How Moe Foundation Trained 1,500 Coaches Worldwide

Irina is a marketing expert. She knows platforms. She’s seen dozens of them: the ones that promise community but forget courses, the ones that nail courses but treat community like an afterthought.

So when she went looking for a home for the Moe Foundation’s coach certification program, she had a list. A long list. And a quiet suspicion that nothing would check all the boxes.

Then she found GroupApp.

And here’s the thing: she didn’t just find a platform. She found a way to take a charity that started with face‑to‑face courses in the UK and turn it into a global movement that has now certified over 1,500 coaches, with 20 cohorts running in just a week.

The best part? She did it step by step, testing with guinea pigs, stealing ideas from other people’s case studies, and celebrating when someone finally complained about the right things.

Let’s dive in.

The Problem: Pandemic Hits, Courses Go Online, Community Goes Poof

Moe Foundation started as a UK charity offering in‑person coach certification and mental health first aid courses. Then 2020 happened. Suddenly, nobody could gather in rooms together.

So they moved everything online. And to everyone’s surprise, the online courses exploded. People from all over the world started signing up. The mission, empower one person, create a ripple effect that impacts the whole world, was actually scaling.

But something was missing.

They had an alumni Facebook group, but it wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t inclusive enough. Partners, curious newcomers, and people just exploring the work had nowhere to go. And the magic of in‑person connection? Gone.

“We wanted to get that feeling of community online,” Irina says. “The way we couldn’t anymore because we couldn’t meet in person.”

She knew there had to be a better way.

The Search: A Marketing Expert Goes Platform Hunting

Irina didn’t stumble into this. She researched. She compared. She made spreadsheets in her head (and probably on paper too).

What she found was a landscape of compromises. Platforms that did courses well but treated community as an afterthought. Platforms that built beautiful communities but made you duct‑tape a course on top.

Then she found GroupApp.

“What I really liked was that it has both the course component and the community component at the core, at the heart of the software,” she says. “It’s not a core software that has community added to it, and it’s not a community software that has course components added because there’s always some missing pieces.”

She proposed it to the board. She set up a test account. She clicked around. She fell in love.

The Build: One Course, 17 Cohorts, and a Few Guinea Pigs

Here’s where it gets good.

Irina didn’t invite everyone at once. She didn’t announce a grand opening. She did something way smarter: she started small.

Step 1: Build the course skeleton.

She built the certification course inside GroupApp, mapping out which parts were the same for every cohort and which parts flexed. Some cohorts run over six weeks, some over eight. Homework, assignments, slides, all of it went into the platform so they’d never have to email attachments again.

Step 2: Call in the guinea pigs.

She invited a few trusted alumni to poke around, click things, and give feedback. They tested. They complained (nicely). They helped her catch things she’d missed.

Step 3: Run the first real cohort.

They enlisted one lead trainer who was willing to be the guinea pig, the first person to run a full cohort inside the new system. “We were very much searching,” Irina admits. “How can we get people onto the platform? How can we get them to engage?”

It worked. And then they ran another cohort. And another.

Now? They’ve run about 20 cohorts. They’re up to Course 72. (Yes, they name them by number because when you’re growing that fast, you stop giving them cute names and just start counting.)

The Secret Sauce: A Start Here Channel So Clear Your Grandma Could Use It

One thing Irina noticed right away: not everyone is tech‑literate. Some of their coaches are brilliant at holding space for healing conversations, but get lost trying to find a settings menu.

So she built a “Start Here” channel that basically holds your hand and walks you into the community.

What’s in it?

• A video tour. Irina recorded herself walking through the community, showing where everything lives.
• A “first steps” post. Simple bullet points: bookmark this page, set up your profile, say hello.
• Guidelines. Clear, kind, no surprises.
• Links to the mobile apps. Because if it’s not on their phone, it might as well not exist.
• A post about notification settings. (She just added this because people were getting overwhelmed. She’s learning as she goes.)

And her favorite tip? She stole it from our other case studies. (She admitted it. I’m flattered.)

The Feature That Changed Everything: Forced Introductions

Here’s a funny moment from the transcript.

Irina had been asking people to introduce themselves: add a bio, upload a photo, post in the discussion thread. Some did. Most didn’t. People are busy. People are shy. People forget.

Then, GroupApp launched a feature that prompts new members to make an introduction post before they can access the rest of the community. A little pop‑up says, basically, “Hey, tell us who you are, then you can see the good stuff.”

Suddenly, introductions flooded in. Engagement jumped. The community felt alive.

Irina laughed. “That was your tip,” she said. “I’m making it mine.”

