OCDA June 2025 Newsletter

A Message from OCDA President, Richard Fajardo

Dear Members,

It has been an exciting year celebrating OCDA’s 50th anniversary while continuing to grow our organization in its first year as an independent nonprofit organization. We certainly celebrated the year in style. In addition to a fabulous two-day annual OCDA Conference at Ashland University, we had our second annual OCDA Government Education & Engagement Day, two National Career Development (NCD) Month meet ups (in Cleveland and Columbus), and 15 workshops and webinars. Meanwhile, we established a partnership with the Pennsylvania Career Development Association (PACDA), maintained our connection with the Ohio Counseling Association (OCA), continued networking with the Ohio School Counselor Association (OSCA), and received recognition and shared our best practices at the annual NCDA Conference as “Established State CDA of the Year”. What a year we have had!

Heading into the 2025-2026 fiscal year, I am honored to pass the Presidential torch to Kaleigh Mahon. Kaleigh did an amazing job organizing this year’s conference and brings a unique skill set and fresh approach to the Presidency. Much like our conference keynote speakers, Marty Apodaca and Dr. Cynthia Marco-Scanlon, Kaleigh keeps the bridge connected between career development and clinical mental health.

I look forward to being a part of our next steps into the next 50 years of OCDA. Yes, 50, silly ‘5’ balloon that kept spinning on us at the conference! Perhaps ‘50’ is the new ‘20’? In any case, it is an honor and a pleasure to be a part of the evolution of the field of career development in Ohio.

Best regards,

Richard Fajardo

2024-2025 OCDA President, Archives Co-Chair & Website Co-Chair

Check Out Conference Highlights Here

(On desktop/laptop mode: Right click the below image and choose 'Open image in new tab' to see the below collage in its full size.)

OCDA would like to thank all of our 2025 OCDA Conference Sponsors!

GOLD LEVEL SPONSOR

YouScience

BRONZE LEVEL SPONSORS

Evergreen Mentorship

LDW Group LLC

NAME BADGE RIBBON SPONSOR

Navigator Career Solutions, LLC

PRINTING SPONSOR

Sign Solutions of Ohio

AD LEVEL SPONSORS

HRKyle Services

Career Therapy with Steffi

Ohio Counseling Association

OCDA's 2025 Conference Gold Level Sponsor

YouScience

Empower Ohio's future with data-driven career discovery

YouScience helps fulfill OCDA's mission by aligning student talents with meaningful, in-demand career pathways. Together, we empower lifelong career development through data-driven guidance and purpose-driven decisions.

The Ohio Career Development Association is proud to announce we’ve been named the 2025 Outstanding State Division Award at the National Career Development (NCDA) Conference!

Government Relations Updates

Join the OCDA Government Relations Committee and Board for the 3rd annual members-only legislative, advocacy, and networking day at the Ohio Statehouse. The program will include opportunities to hear from Ohio’s leaders and engage in meaningful dialogue about the state of career development in Ohio.

Registration is required.

Featured Career Resource:
Career Can Do Podcast: AI and the Future of Work!

This 19-minute podcast features MIT instructor Mark Herschberg discussing how to navigate career planning in the age of AI!

Key topics covered:

How to strategically adapt to AI automation in your field

Identifying which job tasks are high-value and hard to automate

The importance of discussing career plans openly with employers

Building "firm skills" that complement technical abilities

Creating concrete career development strategies vs. wishful thinking

LISTEN HERE

If you have any ideas for membership email content, please email Chelsea Francis at cfranci1@cscc.edu.