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/.

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. Cheryl Love hosts a conversation with Shelby McIntyre about updating career development classes and workshops with relevant DEI materials and activities. The discussion focuses on integrating liberatory outcomes into career development work. Shelby McIntyre, a career counselor at Pasadena City College, explains the importance of moving beyond traditional outcomes like graduation and employment to include broader goals such as civic engagement, social agency, and critical consciousness. She shares practical examples of how to implement these concepts, addressing challenges like systemic oppression.

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.

Shelby McIntyre is a career counselor at Pasadena City College. She also serves on the Board of the California Career Development Association and as a member of the NCDA Government Relations Committee.

Resource:

• Toolkit for Integrating Practices for Collective Liberation

In this podcast episode, Melissa Venable, NCDA's Director of Professional Development, co-hosts with Dr. Michael Stebleton a conversation about a new NCDA publication titled, Analyzing Current and Future Workforce Issues, Students' Perspectives on Career Development. Written by students enrolled in Dr. Stebleton's University of Minnesota course in Spring 2025, the publication explores various career development topics through the lens of graduate and undergraduate students.

The episode features students Nathan Price, Shannon McCrady, and Kirsten Koerth, who share their experiences and insights on the writing process. The discussion also highlights the importance of integrating theory and practice, the challenges and benefits of the editing process, and the potential value of similar educational projects in the future. Key contributions and topics such as AI in career development, the role of HR in supporting LGBTQ employees, and declining male college enrollment are also examined.

Michael J. Stebleton, PhD, is a Professor of Higher Education at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He teaches both undergraduates and graduate students in the Department of Organizational, Leadership, Policy, and Development. Contact Dr. Stebleton at: steb0004@umn.edu.

Nathan Price is a PhD student in the Higher Education track of the OLPD program at the University of Minnesota. I/O Psychology practitioner and founder of The Academic I/O, a platform dedicated to advancing academic leadership and workforce development through evidence-based organizational strategies.

Shannon McCrady is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. She is pursuing a Master of Education in Human Resource Development. She also works at the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis with her family.

Kirsten Koerth is an Undergraduate Programs Coordinator for Horticulture and Agronomy at the University of Minnesota. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Agriculture Education master’s program in 2025. Kirsten obtained her undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College in Biology and Environmental Studies, and she grew up in Helena, Montana. Her academic interests include sustainable agriculture research and education.