OCDA December 2023 Newsletter
On behalf of the OCDA Executive Board, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season!
A Message from the President, Christine Yancey
Dear Members,
It is my pleasure to wish you and your family a joyous holiday season and a happy and prosperous New Year! As 2023 comes to a close, we look back on all OCDA has accomplished this year. The first half of 2023 featured professional development offerings that helped our members grow both professionally and personally with workshops on credentialing and time management. The OCDA Annual conference was held in May and brought back the face-to-face event and brought career development professionals together from across the state for the two-day event. The organization welcomed many new members and grew the Executive Board in expertise, dedication, and enthusiasm and added to the already talented leadership team.
In November, the NCD Month Committee planned a month full of programming to help our members, ranging from personal and professional improvement and growth to networking opportunities. Recordings of these workshops can be viewed through the OCDA website.
Our new Government Relations committee is already doing great work expanding the voice of Career Development. Members attended the OCDA Government Education Day on November 27th and met with Graham Wood from the Department of Education and Workforce to discuss how our profession impacts the workforce from the time jobseekers begin to think of a future career. The committee also secured a state proclamation designating November as NCD Month from the Governor’s office, the House of Representatives, and the State Senate. This is an exciting step forward and we look forward to expanding this effort in 2024, with even more members in attendance.
Our Professional Development committee offered workshops with opportunities to earn CEU’s with a Communication Skills workshop. The committee has several more workshops planned for the coming year.
As we look forward to 2024, OCDA committees have even more planned to increase the benefits of your membership. The date for the Annual Conference has been set for May 30-31, 2024 and will take place on the beautiful campus of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus. This year’s theme is Strive to Thrive – The Impact of Wellness on Career Development and the call for proposals will go out in the coming weeks, and we invite you to consider presenting at the event.
The DEI committee also has important work planned, and I invite anyone with a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the career development space to contact the committee chair Alex Burns at aktaylo3@gmail.com.
Finally, as I reflect on 2023 and look forward to 2024, I wanted to personally thank you for your commitment and dedication to OCDA and I look forward to a New Year filled with success and prosperity.
Regards,
Christine L. Yancey
OCDA President
OCDA Tip of the Month: Reflection
Erin Doyle Theodorou M.Ed., LPC, NCC from Theodorou Therapy LLC brings us a fantastic quote to guide our thoughts on the theme of reflection to round out the final weeks of 2023. Erin writes, "At the end of each year, there is a great opportunity to reflect on yourself, your goals, your relationships, your career, and your health (both physical and mental). December is an ideal time to take stock of how you feel you progressed the last twelve months. Perhaps to reflect on how you regressed (we are human after all)."
To read more about the theme of reflection for the month of December, take a look at Erin's full blog post here.
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.
In the spirit of reflection, the OCDA Executive Board would like to send our heartfelt congratulations to last year’s award recipients. Take this time to reflect on all the work you and your colleagues have done and think about who you might want to nominate this year!
Check out more information on our awards and last year's recipients here
Lastly, we have one update for our OCDA Membership on behalf of the Website Committee:
We moved the Member Exclusive Content section to under the Membership Tab.
If you have ideas or submissions for membership email content, please email Maddie Kindig at kindig.13@osu.edu
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