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The Pulse on Ohio

  • 21 Jan 2025 9:53 AM | Anonymous

    OCDA Government Education and Engagement Day

    OCDA spent Wednesday, November 13th at the Ohio Statehouse for the 2nd Annual Government Education and Engagement Day! Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to engage in advocacy activities, tour the Ohio Statehouse, meet with guest speakers from the Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services, and drop off letters/information about OCDA to state legislators. This event, planned by the OCDA Government Relations Committee and their Committee Chair, Sarah JanTausch, allowed for attendees to share their experiences within the career development field and learn ways to advocate for the needs of career professionals and their clients/students.

    Seen Above: Government Education and Engagement Day attendees and guest speakers in the State Room at the Ohio Statehouse.

    Pictured left to right in back row: Michelle Norris, Jill Cates, Kaleigh Mahon, and Newton Kimberly. Pictured left to right in front row: Alicia Camak, Rachel Richardson, Julie Wirt, and Brad Barger.

    Seen Above: OCDA Government Education and Engagement Day attendees holding the Proclamations from Ohio House of Representatives, Ohio Senate, and Ohio Governor's Office recognizing OCDA and National Career Development Month.

    Pictured left to right in back row: Alicia Camak, Rachel Richardson, Jill Cates, and Sarah JanTausch. Pictured left to right in front row: Michelle Norris, Kaleigh Mahon, and Newton Kimberly.

    Check out the Proclamations in the images below!

     

  • 21 Jan 2025 9:51 AM | Anonymous

    Pulse on Ohio

    Issue 3

    December 2023

    In celebration of National Career Development Month, the Ohio Career Development Association held our first government day on November 27th at the Ohio Statehouse sponsored by the Government Relations Committee. It was a successful day of learning, networking, and policy education. 

    The event was open to NCDA and OCDA members as well as prospective members. OCDA members in attendance included Danielle Bell, Jill Cates (Easterseals Redwood), President-Elect-Elect Richard Fajardo (Ohio State University), Government Relations Chair Sarah JanTausch (SRJ Coaching & Consulting), Secretary Rachel Richardson (Ohio State University), and President Christine Yancey (Sinclair Community College).

    The day began with networking, followed by a private tour of the Ohio Statehouse including the Senate Chambers, and finished with a policy discussion with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s Graham Wood who provided a briefing on recent and future changes to the Department and a discussion around education and workforce policy relating to the Association.  It was a productive and collaborative conversation where we discussed the continuum of career development and supporting K-12 students in their next steps through graduation. 

    Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted recognized National Career Development Month with a proclamation. Both legislative chambers supported November as National Career Development Month. The Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman along with Senator Andrew Brenner Chairs the Senate Education Committee celebrated the occasion with a proclamation and the Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens joined in with recognition.

    OCDA Government Relations Committee:

    Sarah JanTausch, Chair

    Alexandria Burns

    Amy Harker

    Dr. Nina Talley

    Christine Yancey

    OCDA members pictured left to right standing outside of the Governor’s Ceremonial office in the Ohio Statehouse: Rachel Richardson, Jill Cates, Danielle Bell and in the back row Richard Fajardo and Christine Yancey.

    OCDA Government Relations Committee Members pictured left to right standing outside of the Governor’s Ceremonial office in the Ohio Statehouse: Sarah JanTausch and Christine Yancey with proclamations from the Ohio Governor and Lt. Governor, Ohio Senate, and Ohio House of Representatives.

    OCDA Members in attendance standing in the Map Room at the Ohio Statehouse on each of the counties they represent. From left to right: Jill Cates, Christine Yancey, Rachel Richardson, Sarah JanTausch, Richard Fajardo, and Danielle Bell.

  • 1 Nov 2023 9:48 AM | Anonymous

    Pulse on Ohio

    Issue 2
    November 2023

    On behalf of the Government Relations Committee at OCDA, we want to wish you a Happy National Career Development Month! This is the perfect season to spread awareness of our industry and educate our elective and appointed leadership at every level of the work that is being done by all of us in every corner of Ohio. Advocacy is simply working to garner support for a particular cause or policy. 

    During this year’s National Career Development Month, we are inviting you to reach out to your elective and appointed leadership and share about what you do to educate and inform Ohio’s policymakers. It can be as simple as using a contact form on the public official’s website to share about National Career Development Month. Expanding awareness about what you do to support fellow Ohioans receiving career development services across the continuum from youth through mid-career and the “third act” in later years. Below you’ll find a sample letter that you can copy, personalize, and paste into a contact form, email, or letter to your representatives and links to find your representatives. 

    If you choose to reach out to your representatives and/or receive responses, send copies of the correspondence to sarah@valuesbasedcareers.com. We are tracking advocacy efforts in order to report on our impact! 

