Hello! I'm Elizabeth
Career & Leadership Coach
I’ve repeatedly seen highly capable professionals feel stuck—not because they lack ability, but because they lack clarity, confidence and a clear path forward.
I’ve also seen managers genuinely want the international professionals they lead to succeed while lacking the practical tools to support them effectively.
That is why I help mid-career and senior-level professionals—many of them international or interculturally positioned—build on what they already bring and purposefully shape the next chapter of their careers.
I also equip managers leading international talent to understand the professionals they lead in the fuller context of who they are, where they are and what they are navigating—and to create conditions in which those professionals know they are seen, know they belong and have room to contribute, grow and choose to stay.
Behind the approach
My Story
Hi, I’m Elizabeth Njeru-Smid, drs.
Years of International Experience
I bring multidisciplinary expertise in coaching, sociology, learning and leadership development, DEIB, intercultural practice and career navigation to my work with mid-career and senior-level professionals and managers leading international talent. I can also draw on a broad professional network if and when relevant.
Professionals Guided Forward
Supporting mid-career and senior-level professionals navigating career direction, cultural dynamics, leadership and growth—and managers strengthening the integration, contribution and retention of international talent.
Languages I Work In
English, Dutch, Swahili and Kiembu—connecting with clients across cultures and contexts, informed by my own lived experience of moving between Kenya and the Netherlands.
"Progress over perfection. Start where you are now, with what you have."
Professionals "who are from elsewhere," or who are seen as such©
I coined the phrase “professionals who are from elsewhere, or who are seen as such”© to give language to the experience of professionals navigating intercultural workplaces, global careers and local systems—often without fitting neatly within the structures around them.
The phrase recognises that being positioned as an outsider is not determined solely by where someone was born. Professionals may, whether consciously or unconsciously, see themselves—or be seen by others—as “from elsewhere” because of their name, appearance, accent, cultural background, professional history or ways of communicating and relating, even when they have lived or worked locally for many years.
This positioning can influence how their expertise, behaviour, leadership and potential are perceived and understood—as well as the strategies they use, the choices available to them and the ease or difficulty with which they navigate systems, opportunities and challenges.
Naming this experience helps make it more visible—to the professionals experiencing it and to the managers and organisations around them.
My professional journey—spanning sociology, HR, learning and organisational development, coaching, leadership development, training, facilitation, DEIB and intercultural development—has shaped how I recognise and work with this experience, both in the individuals navigating it and in the organisations around them.
Professional and community leadership
Credentials and languages
01
Coaching and accreditation
- EMCC-NOBCO Accredited Coach
- Post-HBO Coach Diploma
- Certified Intercultural Readiness Check practitioner
- Certified bDISC & Drivers practitioner
- Training in Transactional Analysis, Voice Dialogue, Gestalt, REBT, Nonviolent Communication and the Roos van Leary
02
Learning, leadership and organisational development
- Master’s degree in Sociology, specialising in Policy
- Certified Trainer and Consultant
- Trainer of Trainers and Group Dynamics
- HR, L&D and organisational-development experience
- Learning and intervention-design expertise
- Personal, professional and leadership development
03
Intercultural and inclusive practice
- Global Talent Integration and Intercultural Development Specialist
- DEIB strategy and intervention experience
- Inclusive Instructional Design
- Experience across cultural, organisational and international contexts
- Initiator, co-founder and chair of NOBCO-ICC
04
Wellbeing and responsible practice
- Mental Health First Response
- Suicide-intervention training
- Practice informed by professional coaching ethics and confidentiality
05
Languages
- English
- Dutch
- Swahili
- Kiembu
Selected organisational experience
- Public-sector and municipal environments
- Financial and international-development contexts
- Education and learning
- Civil-society and community organisations
- International professional networks
- DEIB and intercultural-development initiatives
- Leadership, talent and organisational development
- Public-sector and municipal environments
- Financial and international-development contexts
- Education and learning
- Civil-society and community organisations
- International professional networks
- DEIB and intercultural-development initiatives
- Leadership, talent and organisational development