Gabriella Goddard Wins 'Coach of the Year' at Influencer Magazine Awards 2026
Gabriella Goddard - IMA 2026: Coach of the Year (Photo Credit: Amanda Clarke Photography)
Based in London, United Kingdom, Goddard launched the Brainsparker Creativity Coaching app in 2013 with a mission to help people overcome blocks and spark new ideas. Since then, the app has reached over 550,000 users worldwide and consistently ranks in the Top 10 apps for "creativity" in both the US and UK, receiving mentions in Forbes, The New York Times, and My Modern Met. This digital tool represents just one facet of a broader mission: to ignite the creativity of over one million people across the globe and to improve life for all.
Reflecting on the recognition, Goddard shared, "This award is deeply meaningful because coaching, at its best, is about unlocking the potential that people often don't know they have. I have spent my career helping leaders and teams discover their creative edge, and to have that work recognised on a global stage is profoundly humbling."
Over two decades, Goddard has coached and mentored thousands of senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and teams across a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, healthcare, FMCG, financial services, technology, and media. Her clients have ranged from executives in S&P 500 and FTSE 100 organisations to global high-potential leaders, startup founders, and entrepreneurs shaping the future of their industries. Her work has consistently focused on helping people lead innovation, build high-performing teams, and create meaningful impact, both on Earth and beyond. That "beyond" element is no exaggeration. Goddard has served as a mentor for the UK Space Agency Accelerator, UNOOSA Space4Women, the European Innovation Council Women Leadership Programme, and World Space Week Astropreneurs, supporting ambitious founders and leaders who are actively shaping humanity's future trajectory. Her contributions to this field were recognised in 2025 when she received the "Guiding Star" Award from the UK Space Agency Accelerator, a fitting honour for someone helping leaders reach for the stars.
More recently, Goddard's coaching has focused on preparing leaders for the AI era. She believes AI will transform the way we work, not only by improving efficiency and productivity, but by liberating something far more valuable: headspace for leaders to elevate their thinking, imagination, and impact. When AI takes on more of the repetitive, routine, and operational work, she argues, leaders and teams have more space to think strategically, solve problems creatively, and focus on the kind of innovation only humans can bring. This philosophy has led her to develop the “AI Catalyst Leader™” programme, the "SPARKER Prompt Protocol™" and the "ROAI Leadership Cycle" for team AI capabilities, as well as to personally train “AI Coach Sparkalino”, an AI Creativity Coach, while implementing AI workflows across functions within Brainsparker Ltd.
Her thought leadership on this subject has been widely published. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com as a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, with recent articles including "Automate to Innovate: Unlocking the Human Dividend of AI" and "The Creative Edge: 7 Skills That Make Leaders Irreplaceable in the Age of AI" She is also the author of Gulp! The 7-Day Crash Course to Master Fear and Break Through Any Challenge (Penguin/Bantam), a book that distils her coaching methodology into an accessible, high-impact format.
Speaking on what the Coach of the Year Award represents, Goddard added, "For me, coaching is about empowering leaders to see beyond the immediate, to think bigger, and to create the future with courage and intention. I believe that when we unlock human creativity, we unlock the potential to solve the world's most complex challenges. This recognition reinforces my commitment to helping leaders develop the creative edge that makes them irreplaceable, especially in an increasingly AI-powered world."
Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Goddard's coaching qualifications are extensive. She is a graduate of The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), a Certified Practitioner for Coaching Across Cultures, and a Certified Practitioner in Lumina Spark and Belbin Teams. Her academic background includes executive education from Harvard Business School ("Disruptive Strategy"), Stanford University ("Innovation & Entrepreneurship"), IDEO ("Creative Collaboration"), Darden ("Design Thinking for Business Innovation"), and the International Space University ("Executive Programme"). She also holds a Bachelor of Food/Biotechnology (Hons) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business & Administration from New Zealand. Her commercial experience prior to founding Brainsparker included roles as European Commercial Director at Atlantic Telecom (UK), Senior Product Manager at Avantel/MCI Worldcom (Mexico), Product Marketing LATAM at AC Nielsen (Mexico), and Account Manager at AC Nielsen (NZ), a diverse career that gives her unique insight into the challenges faced by leaders across different industries and geographies.
Goddard's work has earned her multiple accolades. In addition to the UK Space Agency Accelerator's "Guiding Star" Award, she was named "Best Coach" at the 2025 Best Businesswomen Awards. She is a member of the International Coach Federation and the Forbes Coaches Council, and Brainsparker has also received a Globee Women in Business Award.
With over 550,000 app users, thousands of coached leaders, mentoring roles with space agencies and UN programmes, a portfolio of Forbes articles, a published book, and a pioneering approach to AI-integrated leadership coaching, Gabriella Goddard stands as one of the most innovative and impactful coaches of her generation. Her win at IMA 2026 celebrates not only her extraordinary achievements to date but her ongoing mission to help leaders develop the creative edge that makes them irreplaceable, on Earth and beyond.
Paul Hebert
Influencer Magazine UK
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