    HOW TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:

    Congressional Leadership:

    State Government Leadership:

    https://www.ohiohouse.gov/members/district-map 

    County Government Leadership:

    • Visit your local county government website (usually “commissioners”) and look for a contact form, press/media page, or public information officer’s contact

    Hyper-local Government Leadership:

    • Visit your local city, township, or village government website and look for a contact form, email address, or press/media page

    EXAMPLE LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVE FOR OCDA MEMBER USE:

    [DATE]

    [YOUR ADDRESS]

    The Honorable [REPRESENTATIVE’S FIRST AND LAST NAME]

    [REPRESENTATIVE’S ADDRESS]

    Dear The Honorable [REPRESENTATIVES’S LAST NAME], 

    I am writing to you as a constituent and a [YOUR ROLE OR TITLE] working in the career development industry here in Ohio. I work with [INSERT THE TYPES OF PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH] to [INSERT THE GOALS OF YOUR CLIENTS GENERALLY/WHAT YOU WORK TOWARD]. [SHARE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR WORK HERE.]

    November is National Career Development Month. As a member of the Ohio Career Development Association, I am writing to you in order to share about the relevancy and impact of our industry. Founded in 1975, the Ohio Career Development Association (OCDA) is a chartered state division of the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and a division of the Ohio Counseling Association. The NCDA was initially founded in 1913 under a different name and is the first, longest first, longest running and preeminent career development association in the world.

    The OCDA exists to promote a greater understanding of the meaning of work and vocation, to foster career development over the lifespan, and to improve the standards of professional service in the field of career guidance and counseling in Ohio. The development of any person's career takes place over most of his/her lifetime. These stages are: (a) preschool age youth; (b) K-6 school grades; (c) 7-9 school grades; (d) 10-12 school grades; (e) adults (ages 18-65), and (f) retired persons. Our members make up constituency groups including professionals working in K-12, higher education, graduate students/educators/researchers, private practice, government/advocacy, workforce development agencies, and business/industry/employers. 

    As you are making policies impacting the career development industry and the fellow Ohioans we serve, I urge you to look toward the OCDA and NCDA as the preeminent voice for career practitioners in order to ensure policies and practices ultimately support the 

    Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I appreciate your service to our community. For more information on the NCDA you can visit www.ncda.gov and for more information on the OCDA you can go to www.ocdaonline.org

    Sincerely,

    [YOUR NAME]

    [YOUR TITLE/ORGANIZATION]**

    [YOUR ADDRESS]

    [OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFORMATION LIKE A PHONE OR EMAIL]

    -END OF SAMPLE LETTER-

    *Every 10 years after the U.S. Census, Ohio's House and Senate district boundaries must be redrawn to reflect the results of the most recent Census. The Ohio Redistricting Commission is tasked with redrawing each of those legislative districts. District maps have been redrawn in 2023, while the process still has legal challenges ahead, please note your representation might change in the near future due to map boundaries changing due to population changes. 

    **If choosing to include your professional title and organization, please ensure proper permissions are granted from your organization. Often universities, colleges, agencies, and businesses have a process or staff who handle all advocacy outreach. In these instances, we encourage you to check your organization’s guidelines and/or consider reaching out to your representatives from your position as a private citizen where you may use your personal contact information.

  • 7 Oct 2023 9:37 AM | Anonymous

    Pulse on Ohio

    Issue 1

    October 2023

    Welcome to the first issue of Pulse on Ohio! This new column in the Ohio Career Development Association's monthly newsletter is produced by the Government Relations Committee and will keep you informed on a variety of topics including advocacy, legislation that we're tracking, and related professional development, and is intended to be your dose of information that helps you advocate for those you serve and our profession.

    The new Government Relations Committee is in its early stages of building out our team and we are looking for representation from all of our constituency groups. Currently, we have representation from our higher education and private practice constituency groups. If you are interested in joining the committee we are seeking individual in the following constituency groups:

    - Graduate Students/Counselor Educators & Researchers

    - K-12 School Career Counselors

    - Government & Advocacy

    - Workforce Development/Agencies

    - Business/Industry/Employers

    Interested prospective and current OCDA members do not need to have any advocacy, government, or political experience! All you need to have is an interest in learning and desire to join the committee.

    The Government Relations Committee is responsible for listening to all of our constituency groups in order to educate and inform our OCDA leadership on policies and impact of government relations on our work, as well as potential and pending legislation that our organization may want to weigh in on. The committee plans to meet monthly for one hour virtually and there will be opportunities to be more or less involved based on your current bandwidth. If you are interested, please contact the Government Relations Chair: Sarah JanTausch at sarah@valuesbasedcareers.com.

    Stay tuned for more information because we will be sharing information on the website and social media channels in the near future.

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