The Career Design Leadership Coaching Lab is offered to students enrolled in the required public health leadership course. Through one-on-one executive coaching and sustained mentoring, students engage in a process of reflection that helps them discover alignment between their leadership philosophy and future professional goals—whether in academia, practice, or policy. The Lab begins with the Ikigai framework as an entry point for self-reflexive interrogation, encouraging students to situate their personal commitments and lived experiences within their professional trajectories. 

This process extends beyond course content: coaching supports students in drawing connections between leadership theory, their own career aspirations, and the demands of public health practice. Paired with the Public Health Practitioners’ Dispatch, the Lab creates structured opportunities for students to explore emerging pathways in the field and to imagine futures where their leadership is both purposeful and durable.

To recognize the relational dimension of leadership, the program also offers coaching access to students’ partners, at the student’s request. 

For any questions, please reach out to Prof. Irfan at Ans.Irfan@usc.edu.