lot of folks with ADHD don’t even know that they have. And so, being able to identify those and say “hey, you know what? That’s totally normal. That’s normal for you to feel that way”, and then, being able to ask the right questions, helps them to identify the best solution for themselves. 

How many coaches are there? And what growth do you see for the program?

We have coaches that range all the way from relatively entry level, to director level, so a really great range. We have 6 coaches that have graduated, all based in the USA. We have others lined up to be in our next cohort of coaches and we’re really looking forward to getting more for APAC and EMEA as well. For our soft launch, we wanted to gauge the bandwidth of our coaches. So far, we have had 14 official connections between coaches and those being coached. Since we launched, we’re getting about 1 request per week. We are taking coach feedback into consideration to adjust what we’ve already learned and are looking forward to the future of the program.  

What has been the feedback from the coaching sessions so far?

From a coaching perspective, one of the major things that we have come to realize is that people are really finding value in the sessions, so we’ve increased the recommended meeting time. Additionally, each person that has connected with a coach so far has requested additional sessions, which has been great to hear. So, we really have the demand to explore and support future cohorts.  

One of the most rewarding pieces of feedback we’ve received was around the personal and professional development for one of the coaches. They shared that professionally they were feeling stuck in their own development, and when they saw this opportunity, they jumped on it. They went through the training, and that prevented them from pursuing other opportunities. To me, that was a huge piece of being able to help, not just our ADHD community, but also providing that additional development for our coaches, too.

Why do you encourage people to take part in the program, either to receive coaching, or to be a coach themselves?

Connecting with a peer coach is a great opportunity to learn how to process through situations on your own in the future. The approach is not designed for peer coaches to provide all the answers, but to ask the coachee questions that help them find their own solutions. The goal is for the coachee to learn how to apply this process to future situations. Rather than relying on a peer coach in the long term, the coachee learns to ask themselves these questions, enabling them to become empowered and self-sufficient. As an ADHD peer coach this is a fantastic way to motivate and to help others. This coaching technique isn’t limited to individuals with ADHD; it can benefit anyone. The ability to help and ask the right questions is invaluable. Our coaches often report that they have successfully coached people outside of this program, applying what they’ve learned to ask the right questions and provide effective support. 

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