In this episode, Melissa Venable interviews NCDA President Dirk Matthews about the NCDA 2026 Global Career Development Conference, June 30–July 2 in Minneapolis. Dirk presents the event theme, “Creative resilience: integrating dynamic solutions and career development,” emphasizing practical, creative problem-solving amid constant change. He highlights the conference’s community, learning, and networking benefits and introduces new conference features this year: partial livestreaming of the opening keynote and select sessions to increase accessibility, and board-hosted evening activities. Keynotes include: Dr. Bidhan (Bobby) Parmar, author of “Radical Doubt;” Azizi Marshall on communication (“Speak Like a Badass”); and Dr. Jaana Kettunen on the international considerations of artificial intelligence. Dirk also shares his leadership goals focused on accessibility, scholarships, and an organizational assessment to guide NCDA's next strategic plan.

Dirk Matthews, MS, CMCS is the current NCDA President (2025-2026). He brings a diverse background of experience to career development that is fueled by his work as a therapist, educator, photographer, and filmmaker. He is a leader in career services and an educator at Columbia College Chicago. He is a private practitioner in career development and the owner of an architectural photography business. Dirk has provided career services in higher education and to adults for the past 23 years while teaching film and career preparation courses for 26 years. In addition, he is a Facilitating Career Development instructor. Dirk previously served as chair of the NCDA Training and Education Council, and as co-chair of the Technology Committee for three years. Currently, he is the Senior Director of Alumni Relations at Columbia. Dirk received his master’s degree in organizational psychology from California Southern University. He has been published in several journals including Career Developments and has an extensive history of presenting on subjects ranging from film analysis, portfolio development, and career development. His recent research focuses on the impact of the pandemic on organizations.

Resources

NCDA 2026 Global Career Development Conference

This episode closes a podcast series from the DEI symposium at NCDA’s 2025 Conference in Atlanta. Dr. Cheryl Love, who highlights the NCDA Diversity Initiatives and Cultural Inclusion Committee (DICI), encourages listeners to access symposium workshops via the podcast, and invites participation amid efforts to minimize DEI work. Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, DICI co-chair, previews the fourth annual DEI symposium in Minneapolis, including content on ethics, multicultural competence, supervision, working with diverse populations, a State of the Union, and mentoring. She describes DICI’s subcommittees, resources, publications, a new group for new professionals and students, a membership meeting, and a reception. Dr. Frank Gorritz FitzSimons issues a call to action to join DICI for support, impact, and community.

Dr. Cheryl Love is a Career Counselor and a College Specialist for the Arts, Humanities, School of Education and School of Public Policy in the Career Center at the University of California, Riverside. In this role she also serves as the Liaison to the African Student Programs, the Black Student Success Initiative, Basic Needs, UCR Transfer Work Group, and the Kessler Scholar Program.

Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, CCC, NCC, FCD-I is a Clinical Professor at Southern New Hampshire University. She also serves as a career consultant through her private practice, Increasing Our Understanding (I.O.U.) Consultation, LLC. Dr. Barnes-Gwynn is a newly appointed board member for the Council of Accreditation and Related Educational Programs.

Dr. Frank Gorritz FitzSimons, LPC, is a counselor educator in Florida. He is a nationally recognized scholar and counselor educator on topics including providing affirmative counseling care to queer and transgender communities of color, providing multicultural supervision, utilizing diverse approaches to counseling work, as well as addressing and disrupting white supremacy in counselor education.

Resources:

• NCDA Committees
• NCDA 2026 Global Career Development Conference - Minneapolis

This episode is part of the DEI Symposium Series, developed from the DEI Symposium presented at the 2025 NCDA Global Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Debra Sgro and Dr. Karen Ingram discuss barriers to women’s advancement in male-dominated careers and the concept of the “broken rung,” noting representation drops sharply at higher leadership levels in technology and education. Dr. Ingram describes intersectional challenges as a woman of color, the politics of advancement, and earning a doctorate to meet credential expectations and strengthen her leadership voice. Debra recounts being denied an expected promotion, pushing for an off-cycle promotion, and learning self-advocacy and visibility. They also discuss gender bias and offer tips including assertive boundary setting, documenting contributions, building reciprocal relationships, thinking entrepreneurially, and pairing self-advocacy with amplifying other women.

Deborah Sgro is a certified career professional with a private practice, Beyond The Glass Ceiling, LLC. She specializes in coaching technology and business professionals at all levels to achieve their envisioned career. As a former senior financial technologist professional, she worked on Wall Street for over 40 years developing technical solutions addressing business objectives for the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, and BNY Mellon. Throughout that time, she also groomed emerging talent by establishing and running mentoring programs, providing on-the-job training sessions, and personally coaching to assist people with their career advancement goals. Deborah holds a CCSP certification from the National Career Development Association. She is also a certified project manager and certified Agile Professional from the Project Management Institute. Deborah holds two master's degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology, one in Computer Science and the other in Technology Management. She is on the Board of Advisors for Women in Big Data, and is the Global Mentoring Director for that non-profit professional association. Deborah also addresses corporate women resource groups, university audiences, and presents at NCDA conferences on all aspects of career advancement. For more information: www.linkedin.com/in/deborahsgro

Dr. Karen Ingram is the Career and Technical Education Director for Davidson County (North Carolina) Schools and current President of the North Carolina Career Development Association.

