Fernando Celis

Fernando Celis

Fernando Celis, MCC (Master Certified Coach), is a coach, educator, author, and founder of ILC Academy Worldwide, an organization dedicated to professional education in Life & Leadership Coaching and the development of human potential.

His journey has been shaped by a question that has accompanied much of his life and work: What enables a person to transform what they know into a decision powerful enough to change their life?

In pursuit of that answer—and of his own understanding of happiness and fulfillment—Fernando has surfed legendary waves in more than 20 countries around the world. Along the way, he has devoted years to the study, practice, and teaching of coaching, integrating principles of human development, leadership, neuroscience applied to coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Human Needs Psychology, beliefs, values, purpose, and different approaches to personal transformation.

As a Master Certified Coach (MCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and an IAC™ Master Coach, Fernando has built his career around an approach to coaching that combines depth, presence, and high professional standards with a practical orientation toward results, growth, and transformation.

Through ILC Academy, he has contributed to the development of generations of coaches and leaders, creating educational experiences in which coaching is understood not simply as a collection of tools, but as a different way of listening, asking questions, building relationships, and supporting human beings in creating meaningful change.

His philosophy is grounded in a simple conviction:

Awareness alone does not transform a life. What we do with that awareness does.

This philosophy is reflected in Transcending Levels of Consciousness (Trascendiendo Niveles de Consciencia), co-authored with Ma. Alexandra Duque, Master Life Coach Trainer. Conceived as both a workbook and a guide, the book takes readers on a journey through coaching foundations, neuroscience, listening, goals, archetypes, language, beliefs, anchoring, values, and purpose.

Rather than offering predetermined answers, Fernando invites readers to examine their own map of reality, question what they have accepted as true, recognize the resources they already possess, and turn new levels of awareness into decisions and action.

His work reflects the philosophy he has championed for years at ILC Academy: grow, learn, and transcend. Achieving a goal matters, but the deeper transformation often lies in who we become along the way.

Fernando also uses surfing as a metaphor for life and leadership—an invitation to learn how to navigate the waves of change, uncertainty, and volatility rather than waiting for the ocean to become calm.

He has coached Fortune 500 CEOs, and through ILC Academy has contributed to the training of more than 4,000 coaches worldwide.

Today, Fernando continues to educate coaches, develop new learning methodologies, and explore how technology can expand access to transformational learning experiences without losing what he considers irreplaceable:

the depth of human connection.