I’m happy to share credit.

The Structure: Cohorts, Channels, and a Trainer Pathway

Let’s peek inside the Moe Foundation community.

They have one main certification course (they’re building out a mental health first aid course next). The course is structured by week, with slides, assignments, and resources all inside. No more hunting through email for the link to the Zoom etiquette PDF.

But the real magic is in the channels.

• A separate private channel for each cohort. Because when you’re practicing coaching on each other, bringing real-life challenges to class, you need a safe, contained space to have those conversations. They’re up to Course 72. That’s a lot of private channels.
• An alumni thread. Graduates stay connected, share wins, ask for advice.
• Skills labs. Twice a month, they run practical sessions where alumni can refresh their coaching skills. A quick theory refresher, then breakout rooms to practice. It’s like a gym for your coaching muscles.
• A trainer’s pathway channel. Still under construction, but the idea is to create a clear path for coaches to become lead trainers and build careers within the organization.
• A digital academy library. Webinars from guest experts, topics like coaching burnout, marketing for new coaches, live here. Plus a podcast section so people can find episodes without leaving the community.

Everything is organized. Everything is searchable. And nothing gets lost in a Facebook feed.

The Ripple Effect: From UK Charity to Global Movement

Since moving to GroupApp, Moe Foundation has certified over 1,500 coaches. They’re running multiple cohorts simultaneously. They’re planning a big face‑to‑face conference at the end of the year.

And the ripple effect Irina talked about? It’s real.

Every coach they certify goes out into their own community and empowers someone else. Someone who might be struggling. Someone who needs to be heard. Someone who might go on to change the world in their own way.

That’s the power of scaling a mission without losing the human touch.

The Playbook: What Irina Wants You to Steal

If you’re building a community, especially if you’re a nonprofit, a coach, or anyone with a certification program, here’s Irina’s advice, straight from her experience:

1. Take it step by step.

“I’m really happy we didn’t invite our whole alumni community at once,” she says. “That would have been very overwhelming.”

Start with a few trusted ambassadors. Then one cohort. Then another. Let the community grow with you.

2. Test with people who will actually give you feedback.

Her first lead trainer was a guinea pig. She volunteered to be the one who clicked the wrong buttons and asked the obvious questions. Bless her.

3. Use introductions and make them required if you can.

Forced introductions feel pushy until you see the engagement they create. Once people say hello, they’re way more likely to keep showing up.

4. Create a “Start Here” channel that anticipates every question.

Video tour, first steps, links to apps, notification settings. If someone can get lost, give them a map.

5. Separate your channels by purpose.

Private cohort channels for safe practice. Alumni thread for ongoing connection. Skills labs for practice. Trainer pathway for career growth. Each channel has a job, and members know where to go.

6. Build once, use many times.

They built the certification course once and have now run 20 cohorts off it. The slides, the assignments, the resources, all in one place. No reinventing the wheel every time.

7. Keep adding and improving.

They’re still building out the trainer pathway. They’re still planning to invite previous alumni into the community. They’re still tweaking the onboarding. A community is never “done.” It just keeps getting better.

The Inspiring Part (Because This Story Deserves It)

Here’s what gets me.

Moe Foundation started as a small UK charity. Now they have coaches all over the world. People who took their course in one country are now coaching people in another, creating ripples Irina will probably never see.

And she’s not just building a community. She’s building a system that empowers people to build their own communities.

When I asked her what’s next, she lit up. “We want to put more courses in there. We’re really growing globally. We want many more cohorts. A very lively community we are building.”

Not a platform. Not a course catalog. A living, breathing, laughing, learning community of people who believe that when you empower one person, you change the world.

And she did it step by step, guinea pig by guinea pig, tip by stolen tip.

The Part That Made Me Laugh

Irina told me she’d been watching our other case studies to get ideas. She saw how other people set up their onboarding and thought, “I’ll have some of that.”

Then she discovered the forced introduction feature and watched her engagement numbers climb.

“That was your tip,” she said. “I’m making it mine.”

She paused.

“I don’t mind you making it yours,” I said.

She laughed. “Good.”

That’s the thing about this work. Nobody has all the answers. But when we share what works, everyone gets better. Irina stole from me. I’ll steal from her. And the people we serve get a better experience.

That’s the ripple effect.

Your Turn to Build

If you’re sitting on a certification program, a course, or just a pile of knowledge that the world needs, stop waiting. Start small. Get a few guinea pigs. Build a “Start Here” channel. Steal ideas shamelessly.

See what GroupApp can do for your mission.