Resources:

• Dr. Heilman - Gender Bias in the Workplace: Obstacles to Career Progress (Video)
• McKinsey and Company and Lean-In.org: Women in the Workplace 2024
• BLS Reports - Women In The Labor Force

NCDA's Diversity Initiatives and Cultural Inclusion (DICI) Committee introduces a series of discussions that support graduate students in career counseling programs and other new workforce and career development practitioners. This episode is the first in the Career Practitioners of Tomorrow (CPT) series. It introduces the L.E.A.D. (Legacy, Equity, Advocacy, and Development) approach for career professionals to navigate changes in the economy that affect the career development profession.

Speakers:

Moderator - Denise Felder, Workforce Equity Advocate, and Associate Director of Career Services at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education & Human Development

Dr. Nina Talley, Director of Career Development, University of South Florida

Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, Owner of I.O.U. Consultation, LLC, and Clinical Faculty with Southern New Hampshire University

Denise Felder (she/her) is a career coach, writer, and keynote speaker with 20 years experience encouraging individuals and challenges systems to address disparities in education and employment. Her unique background in journalism, career and college readiness, and higher education have encouraged and informed youth and adults in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, AmeriCorps, TRIO, community colleges, universities, and numerous workforce development and community organizations. Denise is a past president of the Minnesota Career Development Association, a Certified Poverty Awareness Coach, an Offender Job Retention Specialist, and a YWCA Racial Justice Facilitator. Her professional development includes participation in the Equity Works Leadership Institute at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, the Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy with the Twin Cities African American Leadership Forum, and completion of the Equity and Diversity Certificate program (ECHO) from the University of Minnesota’s Office of Equity and Diversity. Her consulting business DeniseMpls Career Services (https://denisempls.org) is based in Minneapolis, MN, operating in cyberspace, and living in the hearts of many.

Dr. Nina L. Talley is a higher education leader with 25+ years of experience in career services, workforce development, and student success. She has directed multimillion-dollar workforce initiatives, developed AI-powered coaching frameworks, and worked extensively on career and leadership in tertiary education. Her expertise lies in integrating technology and student-centered design to improve persistence, retention, and outcomes.

Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, CCC, NCC, FCD-I is a Clinical Professor at Southern New Hampshire University. She also serves as a career consultant through her private practice, Increasing Our Understanding (I.O.U.) Consultation, LLC. Dr. Barnes-Gwynn is a newly appointed board member for the Council of Accreditation and Related Educational Programs.

Resources

• CPT Project for Session 1: Social Mobility & Economic Disparities
• Career Practitioners of Tomorrow Guide https://bit.ly/NCDA-DICI-CPT
• Contact Career Practitioners of Tomorrow: https://forms.gle/Y4oTKiL4kpdiisF69

This episode is part of the DEI Symposium Series, developed from the DEI Symposium presented at the 2025 NCDA Global Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Alicia Monroe and Ruben Britt share highlights of their conference session -- No Barriers! No Disruptions! SOLUTIONS!: Empowering Underrepresented Students for Today's Workforce -- which addressed intergenerational workplace conflicts, validating students’ narratives, self-reflection on culture and barriers, and inclusive career-preparation strategies. They note shifting U.S. workforce demographics and distinguish race as a social construct from culture as identity. Emphasizing communicative action and active listening, the discussion includes how social identities, stereotyping, and micro/macroaggressions can negatively impact hiring and student development. Recommended solutions include cultural competency and implicit-bias training, mentoring and shadowing, inclusive internships, partnerships with student groups, and highlighting alumni success.

Ruben Britt, Jr. is an educator, author, lecturer, and nationally certified career counselor with over 49 years of experience in education as both a teacher and career planning counselor. A nationally recognized expert on career coaching and educational issues, Ruben has served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education, the Educational Testing Service, the New Jersey Department of Higher Education, and several colleges and community organizations. He is the author of five books and has written numerous articles on career development, education, and social issues for publications such as Diversity in Education, Upscale Magazine, Black Enterprise, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Black Collegian Magazine. Ruben is the former Assistant Director of the Office of Career Advancement at Rowan University and the former host of Career Talk on WGLS-FM, a radio show offering tips and advice on career planning and job searching.

Alicia S. Monroe, EdD, is a PK–20 experienced educator, international education consultant, and career development practitioner. She serves as Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives at Rowan University, where she designs and implements equity-centered, high-impact college-to-career initiatives in collaboration with campus partners and employers. Her work includes sustained partnership with the Office of Accessibility Services, supporting collaborative planning, mentoring, career coaching, and internship and employment pathways for students with disabilities. Dr. Monroe is a 2025 inductee of the NACE Academy of Fellows, the CEO and founder of Solutions for Sustained Success, LLC, and national faculty for the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). An esteemed scholar-practitioner, she has co-authored an academic text and published multiple scholarly articles focused on creating inclusive learning environments, career readiness, equity, and student engagement. She is one of the original architects of the Whole Child Framework, a trademark of ASCD, and her professional service includes active leadership within NACE and the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

This episode is part of the DEI Symposium Series, developed from the DEI Symposium presented at the 2025 NCDA Global Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Cheryl Love (UC Riverside) hosts Mount Holyoke College career development leaders Dr. Jaime Grillo and Meaghan Murphy-Rennie on strategies for implementing identity-driven career readiness programming. They outline Mount Holyoke’s demographics and describe adding intentional identity components to three signature programs: a mentoring program where students choose matching by identity, industry, or skills; Sophomore Institute cohorts including LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC options plus identity/values sessions; and a required internship/research orientation with identity-based “community conversation” panels. They discuss campus and alumni impact, key challenges, and future plans.

Dr. Jaime Grillo currently serves as the associate vice president for career readiness at Mount Holyoke College. Dr. Grillo joined Mount Holyoke in June 2023 as the executive director of the Career Development Center, leading a team of 16 professionals on career readiness and strategic initiatives. Building on 17+ years experience in career development, and higher education administration. Dr. Grillo earned her Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership in Higher Education from St. John’s University. Her research focuses on student success and engagement, experiential learning, students’ confidence, and post-graduation outcomes.

Meaghan Murphy-Rennie serves as the Associate Director of External Relations & Career Specialist at Mount Holyoke College. She advises students and alums interested in Business, Finance & Consulting and/or Computer Science & Technology, and also works with alumni on signature programming offered through the Career Development Center. These signature events include Sophomore Institute, the Career Connections Mentoring Program, and the Internships & Research Orientation, among others. She is also a member of the First Gen Network, which is a group of first generation staff and faculty members who work together to support the college's first generation and low income student population.

Dr. Cheryl Love is a Career Counselor and a College Specialist for the Arts, Humanities, School of Education and School of Public Policy in the Career Center at the University of California, Riverside. In this role she also serves as the Liaison to the African Student Programs, the Black Student Success Initiative, Basic Needs, UCR Transfer Work Group, and the Kessler Scholar Program.

This episode is part of the DEI Symposium Series, developed from the DEI Symposium presented at the 2025 NCDA Global Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

In this episode Dr. Frank Gorritz hosts Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, a clinical professor and career consultant. The conversation centers around supporting at-risk students through innovative strategies. Dr. Barnes-Gwynn discusses her unique Instagrowth concept, which uses Instagram as a framework to engage students incorporating social-emotional learning (SEL) and career development theories. She emphasizes the importance of connection, shifting the deficit-focused perspective on at-risk students to one of empowerment and strength identification. Dr. Barnes-Gwynn also examines the critical role of SEL components such as self-awareness, self-regulation, and decision-making skills in academic and personal growth. By integrating career counseling theories and practical SEL strategies, she advocates for a holistic approach to nurturing all students' potential, emphasizing the collective responsibility of educators, counselors, and parents. The podcast concludes with reflections on the need to develop tools, possibly even an app, to expand and implement these innovative strategies more broadly.

Dr. Natasha Barnes-Gwynn, CCC, NCC, FCD-I is a Clinical Professor at Southern New Hampshire University. She also serves as a career consultant through her private practice, Increasing Our Understanding (I.O.U.) Consultation, LLC. Dr. Barnes-Gwynn is a newly appointed board member for the Council of Accreditation and Related Educational Programs.

Dr. Frank Gorritz FitzSimons, LPC, is a counselor educator in Florida. He is a nationally recognized scholar and counselor educator on topics including providing affirmative counseling care to queer and transgender communities of color, providing multicultural supervision, utilizing diverse approaches to counseling work, as well as addressing and disrupting white supremacy in counselor education.

In this episode, Melissa Venable, NCDA Director of Professional Development, interviews Jordan Maness, a career advising specialist at the University of Colorado Boulder. Jordan shares his journey into career development, inspired by a high school psychology class and experiences in sports journalism. He discusses his diverse career path, which eventually led him to become a certified life coach and a career advisor. Jordan's philosophy, 'like your job, love your life,' emphasizes the importance of aligning one's strengths with their job and incorporating positive psychology for overall happiness. The conversation concludes with advice for career development professionals, emphasizing self-care, resource-sharing, and partnership with clients.

Jordan Maness, M.Ed. is the Career Advising Specialist for the Division of Continuing Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also a Certified Life Coach with 20 years of experience career coaching and lecturing. His goal is to inspire individuals to live with passion and purpose. Maness has published a workbook entitled, Select An Ideal Life (SAIL): Your 59-minute Guide to Enjoying the Journey of Life, and he is the creator and instructor for the online Coursera course: “Thriving 101-Designing a Fulfilling Life & Career.” You can learn more about Jordan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanmanesslifecoach/.